The Biodiversity and Environment Institute of the University of Navarra has been awarded a project -in the framework of the call "Proyectos research and development+i2020 Retos research" of the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain- to carry out a research on the impact of Climate Change on grapevine crops.    

This project graduate "Contribution of beneficial edaphic microorganisms to the adaptation of commercial grapevine varieties to climate change" will receive an endowment of 175,450 € for the next three years.   

One of the objectives of this project is to select the most resistant grapevine variety to extreme environmental conditions. In addition, it is intended to evaluate the role that beneficial soil microorganisms, such as mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria, can play in the adaptation of grapevine to future environmental conditions. 

goal: advising winegrowers

"Depending on the results provided by this research we hope to be able to advise winegrowers on which grape variety is the most suitable to grow in certain environmental conditions, as well as on the possibility of increasing its resilience by applying beneficial microorganisms in the field," says Nieves Goicoechea, principal investigator of this project.

The work team is formed by researchers Nieves Goicoechea and Inmaculada Pascual (principal investigators), Juan José Irigoyen and Mª Carmen Antolín; and technicians Amadeo Urdiain and Mónica Oyarzun, all of them belonging to the group of Stress Physiology in Plants of Biodiversity and Environment Institute of the academic institution. 

This project is supported by the Wine Technology Platform and business Mycointech, an entity that produces mycorrhizal fungi formulations at international level. It is also foreseen the partnership with other groups of research national (CSIC) and international (high school of Sciences of the Vine and Wine of Bordeaux).

The Biodiversity and Environment Institute of the University of Navarra is a research center that aims to respond, based on scientific evidence, to the main environmental challenges facing the world. The Institute is formed by more than sixty researchers working in four main areas: management of ecosystems, anthropogenic impacts, global change and biodiversity, and science communication.