Climate change and grape wine quality: a GIS approach to analysing New Zealand wine region
Shanmuganathan, S; Narayanan, A; Sallis, P
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The influences of seasonal climate variability on the phenological dynamics of certain terrestrial communities observed mostly since the mid‐20th century are seen as leading to unprecedented consequences (Richard, et al., 2009). The potential impacts of the phenomenon on the phenological development and in turn on the species composition of certain specific plant, insect, aquatic, bird and animal communities evolved in parallel over millions of years to form the existing “make‐up” of what is referred to as the “biodiversity” or “endemic species” of these natural habitats, are depicted as significant (Peñuelas and Estiarte, 2010). Scientific research results have revealed that the recent rapid climate change effects on these systems, more specifically during the last few decades, have resulted in presently being seen “temporal mismatch in interacting species”. Such ecological observations are even described as early vital signs of imminent “regime shifts” in the current base climate of these regions or latitudes (Schweiger, Settele, Kudrna, & Klotz, 2008: Saino, et al., 2009). On the other hand, climatologists portray the major cause for such rapid “climate regime shifts” and the consequent impacts on the survival of so called co‐evolved species, as anthropogenic (Anderson, Kelly, Ladley, Molloy, & Terry, 2011). For this reason, research relating to climate change impacts on vegetation spread over landscapes, phenological development and population dynamics of susceptible communities, in some cases even with potential threat for total extinction of “endangered species” under future climate change, has in recent years gained enormous momentum. In fact, this unprecedented attention has also drawn greater scrutiny and controversies at never seen before proportions in a way hindering any form of formal research on the phenomenon (Shanmuganathan & Sallis, 2010).