Co-design and evaluation of spatially explicit strategies of adaptation to climate change in a Mediterranean vineyard watershed

International audienceClimate change challenges differently wine growing systems, depending on their biophysical, sociological, and economic features. There is a need to locally design and evaluate adaptation strategies combining several technical options and considering local opportunities and constraints. The case study was a Mediterranean vineyard (1,500 ha) in Southern France. We organized five workshops, with in-between modelling phases to (1) design spatially explicit adaptation strategies with stakeholders, (2) numerically evaluate their effects on phenology, yield and irrigation needs under future climatic conditions, and (3) collectively discuss simulation results. A process-based model was developed to evaluate the effects of six technical options (late varieties, irrigation, reduced canopy, cover cropping, reduced density, shading), and vineyard relocation. We co-designed three adaptation strategies. Delay harvest strategy with late varieties showed little effects on decreasing air temperature during ripening. Water constraint limitation strategy would compensate for production losses if long-term adaptations were adopted, and more land got access to irrigation. Relocation strategy would foster high premium wine production in the mountainous areas where grapevine is less impacted by climate change. This research shows that a spatial distribution of technical changes allows adaptation to climate change, and that the collaboration with stakeholders is key to identify relevant adaptations