Análisis de la diversidad de los sistemas de producción agrícolas: un caso de estudio en el suroeste de Francia

The huge changes in agricultural activities, which may be amplified by the forthcoming Common Agriculture Policy reform, call the future of crop-livestock systems into question and hence the impact of these changes on landscapes and biodiversity. We analyzed relationships between agriculture, landscape and biodiversity in south-western France. The study area covered about 4000 ha and included four villages. We conducted a survey of 56 farms. Multivariate analysis (multiple factor analysis and cluster analysis) were used to analyze relationships between 25 variables and to build a typology. The type of farming (beef and/or dairy cattle, cash crops), size (area and workforce) and cultivation practices, among others, were revealed as differentiating factors of farms. Six farming types were identified (1) hillside mixed crop-livestock farms, (2) large ‘corporate’ farms, (3) extensive cattle farms, (4) large intensive farms on the valley sides, (5) small multiple-job holdings, and (6) ‘hobby’ farms. The diversity of farming systems revealed the variable impact of the main drivers of change affecting agricultural development, particularly the enlargement and modernization of farms along with the demography of agricultural holdings.Los enormes cambios experimentados en las actividades agrícolas en Europa, que podrían ser amplificados por la próxima reforma de la política agrícola común de Europa, cuestionan el futuro de los sistemas agropecuarios y, por tanto, el impacto de estos cambios en el paisaje y en la biodiversidad. Para ello, se estudiaron las relaciones entre la agricultura, el paisaje y la biodiversidad en el suroeste de Francia (Cerros de Gascuña). El área de estudio cubre aproximadamente 4000 ha e incluye cuatro municipios. Los datos relacionados con las actividades agrícolas provienen de encuestas realizadas en 56 explotaciones. Para estudiar las relaciones entre 25 variables, se utilizaron análisis multivariados (análisis factorial múltiple y análisis de conglomerados) y se elaboró una tipología. Los factores de diferenciación identificados, entre otros, son: el tipo de producción (ganado de carne y/o lechero, cultivos herbáceos), tamaño (superficie y mano de obra) y prácticas de cultivo. Se distinguieron seis tipos de explotaciones: (1) explotaciones de ladera que combinan agricultura y ganadería, (2) grandes explotaciones corporativas, (3) explotaciones ganaderas extensivas, (4) grandes explotaciones intensivas en valles, (5) pequeñas fincas explotadas a tiempo parcial, y (6) explotaciones para ocio. La diversidad de los sistemas de producción reveló el impacto variable de las principales fuerzas de cambio que afectan al desarrollo de la agricultura, en particular a la ampliación y modernización de las explotaciones, junto con la demografía de la población agrícola

Modelling and simulating change in reforesting mountain landscapes using a social-ecological framework

Natural reforestation of European mountain landscapes raises major environmental and societal issues. With local stakeholders in the Pyrenees National Park area (France), we studied agricultural landscape colonisation by ash (Fraxinus excelsior) to enlighten its impacts on biodiversity and other landscape functions of importance for the valley socio-economics. The study comprised an integrated assessment of land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) since the 1950s, and a scenario analysis of alternative future policy. We combined knowledge and methods from landscape ecology, land change and agricultural sciences, and a set of coordinated field studies to capture interactions and feedback in the local landscape/land-use system. Our results elicited the hierarchically-nested relationships between social and ecological processes. Agricultural change played a preeminent role in the spatial and temporal patterns of LUCC. Landscape colonisation by ash at the parcel level of organisation was merely controlled by grassland management, and in fact depended on the farmer's land management at the whole-farm level. LUCC patterns at the landscape level depended to a great extent on interactions between farm household behaviours and the spatial arrangement of landholdings within the landscape mosaic. Our results stressed the need to represent the local SES function at a fine scale to adequately capture scenarios of change in landscape functions. These findings orientated our modelling choices in the building an agent-based model for LUCC simulation (SMASH - Spatialized Multi-Agent System of landscape colonization by ASH). We discuss our method and results with reference to topical issues in interdisciplinary research into the sustainability of multifunctional landscapes

The potential of integrative phenomics to harness underutilized crops for improving stress resilience

The current agricultural and food system faces diverse and increasing challenges. These include feeding an ever-growing human population, expected to reach about 10 billion by 2050 combined with societal disruption, and the need to cope with the impact of climate change (FAO, 2022). Given that future environmental conditions will limit crop productivity (Zhao et al., 2017; Cooper et al., 2021) and the limited potential to continually increase the performance of staple crops by conventional breeding (Hickey et al., 2019), there is an urgent need to transform agricultural systems. Central to this transformation is the application of alternative, accelerated, and sustainable approaches for the improvement and development of underutilized crops (Hickey et al., 2019). Modern breeding strategies for major crops have widely integrated novel technologies, such as advanced phenotyping or genome-wide interactions, and even epigenomics within “beyond the gene” strategies (Crisp et al., 2022) to speed up crop/genotype selection (Hickey et al., 2019; Kumar et al., 2023). Deploying phenotyping at different scales has the potential to identify novel trait(s) components that can be targeted to accelerate crop improvement (Araus and Cairns, 2014; Großkinsky et al., 2015b; Zhao et al., 2019; Varshney et al., 2021). There is even greater potential for these technologies when used to improve underutilized crops and support the agricultural transformation, as underutilized crops typically lack a biased breeding/selection history, i.e., they often exhibit a high genetic diversity and potential, and are usually better adapted to challenging environments (Kumar et al., 2021; Kumar et al., 2023). To illustrate the application of an integrative phenomics approach we discuss how combining multi-omics and advanced phenotyping is being applied to the underutilized oilseed crop Camelina sativa (camelina, gold-of-pleasure, false flax) to facilitate the generation of climate-smart crops for future agricultural systems

The potential of integrative phenomics to harness underutilized crops for improving stress resilience

The current agricultural and food system faces diverse and increasing challenges. These include feeding an ever-growing human population, expected to reach about 10 billion by 2050 combined with societal disruption, and the need to cope with the impact of climate change (FAO, 2022). Given that future environmental conditions will limit crop productivity (Zhao et al., 2017; Cooper et al., 2021) and the limited potential to continually increase the performance of staple crops by conventional breeding (Hickey et al., 2019), there is an urgent need to transform agricultural systems

Agricultural land-use change and ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) colonization in Pyrenean landscapes: an interdisciplinary case study

 ONLINE FIRSTInternational audienceChanges in agricultural land use are responsible for significant modifications in mountain landscapes. This study is part of an interdisciplinary research on the processes and consequences of spontaneous afforestation of Pyrenean landscapes by ash, and the possibilities for its management. We address the relationships between vegetation dynamics and land-use change from the combination of an agricultural study of change in farm management and an ecological study of grassland colonization by ash. In the framework of a village case study, we characterized parcels management and land-use histories, and analyzed the dynamics of the composition of grassland vegetation communities. From a joint analysis of the results obtained in each discipline, we discuss the limitations and comple-mentarities of the two approaches for the interdisciplinary assessment of the afforestation process

Ribosome and transcript copy numbers, polysome occupancy and enzyme dynamics in Arabidopsis

Plants are exposed to continual changes in the environment. The daily alternation between light and darkness results in massive recurring changes in the carbon budget, and leads to widespread changes in transcript levels. These diurnal changes are superimposed on slower changes in the environment. Quantitative molecular information about the numbers of ribosomes, of transcripts for 35 enzymes in central metabolism and their loading into polysomes is used to estimate translation rates in Arabidopsis rosettes, and explore the consequences for important sub-processes in plant growth. Translation rates for individual enzyme are compared with their abundance in the rosette to predict which enzymes are subject to rapid turnover every day, and which are synthesized at rates that would allow only slow adjustments to sustained changes of the environment, or resemble those needed to support the observed rate of growth. Global translation rates are used to estimate the energy costs of protein synthesis and relate them to the plant carbon budget, in particular the rates of starch degradation and respiration at night

LIVESTOCK FARMING SYSTEMS RESEARCH IN EUROPEAND ITS POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION FOR MANAGING FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN LIVESTOCK FARMING

International audienc

Successful ageing : perceptions of adults aged between 70 and 101 years

In this research, content analysis was employed to investigate older adults\u27 perceptions of successful aging and the relationship of these perceptions to definitions given in the literature to date. Participants were 18 males and 42 females between the ages of 70 and 101 years. Analyses revealed older adults mentioned only 1 or 2 criteria of successful aging if asked for a definition; however, when prompted, they rated almost all the criteria emerging from the literature as highly important. Participants reported adjusting to the situations they were in by compensating for losses that occurred and selecting activities that best suited their capabilities. Overall, older adults\u27 perceptions of successful aging were similar to aspects identified in the literature. Not all aspects, however, were seen as important by all participants, and only low to moderate correlations were found between some aspects of successful aging. (Contains 3 figures and 4 tables.)<br /