Grapevine root distribution and implications for nutrient uptake in cover cropped vineyards

Summary

Objective

This research was developed to build on a Gulbali Institute and Wine Australia project (CSU 1702-9), which investigated the distribution of grapevine roots in vineyard soil environments and competition with the roots of ground cover plant species for water. Based on the outcomes of this previous work, this project aims to extend the research from water competition to grapevine nutrient uptake. The applied work will initially focus on nitrogen but may extend to other nutrients where availability of cycling is strongly influenced by cover crops.

Research approach

The investigation into cover crop and grapevine root system competition has already begun with a
spring soil coring to further develop methods for distinguishing grapevine roots from the roots of other plant species in the vineyard. Additional experiments modeling water usage traits of different plant species on the vineyard floor are being planned as described below. A literature review summarising the feasibility of developing novel methodologies to extend the findings from water into nutrition for grapevine, in particular, nitrogen due to its industry relevance as yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN), is also in progress.

The modelling component of the project will be in collaboration with Plant and Food New Zealand, where the implications of root distribution will be tested with their recently developed grapevine version of the Agricultural Production Systems simulator (APSIM). The outcomes of this experiment will aid the development of vineyard management practices to improve the adaptive capacity of a vineyard to climate change. The collaboration between Australia and New Zealand may allow access to vineyards under a wider climate gradient to be studied so that the global relevance and the influence of the publications can be significantly elevated.