π Planet π Science and technology

Biodiversity: understanding nature to preserve it better

3 episodes

1

Agroecology: the path to agricultural biodiversity
2

Environmental DNA: how to track biodiversity “barcodes”
3

The animals with whom we share our cities

Épisode 1/3

Agroecology: the path to agricultural biodiversity

On October 18th, 2022

3 min reading time

Denis Couvet

President of the Foundation for Research on Biodiversity and Professor at Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Key takeaways

Agriculture is the human activity that has the greatest impact on the environment and biodiversity.
Agroecology is a model that considers ecological processes and biodiversity, which could alleviate the problems of traditional agriculture.
Soil degradation has reduced global land area productivity by 23%.
Expecting agriculture to provide energy is cost-effective, but ecologically unsustainable.
We need to ensure that public policies work towards relevant agricultural practices, going beyond the CAP.

Épisode 2/3

Environmental DNA: how to track biodiversity “barcodes”

Tania Louis, PhD in biology and Columnist at Polytechnique Insights

On January 10th, 2023

5 min reading time

Tania Louis

PhD in biology and Columnist at Polytechnique Insights

Key takeaways

Environmental DNA (eDNA) makes it possible to study the presence of living beings in the environment without endangering species: it is a population monitoring tool.
Analysis of eDNA is based on the use of molecular barcodes to identify a species or category of organisms.
eDNA allows the study of biodiversity, targeted monitoring of certain species, estimation of species numbers and reconstruction of diets.
But DNA does not provide as much information as direct observation and can be moved or degraded.
It is crucial to optimise our study of eDNA to improve our understanding of biodiversity.

Épisode 3/3

The animals with whom we share our cities

On January 30th, 2024

4 min reading time

Benoit Pisanu

Ecology researcher at MNHN

Key takeaways

In the city, a wide variety of small mammals live in green spaces, including hedgehogs, field mice and shrews.
Knowing the density and distribution of these species will enable us to carry out behavioural ecology studies into the adaptations associated with living in an urban environment.
Invasive species, brought in and then released into the wild by man, can survive and harm other species.
Despite regulation plans, humans maintain these invasive populations by feeding them, to the detriment of other species that suffer from this cohabitation.

Contributors

Tania Louis

PhD in biology and Columnist at Polytechnique Insights

A graduate from École Normale Supérieure and the Institut Pasteur, Tania Louis has a PhD in biology and has been working in the field of science outreach since 2015. She has published several science popularisation works as an outreach specialist, communicator and video-maker. Self-employed, she designs educational content and offers coaching and training services to experts wishing to address a non-specialist audience.

For more information: tanialouis.fr