Integrating Ecosystem Services into Organizational Life Cycle Assessment: Evaluating the Impact of Agroecological Practices on Grapevine Soil Health

A transition to sustainable agriculture requires robust metrics that can capture environmental burdens and the beneficial ecosystem services (ES) provided by land management. Although traditional life cycle assessment (LCA) is effective at quantifying detrimental impacts, it often fails to consider the regenerative potential of agroecological practices. This study proposes an innovative framework that incorporates ES accounting into organizational LCA (O-LCA) to evaluate absolute environmental sustainability (AES) in the Tuscan wine industry. This research uses Techno-Ecological Synergy (TES-LCA) principles which quantify the balance between the ecological supply of and technological demand for critical ES, including carbon sequestration and nutrient loss regulation, by the means of sustainbility metrics (V), which range from -1 to 1. A positive value means the system can provide mitigation for additional demand, while a negative value means there is no supply of ES.

The methodology uses empirical evidence from soil analyses conducted fourteen years apart, coupled with simplified ecological models. This approach addresses the data-intensive nature of traditional ecological modeling by using readily available farm data. Results from two representative grapevines case studies reveal divergent environmental performances. In the first farm, V ranging from -1.0 to -0.9 indicate a "worst-case" scenario where technological demand significantly outweighs ecological supply. Conversely, the second farm demonstrates the potential of agroecological management, qualifying as an "island of sustainability" for carbon sequestration (V = 1.0) and nitrogen loss regulation (V = 0.5). Notably, both farms exhibited a low phosphorus loss mitigation (V = -0.9), highlighting a systemic challenge in nutrient management. By bridging the gap between technological systems and natural processes, this research offers a robust tool for aligning agricultural production with planetary boundaries and ecological limits.

RN and GC thank the Agritech National Research Center and received funding from the European Union Next-GenerationEU (PIANO NAZIONALE DI RIPRESA E RESILIENZA (PNRR) – MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 2, INVESTIMENTO 1.4 – D.D. 1032 17/06/2022, CN00000022).While BR acknowledge the support of NBFC (National Biodiversity Future Centre) funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, P.N.R.R., Missione 4 Componente 2, “Dalla ricerca all’impresa”, Investimento 1.4, Project CN00000033.  . This manuscript reflects only the authors’ views and opinions, neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be considered responsible for.