Vitis representation in modern pollen spectra from Southern Europe vineyards.

Vitis vinifera is an important food plant in the Mediterranean area and one of the key fruit species in the economy of modern Europe. In spite of the wide diffusion of Vitis pips in archaeological layers, Vitis pollen is generally found in a very low amount in the same sediments, and has low values in past pollen spectra. With the aim of understanding the significance of these low values, an interesting research on Vitis pollen dispersal was carried out by Turner and Brown (2003) in England. Their results stated that pollen percentages over 0.2% on total pollen possibly indicate the on-site presence of a vineyard. Our study presents the current Vitis pollen found in surface soils and moss cushions taken from vineyards located inside the distribution area of the wild species. Indeed, studies on the present-day pollen rain are useful tools to assess the relationship between plant presence and pollen spectra, furnishing an interpretative key for understanding the significance of the past pollen records. In the case of Vitis, the different pollen production of the wild and domesticated subspecies has to be taken into consideration. Samples of soils and moss cushions were collected on the edge and inside vineyards in several regions of Italy (Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Sicily), and in Greece (Micene, Corfù). Isolated vineyards were selected for studying the pollen dispersal outside the edges. The samples were processed according to the routine procedures (HF, HCl, KOH, acetolysis). Vitis absolute pollen frequencies and percentages on TLP were calculated. A notable variability in Vitis pollen representation is evident from the different investigated areas. In same cases, this pollen is absent. In Tuscany, values < 1.5% were recorded in the surface soil while 10-20% were observed in moss cushions; hundreds of pollen grains occurred in the former, thousands were in the latter ones; moving away from the vineyard edge, the values dropped down below 0.2% at 50m of distance and below 50 grains/gram.Vitis pollen resulted in different amount in the moss cushions and surface soils inside the vineyards, suggesting a better preservation in the moss. At the distance of 50m, very low amounts of Vitis pollen were recorded in the moss samples too, indicating a short distance diffusion of the grains. The results of the present study are in agreement with the data from literature. However, some cultivars exists that can be invisible to the pollen record.