Ecological management of vegetation associated to vineyard systems

Until recently, spontaneous weeds growing in vineyards were considered "weeds" to be eliminated in order to preserve yields. But in recent years, a small revolution has been taking place in the way winegrowers perceive the vegetation associated with their vines. Because of the negative externalities associated with chemical weed control (development of herbicide-resistant plant populations, water pollution) and the maintenance of bare soil (soil erosion, reduced organic matter content and biodiversity), a new vision has gradually developed in which winegrowers see vegetation as a potential ally, a cover that can not only coexist with the vines but also bring benefits. Let's be clear from the outset: it's almost impossible to set up a vegetation cover without dysservices for the vines. The challenge therefore lies in finding compromises to optimize the services that vegetation can provide to the vineyard while limiting its potential dysservices.

Moving towards such management requires an understanding of how vegetation functions and how it responds to various environmental factors (climate, soil, management practices) and to the internal dynamics of the plant community (competition between species in the sown cover or spontaneous weed cover). To achieve this, we need to (re)define spontaneous flora in vineyards, and understand the history of its perception and management, right up to the practice that is currently being developed and that we wish to encourage: the maintenance of associated vegetation according to various possible modalities. In this article, we then propose a synthesis to better understand the effect of management practices on vegetation and, in turn, the effect of vegetation on soil, vines and biodiversity within the winegrowing agrosystem. To this end, we propose to use the functional approach as a key to understanding the situation. In a final section, we illustrate some key elements in the management of cover crops in winegrowing systems.