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Figure_instalations_sahel

A contrasting seasonality of wind erosivity and wind erosion between Central and Western SaheL

Wind erosion is a major phenomenon in the Sahel, and can affect soil fertility. Studies of Sahelian aeolian erosion or erosivity are scarce and have been mainly focused on the Central Sahel. Since February 2020, the number of saltating particles and the horizontal flux of aeolian sediment were monitored in Bambey (Senegal) in combination with […]

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Using urine to make sub-Saharan city region food systems more sustainable

Installing urine collection systems in sub-Saharan city regions would make those conurbations more sustainable. This was demonstrated by a study by four researchers from CIRAD, IRD, Boubakar Bâ University of Tillaberi (Niger) and Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), published on 3 May 2023 in the journal Regional Environmental Change.

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aculéates

Müllerian mimicry among bees and wasps: a review of current knowledge and future avenues of research

A study in Biological Reviews led by researchers from the Institute of ecology and environmental sciences – Paris, the Institute of Systematics, Evolution, Biodiversity and the Center for Ecology and Conservation Sciences makes the synthesis of published knowledge on Mullerian mimicry in aculeate wasps and bees. It argues that aculeates may be one of the most diverse groups of mimetic organisms and that the diversity of their mimetic interactions is currently underexplored.

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deep soil meeting

Deep soil 100, data synthesis workshop

“Global Deep Soil 2100” is a network bringing together experimenters, modellers and data users on experiments analyzing the warming of all ecosystems. A workshop to deepen the compilation, meta-analysis and modeling of data was organized at Sorbonne University as a hybrid meeting on four continents. It brought together 50 participants and was organized as an […]

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reine termite

How do termite queens and kings stay healthy for decades?

Reproductive and worker castes of termites differ greatly in their morphology and behavior but also in their fertility and longevity. Kings and queens of the highly social termite, Macrotermes natalensis, live for decades, with the queen laying thousands of eggs per day. Workers are sterile and only live a few weeks. In our HFSP project, we investigated the regulatory mechanisms involved in generating such diverse phenotypes. Our previous results indicate that well-regulated transcription allows reproductive castes to overcome simultaneously several well-known hallmarks of aging.

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Paysage sahélien, région de Bambey, Sénégal, en septembre 2022

Persistence and success of the Sahel desertification narrative

When the Sahel is mentioned today, this semi-arid African region between the Sahara and Sudanian Africa is often associated with the notion of desertification. But what do the latest advances in environmental science tell us about this desertification? To what extent is the “narrative” of Sahel desertification based on scientific results, or on other mechanisms, of a more political nature?

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lepidoptera

Organization of the 11th International Workshop on Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Lepidoptera

Emmanuelle d’Alençon (UMR DGIMI, Montpellier) and Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly (UMR iEES-Paris CReA –EcoSens, Versailles) had the pleasure of organizing the 11th international workshop on the molecular biology and genomics of the Lepidoptera. For nearly 30 years, this workshop has brought together the international scientific community working on butterflies and moths every 3 years. Thirteen nationalities met this […]

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Aude et Thomas

Vaisala supports iEES Paris in environmental research on insect pest

Since 2016, the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (iEES Paris) at the Sorbonne University in Paris has been using the Vaisala Continuous Monitoring System to record data in real time and control the temperature and humidity of chambers used for insect breeding and experimentation. The IEES develops innovative strategies and tools for the rehabilitation of damaged environments, the ecologically sustainable management of biological resources and ecosystem services, and adaptation to global change. 

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Juvénile de Zootoca vivipara

Lizards from warm and declining populations are born with extremely short telomeres

This study unraveled the impacts of accelerated aging pace as a corollary of climate-driven population decline. We found transgenerational accumulation of telomere shortening implying that offspring were already born “old”. We suggest that this process may exacerbate across generations, leading to an aging loop in the population. This model posits that telomere dynamics should represent a molecular biomarker of extirpation, and likely a central cause and promising solution for future biodiversity managing actions.

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