Institute of Landscape and Plant Ecology

STIK – Traditional orchards in climate change: transformation towards resilient cultural landscape management

Climate change with its potential effects on temperature, irradiation intensity, (soil) water balance, invasive species, pests, etc. will also increasingly leave its mark on traditional orchards in the future. Already now, economic, administrative and social conditions pose new challenges to the social-ecological system of traditional orchards. The aim of the project is to make traditional orchard management fit for climate change and the future with the help of scientific approaches.

Due to its topographical, geological and climatic conditions, Baden-Württemberg offers very diverse landscapes. In combination with the densest orchard stands in Europe, Baden-Württemberg is the ideal area to study the local effects of climate change on orchard stands. In order to do justice to the great diversity of Baden-Württemberg, 16 detailed study areas in 7 counties were selected based on landscape analyses and in close exchange with local partners.

Subproject Uni Hohenheim „Traditional Orchards in climate change – landscape analysis and location suitability analysis with geodata“

 

The aim of the subproject of the University of Hohenheim is to identify correlations and relationships between site characteristics and tree vitality of traditional orchard trees. The analyses are based on nationwide data collection campaigns during which orchard trees are mapped regarding their condition, vitality and diseases (focus on Diplodia sp.), pests/parasites (focus on Viscum album) and injuries.

Mobile Android devices coupled with RTK antennas are used for mapping, providing centimeter-scale geometric accuracy. This allows the data points to be linked to other geospatial data during analysis, resulting in a complex dataset that includes information on terrain (elevation above sea level, exposure and slope), soil (digital soil map) and climate (climate data of recent years, climate scenarios for 2050/2100) in addition to the mapped information. The resulting dataset will serve as the basis for statistical analyses to identify relationships between tree vitality status and different site characteristics, and to provide recommendations for existing plots and future plantings based on this information.

In addition, species and variety information will be used to identify robust or susceptible fruit species/varieties in order to be able to provide site recommendations for managers at the end of the project regarding future climate change scenarios in the study areas. In this context, endangerment maps and site suitability maps for traditional orchards in Baden-Württemberg will also be created.

Project start: 01/06/2021
Projekt end: 30/06/2024

Funded by Baden-Württemberg Stiftung

Project partner
AT-Verband Stuttgart
University of Tübingen

Contact persons:

Prof. Dr. Klaus Schmieder
Leader subproject Hohenheim
klaus.schmieder@uni-hohenheim.de

Kevin Fleckenstein
Scientific staff
kevin.fleckenstein@uni-hohenheim.de