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 […]
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.
Lire la suite / Read more
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.
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.
Lire la suite / Read more
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?
Lire la suite / Read more
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.
This study reveals the potential of soda machines to anesthetize pollinators. A gentle way to help study flower visitors and develop automated recognition tools by image analysis using artificial intelligence.
Lire la suite / Read more
In the the last years, predatory land flatworms have been introduced in many locations because of the trade of exotic plants. In this article published in Diversity and Distributions, a collaboration between iEES Paris, the National Museum of Natural History and James Cook University aimed to model the global invasion risk of these species. It turns out that they have not colonised all regions at risk yet, which demonstrates a need for increased vigilance in these areas.
Lire la suite / Read more
Kings and queens of social termites can live for decades, while queens sustain a nearly maximal fertility. We found that they defy aging by multiple gene expression and metabolic changes, while permitting extreme fertility in queens.
Lire la suite / Read more
The article, published in Global Change Biology on 18 July 2021, assembles for the first time a substantial body of empirical evidence on the positive impacts of cultivated biodiversity on agroecosystems.
Crop diversification was found to enhance crop production by 14% and associated biodiversity by almost 25%. Water quality was improved by 50%, pest and disease control by over 63% and soil quality by 11%.