BiodiverSE team: Biodiversity, Society, Evolution

The BiodiverSE team is actually composed of 12 permanent searchers, 7 technical staffs and 11 non-permanents scientists (3 doctorate students, 6 post-doctorate and 2 research engineers).

Context: The weed species of farmed plots are at once a group of harmful organisms for crops and an essential element of biodiversity and trophic networks that underpin ecosystem services, like biocontrol or pollination. A better knowledge about the dynamic of populations and weed communities is indispensable to analyze, at different landscape scales, the direct and indirect interactions with the crops via the competition or via the trophic interactions and their answers to the changes of gestion and environment.

 The research project of the BiodiverSE team is in line with the general objectives of the ADVENSYS research division:

1 – To analyze the biodiversity and the interactions between flora and invertebrates at different biological and management scales.

2 – Understand, co-develop and facilitate the transition to sustainable and multi-efficient agricultural systems.

Droits des photographies : Bossenec J-M., Carré S., CSIRO, Fayolle L., Roger J-L., UMR Agroécologie INRAE, https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1147493

The work of the BiodiverSE team is about three problematics:

Axis 1: Evolution trajectories of weed populations

Here, the objectives are to characterize the biological determinants (functional traits and their genetical base) of the adaptation to agrosystems, and to study the evolution and the dispersion of traits that could eventually pose management problems in farmed plots. The studies focus on different aspects like the evolution of the resistance to herbicides, the interactions between weed species and farmed species (competition, parasitism, genetical exchanges between weed and farmed related forms), and the dynamic of invasive weeds.

The searches are carried out on:

• Farmed plots networks
• Plant monitoring in climate-controlled rooms, greenhouses and garden plots.

Axis 2: To analyze the dynamic of weed communities and the interactions between flora and invertebrates’ communities of agrosystems

The work realized aims to improve our comprehension of conjugated effects of farming systems and characteristics of the landscape context on the weed communities and the trophic networks that depend on them. Different trophic groups are studied (predatory carabids, pollinators, parasitoids, herbivores, soil fauna) to understand their ecological functions, their role in the pest dynamic or the weed species and in the supply of ecosystem services. The whole relationship between these organisms is generally studied at local scales and on short periods, while the interaction networks might also notify about the potential resilience of ecosystems and the trade-offs between the ecological functions and the large-scale regulation.

The searches are effectuated of established devices, especially on:

• The experimental domain INRAE at Epoisses (CA-SYS platform)
• The Fenay landscape platform
• Long-term monitoring plots for the national SEBIOPAG system (SOERE ECOSCOPE)

Axis 3: Analyze of the conflicts around the agroecological transition

The work in sociology aim to, with action-research devices, analyze the tensions or conflicts that may exist in the setup of an agroecological agriculture (installation of semi-natural areas, reduce in the use of phytosanitary products, farmers relations). The conflicts are seen as positive motors of change. The studies consist in a better comprehension of the context and the conflicts history, the positions and aims of each partner as well as the obstacles and levers to implementing a transformation in situations where the stakes are simultaneously ecological, economic and social.

Team composition at 01-07-2023

Animation: Bruno CHAUVEL & Valérie LE CORRE

Permanent staff (19):

Bohan David                    DR

Chauvel Bruno                DR

Délye Christophe           CR

Ducourtieux Chantal     TR

Felten Emeline                TR

Gée Christelle                 PR

Gibot-Leclerc Stéphanie MCF

Guillemin Jean-Philippe PR

Laitung Béryl                   MCF

Laurent Emilien              TR

Le Corre Valérie              CR

Matéjicek Annick            AI

Michel Séverine              TR

Petit-Michaut Sandrine DR

Pimet Eric                        TR

Reibel Carole                  TR

Siol Mathieu                    CR

Vanbergen Adam           DR

Young Juliette                 DR