Short-term recovery of soil physical, chemical, micro- and mesobiological functions in a new vineyard under organic farming

Summary

Deep earthwork activities carried out before vineyard plantation can severely affect soil profile properties.
As a result, soil features in the root environment are often much more similar to those of the underlying
substratum than those of the original profile. The time needed to recover the original soil functions is ecologically
relevant and may strongly affect vine phenology and grape yield, particularly under organic viticulture.
The general aim of this work was to investigate soil resilience after vineyard pre-planting earthworks. In
particular, an old and a new vineyard, established on the same soil type, were compared over a 5-year period for
soil chemical, physical, micro- and mesobiological properties.
The investigated vineyards (Vitis vinifera L., cv. Sangiovese) were located in the Chianti Classico district
(central Italy), on stony and calcareous soils, and were not irrigated. The older vineyard was planted in 2000,
after slope reshaping by bulldozing and back-hoe ploughing down to about 0.8–1.0 m. The new vineyard was
planted in 2011, after equivalent earthwork practices carried out in the summer of 2009. Both vineyards were
organically managed, and they were fertilized with compost only every autumn (1000 kgha