Toward understanding grapevine responses to climate change: a multi-stress and holistic approach

Abstract

Recent research has extensively covered the effects of climate change factors, such as elevated CO2, rising temperatures, and water deficit on grapevine (Vitis spp.) biology. However, assessing the impacts of multiple climate change-related stresses on this crop remains complex due to interactive effects among environmental factors, and the regulatory mechanisms that underlie these. Consequently, there is a substantial discrepancy between the number of studies conducted with a single factor or two factors simultaneously, and those with a more holistic approach. Changes in crop phenology in response to temperature have been a major focus of many studies. We highlight how the impact of rising temperatures will be enhanced during specific developmental periods, such as grape ripening. However, how these shifts may result in deleterious effects on yield and quality deserves further research. Rising temperatures will most certainly continue to represent a substantial threat to viticulture due to its effects on grape phenology, composition, and crop water requirements. Nevertheless, elevated CO2 may offer some relief through increased water use efficiency, as shown in recent studies. Hormones play a major role within the repertoire of regulatory mechanisms that plants possess, with crosstalk between hormones explaining the effects of combined stresses. In fact, growth regulators can fine-tune stress responses depending on the multiple stresses present. This review focuses on the interaction of climate change factors across viticultural areas of the globe, and how multi-stress responses are mediated by abscisic acid and jasmonate, with emphasis on the intricate interconnections of signalling among different plant hormones.

Keywords: Elevated CO2; hormone signalling; interaction; multi-stress; temperature; viticulture; water deficit.

Fig. 1.

Worldwide distribution of the 492 grape production areas.

Fig. 2.

(A, D) Increases in temperature for the grape ripening months (August-September Northern hemisphere; February-March Southern hemisphere) across the globe for the end of the century (2080–2100 average of a 13 model ensemble of the CMIP6 provided by WorldClim 2.1: https://worldclim.org/cmip6maps.html) according to the SSP2-4.5 (A, B, and C) and SSP5-8.5 (D, E, and F) scenarios compared to the historical average for the period 1970–2000 (Fick and Hijmans, 2017). (B, E) Boxplot (median, interquartile range, min, max, and outliers >1.5 times the interquartile range) of the average increase in temperature for the ripening months in viticultural areas of the different continents by the end of the century. (C, F) Evolution of average temperature for a selection of viticultural areas throughout the century. Africa, n=23; Asia, n=9; Australia, n=45; Europe, n=315; North America, n=79; South America, n=19.

Fig. 3.

(A, D) Changes in annual accumulated precipitation across the globe for the end of the century (2080–2100 average of a 13 model ensemble of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 provided by WorldClim 2.1: https://worldclim.org/cmip6maps.html) according to the SSP2-4.5 (A, B, and C) and SSP5-8.5 (D, E, and F) scenarios compared to the historical average for the period 1970–2000 (Fick and Hijmans, 2017). (B, E) Boxplot (median, interquartile range, min, max, and outliers >1.5 times the interquartile range) of the average change in precipitation for the ripening months in viticultural areas of the different continents by the end of the century. (C, F) Evolution of average annual precipitation for a selection of viticultural areas throughout the century (C, F). Africa, n=23; Asia, n=9; Australia, n=45; Europe, n=315; North America, n=79; South America, n=19.

Fig. 4.

Relationships between grapevine physiological processes (in green), grape composition (in purple), and the three main environmental factors associated with climate change: elevated CO₂, water deficit, and rise in temperatures (in orange). Arrows show where at least one study has found relationships between the indicated elements. Double sided arrows imply feedback. Yellow arrows indicate an up-regulation, blue arrows indicate down-regulation, pink double-sided arrows indicate feedback, and black arrows indicate unclear effect or not enough data. A description of every link can be found in Table 1.

Fig. 5.

Advancing phenology can shift the ripening period to the warmest months of the year and alter grape berry composition. Grapes in the chart are presented in different sizes to represent the increase in berry mass and different colours to represent the synthesis of anthocyanins.

Fig. 6.

Effects of climate change factors on anthocyanin profile and its potential effects on the hue of anthocyanins. Different colours represent the approximated change in hue expected for wines affected by changes in anthocyanin profiles in response to climate change factors.