Biodiversity
Habitat modifications, depletion of resources, the introduction of invasive species, pollution, climate change—these are all global threats to biodiversity, which is experiencing a decline without precedent in our modern era. The Earth is home to 8 million described plant and animal species; 1 million of those species are facing extinction over the next few decades (source: IPBES).
We know that anthropogenic activities, like agriculture, have major impacts on biodiversity. It is therefore important to transition towards more sustainable systems if we wish to preserve and restore this shared resource.
Know, preserve, restore biodiversity
Consequently, INRAE is carrying out research on biodiversity’s multiple facets: genes, species, and ecosystems. The institute is exploring flows and interactions between various terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the stakeholders that operate at different landscape levels, within river basins, and within regions. INRAE research utilises agroecology as a tool for better managing natural resources, identifying natural solutions for restoring biodiversity, and handling risks. The institute strives to create value from the natural wealth found in ecosystems and ecosystem services, notably via the bioeconomy.
From genes to species to ecosystems, INRAE is interested in all facets of biodiversity. It is exploring biodiversity dynamics and management; it is assessing biodiversity's inherent value and its functions at different scales. The institute is also improving our understanding of soils and their links to the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles, as well as other biogeochemical cycles. It is characterising the impacts of various pressures and risks, as well as the functions and services provided by ecosystems. In this work, INRAE is taking into account the range of stakeholders present within France's regions and their diverse perspectives.
The conservation of genetic resources; the contribution of biodiversity to system resilience and sustainability; the relationship between landscape dynamics and biogeochemical cycles; and the adaptive management of ecosystems—these issues are all central to INRAE's research, which combines observation, experimentation, and modelling at different spatial and temporal scales with a diversity of socio-economic and biotechnical approaches.
Key results
In the context of the WaSAf project on protecting surface water sources in Africa.
The diversity of baking practices, the biodiversity associated with the bakery sector (terroir, soft wheat varieties, the micro-organisms in leavens) and impacts on the nutritional and sensory quality of bread are all aspects that were studied by the Bakery participatory research project. You can find out about it in the images shown here.
For the first time ever on a worldwide scale, an international team of researchers has demonstrated the positive influence of plant biodiversity on ecosystem stability. The team included researchers from INRAE and the Chizé Centre for Biological Studies (CNRS, University of La Rochelle) and scientists from Argentina and Spain. Using satellite data and field surveys of 123 dryland sites around the world, researchers were able to show that biodiversity’s role in influencing ecosystems is as important as the role of climate or soil.
Our fields of research
From landscapes to ecosystems, species and genes, our research examines biodiversity from every angle: understanding its state of evolution, conservation challenges, and how ecosystems and their related services function. This type of research involves not only agroecology and other biological disciplines, but digital sciences and the humanities and social sciences as well in order to both protect and restore biodiversity for sustainable agriculture.
> Read reports and emblematic cases from our research in these areas. New issues will regularly be posted for this topic.
