The Institute of Biodiversity and the Environment of the University will research the impact of climate change on grapevine cultivation

The Institute for Biodiversity and the Environment of the University of Navarra has been awarded a project under the call "Proyectos I+D+i 2020 Retos Investigación" of the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Spanish Government - to carry out research on the impact of climate change on grapevine crops.  

This project, entitled "Contribution of beneficial edaphic microorganisms to the adaptation of commercial grapevine varieties to climate change", will receive a grant of €175,450 for the next three years. 

One of the objectives of the project is to select the most resistant grapevine variety to extreme environmental conditions. In addition, it will evaluate the role that beneficial soil microorganisms -such as mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria- can play in the adaptation of grapevines to future environmental conditions. 

Objective: to advise winegrowers

“Depending on the results of this research, we hope to be able to advise winegrowers on which grape variety is the most suitable for growing in certain environmental conditions, as well as on the possibility of increasing its resilience by applying beneficial microorganisms in the soil", says Nieves Goicoechea, principal investigator of this project.

The research team includes researchers Nieves Goicoechea and Inmaculada Pascual (principal investigators), Juan José Irigoyen and Mª Carmen Antolín; and technicians Amadeo Urdiain and Mónica Oyarzun, all of them belonging to the Stress Physiology in Plants group of the Institute of Biodiversity and Environment of the University.

This project is supported by the Wine Technology Platform and the company Mycointech, an entity that produces mycorrhizal fungi formulations at international level. Collaboration with other national (CSIC) and international (Bordeaux Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences) research groups is also foreseen.

The Institute of Biodiversity and Environment of the University of Navarra is a research center that uses scientific evidence, to respond to the main environmental challenges facing the world. The Institute is made up of more than sixty researchers working in four main areas: ecosystem management, anthropogenic impacts, global change and biodiversity, and science communication.