Assessment of spatial variability of multiple ecosystem services in grasslands of different intensities

Grasslands provide multiple Ecosystem Services (ES) such as forage provision, carbon sequestration or habitat provision. Knowledge about the trade-offs between these ES is of great importance for grassland management. Yet, the outcome of different management strategies on ES provision is highly uncertain due to spatial variability. We aim to characterize the provision (level and spatial variability) of grassland ES under various management strategies. To do so, we combine empirical data for multiple ES with spatially explicit census data on land use intensities. We analyzed the variations of five ES (forage provision, climate regulation, pollination, biodiversity conservation and outdoor recreation) using data from biodiversity fieldwork, experimental plots for carbon as well as social network data from Flickr. These data were used to calculate the distribution of modelled individual and multiple ES values from different grassland management types in a Swiss case study region using spatial explicit information for 17,383 grassland parcels. Our results show that (1) management regime and intensity levels play an important role in ES provision but their impact depends on the ES. In general, extensive management, especially in pastures, favors all ES but forage provision, whereas intensive management favors only forage provision and outdoor recreation; (2) ES potential provision varies between parcels under the same management due to the influence of environmental drivers, related to topography and landscape structure; (3) there is a trade-offs between forage provision and other ES at the cantonal level but a synergy between forage provision and biodiversity conservation within the grassland categories, due to the negative impact of elevation on both ES. Information about multiple ES provision is key to support effective agri-environmental measures and information about the spatial variability can prevent uncertain outputs of decision-making processes

Opportunities to enhance pollinator biodiversity in solar parks

Renewable power capacity is increasing globally in response to energy decarbonisation, with solar photovoltaic (PV) projected to be the dominant renewable. A significant proportion of solar PV is deployed as ground-mounted solar parks with potential implications for the hosting ecosystem. Given their relatively rapid introduction, the impacts on land use and the local environment are poorly understood. However, if deployed and managed strategically, solar parks could offer unique opportunities to enhance the local environment and benefit biodiversity, with implications for ecosystem components such as pollinators. With a focus on north-west Europe, we systematically review the available evidence on how land management practices relevant to solar parks can enhance pollinator biodiversity. We assessed 185 articles for the quantity and agreement of evidence for 27 management interventions and assigned a confidence score to each finding. We show that a range of interventions applied to solar parks could increase their ability to enhance pollinator biodiversity. We then use our assessment to synthesise ten evidence-based recommendations on how to improve solar park management for pollinators by providing foraging and reproductive resources, undergoing considered management practices, increasing landscape heterogeneity and connectivity and providing microclimatic variation. Ensuring beneficial management of rapidly growing solar parks contributes to their wider environmental sustainability, with positive implications for both pollinator conservation and the energy sector in general

Environmental assessment of urban area trip purposes in France with Life Cycle Analysis

Les déplacements de personnes et de marchandises sont responsables d’une part importante des impacts environnementaux à l’échelle de la ville. Cette thèse part des hypothèses que, les impacts environnementaux des phases situées en amont ou en aval de la phase d’usage ne sont pas négligeables et que l’étude différenciée des besoins de mobilité peut apporter un éclairage nouveau aux méthodes traditionnelles d’évaluation. La façon de répondre à chaque besoin induit, a priori, des impacts environnementaux différents. Ces derniers sont calculés à l’aide de la méthode d’Analyse de Cycle de Vie. La méthodologie a été développée sur un cas d’application : les émissions de GES de l’Agglomération de Saint-Etienne afin de se confronter à la réalité du terrain et de se procurer des données spécifiques. Ce cas d’application a donné une première série de résultats, confirmant à la fois la part non négligeable d’impacts hors phase d’usage et la disparité des émissions pour une personne.kilomètre selon le besoin de déplacement. Ensuite, une proposition de typologies urbaines a été faite en réalisant une Analyse en Composantes Principales, couplée à une Classification Ascendante Hiérarchique, sur les grandes aires urbaines de France, sur des variables influentes pour la mobilité. Trois classes d’aires urbaines ont été étudiées. La méthodologie a été appliquée aux données des Enquêtes Ménages Déplacements de Bordeaux, Toulon et Valenciennes. Des disparités sont observées pour certains motifs et il est possible de calculer des marges de progression pour chaque agglomération. Enfin, l’utilisation de l’ACV, multicritère a également révélé la nécessité de travailler avec plusieurs indicateurs.Transportation of goods and people is known as a key environmental impact contributor in a city. However, traditional impact assessment methodologies don’t consider environmental issues all over the life cycle. The cause of a trip is also rarely taken into account in an environmental assessment. This thesis aims at proposing a new impact assessment methodology that considers the influence of indirect emissions (using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology) and causes of trips on the environmental footprint. Two main hypotheses are settled at the beginning: the environmental impacts of mobility do not only occur during the use phase (the trip by itself) but all over its life cycle. Also the trip purposes may change the choice of way to travel and consequently affect environmental impacts. The global Functional Unit (FU) is “transport people and good in a French urban area during a year” and is divided in intermediate FU referring to each trip purposes, such as “allow commuter trips in a French urban area during a year”. The methodology was developed, tested and validated through a real case: the agglomeration of Saint-Etienne (France). During this phase, mobility territorial actors were met and real data provided that allows facing methodology to possible field limitations. This application case shows first results. First, it confirms importance to consider impacts all over the life cycle (17% of GHG emissions occur out of the use phase). Second, it shows significant differences of emissions by person.kilometer between trip purposes categories. Then a typology of urban area was proposed based on literature about travel determinants. Principal Component Analysis used on French big urban areas (more than 250 000 inhabitants) identified 5 classes. The methodology was applied to three of them (Bordeaux, Toulon and Valenciennes) using data from a standardized survey on households and mobility in order to compare them. It shows disparities on global results partly due to total annual travel distances. The trip purposes differentiation also shows important differences between urban areas. For each cause trip category and emission reduction potentials were calculated for each urban area by extrapolating differences for a pkm to the total annual distance for the trip. This can provide helpful information to deciders. Finally, the need to provide a multicriteria evaluation that is provided by LCA was committed. However methodological improvement would be necessary to better reflect local and regional impacts in LCA

Evaluation environnementale des besoins de mobilité des grandes aires urbaines en France - Approche par Analyse de Cycle de Vie

Transportation of goods and people is known as a key environmental impact contributor in a city. However, traditional impact assessment methodologies don’t consider environmental issues all over the life cycle. The cause of a trip is also rarely taken into account in an environmental assessment. This thesis aims at proposing a new impact assessment methodology that considers the influence of indirect emissions (using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology) and causes of trips on the environmental footprint. Two main hypotheses are settled at the beginning: the environmental impacts of mobility do not only occur during the use phase (the trip by itself) but all over its life cycle. Also the trip purposes may change the choice of way to travel and consequently affect environmental impacts. The global Functional Unit (FU) is “transport people and good in a French urban area during a year” and is divided in intermediate FU referring to each trip purposes, such as “allow commuter trips in a French urban area during a year”. The methodology was developed, tested and validated through a real case: the agglomeration of Saint-Etienne (France). During this phase, mobility territorial actors were met and real data provided that allows facing methodology to possible field limitations. This application case shows first results. First, it confirms importance to consider impacts all over the life cycle (17% of GHG emissions occur out of the use phase). Second, it shows significant differences of emissions by person.kilometer between trip purposes categories. Then a typology of urban area was proposed based on literature about travel determinants. Principal Component Analysis used on French big urban areas (more than 250 000 inhabitants) identified 5 classes. The methodology was applied to three of them (Bordeaux, Toulon and Valenciennes) using data from a standardized survey on households and mobility in order to compare them. It shows disparities on global results partly due to total annual travel distances. The trip purposes differentiation also shows important differences between urban areas. For each cause trip category and emission reduction potentials were calculated for each urban area by extrapolating differences for a pkm to the total annual distance for the trip. This can provide helpful information to deciders. Finally, the need to provide a multicriteria evaluation that is provided by LCA was committed. However methodological improvement would be necessary to better reflect local and regional impacts in LCA.Les déplacements de personnes et de marchandises sont responsables d’une part importante des impacts environnementaux à l’échelle de la ville. Cette thèse part des hypothèses que, les impacts environnementaux des phases situées en amont ou en aval de la phase d’usage ne sont pas négligeables et que l’étude différenciée des besoins de mobilité peut apporter un éclairage nouveau aux méthodes traditionnelles d’évaluation. La façon de répondre à chaque besoin induit, a priori, des impacts environnementaux différents. Ces derniers sont calculés à l’aide de la méthode d’Analyse de Cycle de Vie. La méthodologie a été développée sur un cas d’application : les émissions de GES de l’Agglomération de Saint-Etienne afin de se confronter à la réalité du terrain et de se procurer des données spécifiques. Ce cas d’application a donné une première série de résultats, confirmant à la fois la part non négligeable d’impacts hors phase d’usage et la disparité des émissions pour une personne.kilomètre selon le besoin de déplacement. Ensuite, une proposition de typologies urbaines a été faite en réalisant une Analyse en Composantes Principales, couplée à une Classification Ascendante Hiérarchique, sur les grandes aires urbaines de France, sur des variables influentes pour la mobilité. Trois classes d’aires urbaines ont été étudiées. La méthodologie a été appliquée aux données des Enquêtes Ménages Déplacements de Bordeaux, Toulon et Valenciennes. Des disparités sont observées pour certains motifs et il est possible de calculer des marges de progression pour chaque agglomération. Enfin, l’utilisation de l’ACV, multicritère a également révélé la nécessité de travailler avec plusieurs indicateurs

L'écologie des abeilles et ses enjeux pour l'agriculture

L’abeille mellifère (Apis mellifera) est la seule espèce produisant du miel en Europe. C’est très souvent cette image qui nous vient à l’esprit lorsqu’on parle du mot "abeille", tandis qu’il existe au total près de 20 000 espèces d’abeilles dans le monde, 2000 en Europe et 399 en Belgique. Répartie au sein de six familles, cette diversité spécifique rassemble des caractéristiques morphologiques et comportementales communes (alimentation en pollen et nectar via un "central-place foraging" et poils branchus sur lesquels les grains de pollen se fixent). Cependant, de nombreuses divergences écologiques distinguent les abeilles, tant au niveau de leur mode de vie (socialité), de leur comportement de nidification, que dans leur régime alimentaire. Il est donc réducteur d’assimiler le mot "abeille" à la seule abeille mellifère et au miel qu’elle produit. "La diversité écologique des abeilles étonne et passionne mais la majorité des espèces reste encore largement méconnue en terme de comportement et de distribution géographique et, de ce fait, quant à leur vulnérabilité face aux pressions d’origine anthropique".Fil: Requier, Fabrice. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia. Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Sede Andina; ArgentinaFil: Le Feon, Violette. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Franci

Abeilles et agriculture : Le tumultueux mariage entre abeilles et agriculture

Le miel est la première image qui vient en tête à l’écoute du mot « abeille ». Pourtant, le miel que nous consommons est produit par une seule espèce, l’abeille mellifère (Apis mellifera), tandis que le mot « abeille » cache en réalité une multitude d’autres espèces très diversifiées et indispensables pour garantir le fonctionnement des écosystèmes et les rendements agricoles

Insectes pollinisateurs dans les paysages agricoles (approche pluri-échelle du rôle des habitats semi-naturels, des pratiques agricoles et des cultures entomophiles)

Cette thèse porte sur les facteurs influençant la composition des communautés d insectes pollinisateurs (abeilles et syrphes) dans les paysages agricoles, en présence d une culture entomophile, le colza. Son originalité réside dans la prise en compte des pratiques agricoles, et non pas uniquement de la quantité d habitats semi-naturels. A l échelle de 14 sites européens, les abeilles sont affectées négativement par l intensification agricole (mesurée par la quantité de pesticides et de fertilisants azotés et par la charge en bétail) et positivement par la quantité d habitats semi-naturels. A l échelle du paysage, nous avons montré que: (1) les abeilles et les syrphes se concentrent au niveau des parcelles de colza ; (2) le rôle des habitats semi-naturels diffère en fonction du type de paysage(bocage vs. openfield); (3) une analyse de l histoire récente met en évidence le rôle positif de la présence de prairies temporaires dans les rotations culturales. Une étude de la répartition spatiale des insectes pollinisateurs au sein des parcelles de colza indique que (1) dans le bocage, abeilles et syrphes utilisent à la fois les bordures et l intérieur des parcelles. Les bourdons fréquentent préférentiellement le centre des parcelles, où la quantité de ressources est maximale; (2) dans l openfield, où la surface en colza est plus élevée, nous observons un effet dilution , qui rend plus difficile la compréhension du comportement des insectes.En améliorant les connaissances sur l utilisation de l espace par les in sectes pollinisateurs, ce travail permet de mieux estimer les flux de pollen, et donc les risques associés à la mise en place de cultures transgéniques.This study deals with the composition of pollinator insect communities (bees and hoverflies) in agricultural landscapes where oilseed rape, a mass flowering crop, is produced. It is original as it considers agricultural practices and not only the amount of semi-natural habitats. In 14 European sites, the bees are adversely affected by agricultural intensification (measured by the amount of pesticides and nitrogen fertilizers and by the livestock density) and positively affected by the amount of semi-natural habitats. At the landscape scale, we find that: (1) bees and hoverflies are more abundant on oilseed rape (OSR) field margins than on other types of field margins; (2) the role of semi-natural habitats can differ according to the landscape structure ( bocage vs. openfield); (3) in the bocage , accounting for the recent past use of crop fields shows that temporary grasslands in crop rotations have a positive impact on solitary bee species richness. An analysis of the spatial distribution of pollinator insects in OSR fields indicates that (1) in the bocage , all insects use both the edges and the interior of fields. Bumblebees use preferentially the interior of fields, where the amount of resources is maximum; (2) in the openfield where the amount of OSR is higher, we observe a "dilution" effect, which makes more difficult the understanding of insect behavior. By improving knowledge about spatial distribution of pollinator insects, our study permits to better estimate pollen flow, and therefore the potential impacts of transgenic crops.RENNES1-BU Sciences Philo (352382102) / SudocSudocFranceF

Marketing and social effects of industrial scale insect value chains in Europe: case of mealworm for feed in France

Insects are becoming part of the human diet in many regions of the world, either directly or indirectly, as livestock feed. Insects could become a significant feed ingredient if produced at industrial scale, but it is a challenge. Such an emerging sector would result in substantial social effects. One innovation of the DESIRABLE project is exploring potential social consequences induced by industrial scale development of insect production in France for feed, under several production and marketing assumptions. First, this paper explains how the stakeholders and researchers involved in the project built and selected some framework scenarios, which depict upstream (production and meal processing) scenarios. Downstream scenarios were designed based on interviews with specialists in poultry, trout, and feed production markets, that allowed to proposing plausible scenarios for marketing. The potential outlets are more or less narrow market 'niches': feed for laying hens to produce organic eggs, or for farmed trout eating insect meal. Second, the method for evaluating social effects linked with the emergence of the new insect' industry, a social life cycle analysis in four detailed scenarios. The main positive social effects of the four detailed scenarios result from job creation in the insect production sector, while effects on other feed-ingredient suppliers are few. Negative effects result from the allergy risk for employees and potential disturbance to nearby neighbourhoods, but the latter can be easily managed by carefully choosing the locations. In the two scenarios with integrated bio refinery, exists a major risk that could stop the industrial project: activists could use environmental or animal-welfare concerns to oppose the bio refinery, because of agricultural land and water preservation and/or opposition to industrial scale insect production. Nevertheless, insect meal can help preserve fishery resources by providing a constant substitute for fish meal

The Structure and Dynamics of Agricultural Landscapes as Drivers of Biodiversity

Partie IIIThe study of the relationships between agriculture and biodiversity is important to sustain biodiversity for the future. The landscape level has an influence, which has been until now mainly related to the importance of semi-natural elements. But in agricultural areas crop land is often dominant and acts on biodiversity by the resources it provides and the effects of disturbances induced by agricultural practices. The mosaic of crops is ephemeral and highly dynamic in space and time according to farming practices and crop rotations. The aim of this chapter is to assess the role of agricultural landscape heterogeneity on biodiversity. Landscape heterogeneity may be measured from different perspectives, considering non-cropped areas versus crop ones, or taking into consideration the dynamics of the mosaic of crops and agricultural practices. From studies on a long term ecological research site in Brittany, France, we present how these different approaches of landscape heterogeneity allow a better understanding of the diversity of processes driving biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Most of all we underline the necessity to include knowledge of farming systems and farming practices in the analyses