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All the news
Honeybee foraging © Yves Le Conte

News

20 Sep 2018

Pesticide mixtures slow down bees' foraging activity

INRA researchers and their partners have identified a new sublethal effect of pesticide mixtures on bees, characterized by perturbations of their energy metabolism and a decline in performance. Their research was recently published in Science of the Total Environment. 

Adult chrysoperla carnea © Matthias Tschumi

Press release

03 Aug 2018

Semi-natural habitats help keep pests and weeds in check

Conserving semi-natural habitats such as forests, hedges and semi-natural permanent grasslands can be beneficial to the natural enemies of crop pests and weeds, and thus help farmers indirectly. A large international consortium involving INRA researchers (1) has shown that when it comes to landscape composition and the affect it has on the natural regulation of pests and predators, responses vary widely. The studies also showed that landscape alone is not in itself an efficient means to regulate crop pests.

Sampling vegetation in Patagonia by team from Argentina’s National Institute of Agricultural Technology, as a part of the BIOCOM project, financed by a starting grant from the European Research Council (ERC) © Juan Gaitán

Press release

31 Jul 2018

Protecting biodiversity to ensure ecosystem stability

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 INRA 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.

A Xysticus sp. spider devouring a caterpillar of the European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana © Sylvie Richart-Cervera

Press release

18 Jul 2018

Organic farming favours pest regulation

Scientists from INRA, Université de Rennes 1 and their colleagues have demonstrated that organic farming favours the natural regulation and control of pests – pathogens, insects and weeds.

Soil from the long-term observation and experimentation system of permanent grasslands (SOERE Agroecosystems, biogeochemical cycle and biodiversity) © Jerôme Balesdent

Press release

12 Jul 2018

The rate of soil carbon turnover: a matter of depth

The incorporation of organic carbon into soil helps to regulate both the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and the fertility of agroecosystems. Researchers from INRA, CEA, and CNRS are the first to quantify the rate of carbon incorporation into soils according to depth and its anthropic and climatic determinants. The study opens up new perspectives that allow us to better appreciate the evolution of the carbon cycle.