Ecological Resilience in Viticulture: A System Property, Not a Measure

The standard

Stress-tested resilience becomes visible only in a year of disturbance: in the speed with which a system returns to its normal state after drought, excess water or disease pressure.

Criteria

• The system holds its function under stress, not only under favorable conditions
• The return to the initial state occurs without lasting loss of substance
• Several buffers act independently of one another, rather than a single measure
• Robustness is observed across years, not asserted within one season

Distinction

Resilience ≠ species diversity: biodiversity is a precondition of robustness, not proof of it. Resilience ≠ certification: a procedural record describes the management, not the response of the system. Stress-tested resilience is therefore measured in the year of disturbance, not in the ordinary year.