Vitis vinifera Production in Michigan: Factors and Trends Driving Cultivation Patterns

Frontiers in Plant Science

Jeff Andresen¹  Paolo Sabbatini²  Nicholas Weil³  Robert Goodwin³  Dan Wanyama³  Erin L. Bunting³ 

[1] Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States;Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States;Remote Sensing and GIS Research and Outreach Services, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States;

关键词: Vitis vinifera;    Michigan;    climate change;    temperature;    precipitation;    viticulture;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpls.2021.704690

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Vinifera cultivation is a thriving and growing industry across the state of Michigan (MI), United States. Extensive time, funds, and effort have been applied by the industry to promote growth and the onset of new producers. Specifically, Vitis vinifera wine grapes, which have been cultivated in MI since the 1970s, have seen a rapid expansion and investment from both first-time and legacy growers. However, historically, the climate of MI presented a challenge for cultivation because of low growing season temperatures (GSTs), short growing seasons, and excessive precipitation at the time of harvest. Over time, two key factors have led the MI wine industry to overcome the challenging climate. First, as seen in the literature, there are noted changes in climate, especially since the late 1980s, leading to more favorable conditions for cultivation. Second, MI growers traditionally focused on V. vinifera cultivation, which is susceptible to low winter temperatures, selected less vulnerable regions within the state while also focusing on vine protection techniques. Given the rapid growth of the wine industry across MI, there is a need to understand suitability and its drivers to help all growers make economically impactful decisions on production and expansion of wine grapes. This article looked to study the suitability of MI vinifera across the state in two ways. Initially, through an extensive literature review, the key drivers and commonly noted trends guiding vinifera production were chronicled. Second, through a trend analysis of the key drivers of suitability, the study investigated how such variables are changing significantly over space and time. The results of this study expand the knowledge of cool climate agriculture production and suitability for cultivation and highlight the complexity of relating suitability drivers for non-cool climate to cool climate vinifera cultivation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown