Harmonization of functional anatomical traits at the leaf and wood levels in grapevine in response to different soil and canopy management

In the Mediterranean region, viticulture is challenged by climate change which is increasing the frequency and severity of summer drought events. Under limited water availability conditions, controlling plant hydraulics and gas exchanges is crucial for crop productivity. Functional anatomical traits at the leaf and wood levels play a fundamental role in the capability of acclimation to environmental stresses. Thus, understanding how environmental factors and cultivation practices influence such traits is fundamental, given that they establish the limits of physiological acclimation capability.

Within this framework, this study aimed to evaluate if anatomical traits at the leaf and wood levels are differently harmonized when vines are cultivated under various treatments of soil and canopy management, with possible consequences on eco-physiological behavior, growth, and productivity. The study was conducted in a vineyard at the Feudi di San Gregorio winery premises (Southern Italy), where vines of the 'Greco' cultivar were cultivated under three treatments of soil management (cover crops, natural coverage, and soil tillage) and two types of canopy management (double guyot and double guyot flipped) over a period of three years. Leaf and wood anatomy were analyzed through light and epi-fluorescence microscopy to quantify functional anatomical traits linked with the efficiency of gas exchanges and water flow. To better interpret the relations among wood anatomical traits, inter- and intra-annual environmental variability, and cultivation management, the knowledge of the precise timing of wood formation is fundamental. Therefore, xylogenesis analysis was applied too, by collecting microcores biweekly from the main stem, in order to model wood growth dynamics and relate them to climate variables.

The overall data analysis showed the degree of plasticity of the ‘Greco’ cultivar at the structural level and suggested that the combination of traits at different organ levels may influence the vines’ response to climate change also mediated by pedo-climatic and cultivation conditions.