Considerations on the european wild grapevine (vitis vinifera silvestris) and phylloxera infestations

The Eurasian wild grapevine, Vitis viniferasubspecies sylvestris (Gmelin) Hegi, has been a commondioecious plant in different ecosystems from Centraland Southern Europe. It grows thus on fluvisol regularlyflooded and is also currently found on colluvisols. Bothsoils are regularly renewed with fresh rough material eitherbrought by flooding or by gravity (ARNOLD 2002).The human impact on wild grapevine habitats had directand undirect implications. The progressive canalizationof rivers, dam and levee constructions, forestry andhorticulture exploitations of floodplain forests, cleaning ofriverbanks, and the continuous extension of the road networkled to direct eradications of wild grapevine populationsthroughout Europe (ARNOLD et al. 1998). Other undirectrepercussions derived from the importation of NorthAmerican diseases and pests such as powdery and downymildews and respectively phylloxera led to the current statusof the wild grapevine as threatened taxon in the Europeanterritory (THORSELL and SIGATY 1997).The aim of the current paper was to compare symptomscaused by phylloxera on roots in several wild areasand in a experience carried out under artificial infestation