Simone Priori

Bio: Simone Priori is an academic researcher from Canadian Real Estate Association. The author has contributed to research in topics: Soil quality & Vineyard. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 51 publications receiving 567 citations. Previous affiliations of Simone Priori include Consiglio per la ricerca e la sperimentazione in agricoltura & University of Siena.

Improving Wine Quality through Harvest Zoning and Combined Use of Remote and Soil Proximal Sensing

Abstract: Successful adoption of precision viticulture at the farm level depends on the appreciation of vineyard spatial variability. Knowing the spatial variability of soil properties is a challenge, often very expensive and labor intensive. An alternative approach could be the combined utilization of proximal and remote sensors. This study combined proximal (Geonics EM38-MK2) and remote (normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI) sensing aimed at mapping homogeneous zones (HZs) of two 3.5-ha vineyards in the Chianti wine district (Italy). Two HZs in each vineyard were obtained by a k-means clustering of the first two factors of the principal component analysis performed on four maps: (i) apparent electrical conductivity, obtained by EM38-MK2 at 0 to 75 cm (ECa₁) and (ii) 0 to150 cm (ECa₂); (iii) topographic wetness index (TWI), calculated from a digital elevation model; and (iv) NDVI extrapolated by multispectral airborne images. Only ECa₁ and ECa₂ were correlated with some physical (silt and gravel content) and hydrologic (available water capacity) features of the soils. These two variables could also better discriminate the two HZs with respect to NDVI and TWI. The grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) of the selected HZs were separately harvested and vinified to test the differences in the wine quality. Significant differences emerged between the wines produced from the two HZs, especially in terms of color intensity, dry extract, and anthocyanin content. A wine tasting after 6-mo aging of the wines confirmed the differences between the wines produced in the two zones, especially in terms of color, structure, and total score.

Short-term recovery of soil physical, chemical, micro- and mesobiological functions in a new vineyard under organic farming

Abstract: . Deep earthwork activities carried out before vineyard plantation can severely affect soil profile properties. As a result, soil features in the root environment are often much more similar to those of the underlying substratum than those of the original profile. The time needed to recover the original soil functions is ecologically relevant and may strongly affect vine phenology and grape yield, particularly under organic viticulture. The general aim of this work was to investigate soil resilience after vineyard pre-planting earthworks. In particular, an old and a new vineyard, established on the same soil type, were compared over a 5-year period for soil chemical, physical, micro- and mesobiological properties. The investigated vineyards (Vitis vinifera L., cv. Sangiovese) were located in the Chianti Classico district (central Italy), on stony and calcareous soils, and were not irrigated. The older vineyard was planted in 2000, after slope reshaping by bulldozing and back-hoe ploughing down to about 0.8–1.0 m. The new vineyard was planted in 2011, after equivalent earthwork practices carried out in the summer of 2009. Both vineyards were organically managed, and they were fertilized with compost only every autumn (1000 kg ha−1 per year). The new vineyard was cultivated by periodic tillage, while the old vineyard was managed with alternating grass-covered and tilled inter-rows. Soil samples were collected at 0–15 cm depth from fixed locations in each vineyard every spring from 2010 to 2014. The old vineyard was sampled in both tilled and grass-covered inter-rows. According to the results from physical and chemical analyses, the new vineyard, during the whole 2010–2014 period, showed lower total organic carbon, total nitrogen, carbon to nitrogen ratio and electrical conductivity, along with higher silt and total CaCO3 contents than the old vineyard, suggesting still-evolving equilibrium conditions. The microarthropod analysis showed significantly different abundances and community structures, in relation to both vineyard and time. Rainfall appeared to have an enhancing effect on microarthropod abundance, but only in the old vineyard, where the biota was more structured than in the new one. The euedaphic forms, well adapted to soil life, were always rare. Microbiological analysis revealed a different structure of eubacterial communities between the old and the new vineyard in the whole period. However, the DGGE similarity values of these communities increased by about 2.5% per year, suggesting that at least 3 years more are needed to compare intra- and inter-specific diversity of the two vineyards. In conclusion, the consequences of deep earthworks on soil chemical, micro- and mesobiological properties were still evident 4 years after planting, indicating that more time is necessary for the recovery of soil functions, probably longer than the time needed to reach a state of economically viable grape production.

Loess in Italy: Genesis, characteristics and occurrence

Abstract: There is currently a renewed interest in loess genesis and occurrence in Italy. Well-known loess profiles in northern Italy have been re-examined, and previously unknown loess deposits in central and southern Italy have been reported. This work combines a meta-analysis of published data with new data, presented here for the first time, to provide the state of the art on the spatial distribution, characteristics, genesis, and deposition ages of loess in Italy. A database of 98 soil horizons from 91 soil profiles was created and made available. It stores information on soils formed from loess or containing layers that show admixture of loess. Soil data include the source of information, the topographic, geomorphological and geological setting, kind of parent material and land use, main soil horizon properties as described in the field, soil classification, particle size distribution and chemical data. Loess is reported from almost all regions of Italy. It is generally pedogenized throughout the entire loess body and forms the parent material of deep and complex soil profiles. The thickness of the loess deposits varies from a few decimeters to a few meters; pedogenesis and local reworking partially change the original loess characteristics. In this study, we propose a set of parameters that help recognizing loess in soils: particle size distribution and sorting, geomorphological setting, pedostratigraphic position, shape of the grains under optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM), and soil-micromorphological characteristics. The ages of the loess deposits range between 70 ka BP and 18 ka BP. There are also a number of samples that have been dated to the Holocene. The meta-analysis suggests that climate is not the only driver of loess deposition in Italy; geomorphological instability and human disturbance, as well as the influence of Saharan dust, most likely played major roles, too. This study demonstrates that loess is much more widespread in Italy than previously estimated. Yet, further research on the spatial and temporal distribution of loess deposition across the Mediterranean region is needed to better understand its genesis, sources and trajectories, periods of enhanced loess formation, and the role of loess deposits in ecosystem functioning and resilience.

Pedostratigraphy of Terra Rossa and Quaternary geological evolution of a lacustrine limestone plateau in central Italy

Abstract: Pedostratigraphic levels (PLs) are typical assemblages of soil-genetic horizons, formed by materials having the same degree of weathering. The pedostratigraphic approach can be very useful to comprehend the formation of the Quaternary soil cover, the environmental evolution of a territory, and to estimate the age of paleosols. A pedostratigraphic study of a Terra Rossa was carried out to understand the soil-parent material origin and to estimate the time of the beginning of pedogenesis. Besides soil and geomorphological survey, the Terra Rossa was analyzed for Fe forms, geochemistry, clay mineralogy, micromorphology, and with scanning electron microscope. Optical dating was applied to obtain age estimates for the deposition of the parent material of soil formation. The insoluble residue of limestone was obtained and analyzed for geochemistry and clay mineralogy. The bedrock is constituted by Quaternary lacustrine limestone, showing pronounced karst land-forms. The soil profile is situated in a little dissolution doline and was divided into three PLs: PL1 (0-110 cm) is constituted by cambic and ochric horizons, formed during Holocene in a mixture of colluvial soil sediments and fresh limestone, with aeolian components; PL2 (110-290cm) includes two argic horizons, which began to form during Late-Middle Pleistocene in colluvial soil sediments, with few aeolian additions; PL3 (290-330 cm) is constituted by a red argic horizon, with nitic properties, which developed from the insoluble residue of the limestone. The age of PL3 was calculated through a mass balance and an estimation of the limestone-dissolution rate during the Quaternary, which led to an approximate age of Middle Pleistocene, between 250 and 500 ky BP. The time of the beginning of pedogenesis on limestone can be used as a reference for the tectonic uplifting of the area and emersion of the plateau.

Use of barley straw residues to avoid high erosion and runoff rates on persimmon plantations in Eastern Spain under low frequency–high magnitude simulated rainfall events

Abstract: Soil and water losses due to agricultural mismanagement are high and non-sustainable in many orchards. An experiment was set up with rainfall simulation at 78 mm h–1 over 1 hour on 20 paired plots of 2 m2 (bare and straw covered) in new persimmon plantations in Eastern Spain. Effects of straw cover on the control of soil and water losses were assessed. An addition of 60% straw cover (75 g m–2) resulted in delayed ponding and runoff generation and consequently reduced water losses from 60% to 13% of total rainfall. The straw cover reduced raindrop impact and thus sediment detachment from 1014 to 47 g plot–1 h–1. The erosion rate was reduced from 5.1 to 0.2 Mg ha–1 h–1. The straw mulch was found to be extremely efficient in reducing soil erosion rates.