INRA - INRA - Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Centre

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All Press releases

All Press releases

Cleavers can climb on top of winter wheat and generate competition for light at the end of the crop cycle. © Stéphane Cordeau

Press release

15 Nov 2019

Weed diversity mitigates crop yield losses

Scientists from INRA and the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Italy) have shown that not all weed communities (spontaneous vegetation) generate crop yield losses, even in unweeded conditions, and that high weed diversity is associated to a reduced risk of important crop yield losses. Published in Nature Sustainability, these results provide new grounds for sustainable weed management.

Aerial view of fields in Picardy in the area of Péronne in the Somme. © INRA, TISSIER Jean-Pierre

Press release

02 Aug 2019

More complex crop mosaics produce greater biodiversity in agricultural landscapes

Researchers from INRA and CNRS¹, in collaboration with German, Spanish, English and Canadian teams, have examined the effect of field size and crop diversity on biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Published in PNAS, their work shows that increasing the complexity of the crop mosaic produces a considerable (and largely under-exploited) benefit in conserving and restoring the biodiversity of farm landscapes, while maintaining areas of land under agricultural production.

Bouhedma National Park in Tunisia, one of the 123 sites sampled across the world for this study © Yoann Pinguet

Press release

08 Apr 2019

Biodiversity matters: rare species play an essential role in ecosystem multifunctionality

An international research team that included INRA and CNRS scientists has revealed the key role played by rare plant species in maintaining ecosystem "multifunctionality": both species and evolutionary diversity is important. Based on data from 123 sampling sites around the world, the results show that taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic biodiversity matters for ecosystem functioning.

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.

Natural grassland in the Auvergne mountains. © INRA, TOILLON Sylvie

Press release

01 Dec 2017

Plant biodiversity and ecosystem vulnerability under climate extremes

Our environment is experiencing a number of changes, from biodiversity losses to global warming. INRA researchers were involved in a comprehensive European study that demonstrated that high plant species diversity does not always reduce ecosystem vulnerability under climate extremes. T