Vulnerability of vineyard soils to compaction: the case study of DOC Piave (Veneto Region, Italy)

The objective of this work is to study the vulnerability of vineyard soil to compaction. The process of soil compaction represents one of the eight threats to soil identified by European Commission. It is important to know which soil is susceptible to compaction in order to be able to apply proper soil use and cultivation and to prevent real compaction. From this point of view, the evaluation of soil susceptibility to compaction on European level was done. The DOC Piave area has been chosen for this study because it is one the most important of the north Italy and involves a great variety of soils. The model used considers as significant factors drainage, surface organic carbon content and texture. It results that soils with low organic carbon content, medium fine or fine and moderately well drained to very poorly drained have high vulnerability to compaction. A large part of the vineyard soil of the DOC Piave area has at least moderate vulnerability to compaction.