ecosystem, vineyard, the collection of plant and animal communities which interact with each other and with their non-living environment in the vineyard such as wind, rainfall, temperature, and soil nutrients. It has only recently been adequately acknowledged that a vineyard is a living, functioning ecosystem. Such ecosystems deliver to mankind ecosystem services (ES) such as biological control of pests, diseases, and weeds, carbon capture from the atmosphere, nutrient provision to the vines, and some protection from frost and wind. This ‘commodification’ of natural ecosystem functions began in the 1970s, with publications such as that of Westman.
