Promote biodiversity and strengthen ecosystem service networks: how do we go about it?

The research carried out in Biosefair will focus on the socio-ecosystems that form around agricultural settings, livestock systems, and continental forest and aquatic environments, studied independently or jointly (at rural territorial scale).
The intersection of views, methods and tools and the joint construction of research topics with stakeholders from outside the world of science are the strong levers of Biosefair. The metaprogramme will also ensure that the fruits of research be made more accessible to different stakeholders in society, and that operational tools, innovative management strategies and new ways if use and governance be developed, all in support of public policy.

Biosefair is committed to furthering knowledge for better understanding the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services (theme 1), quantifying and mapping them (theme 2), and producing management tools, with a view to supporting public policy (theme 3). Initially, actions will be structured around three key questions that will subsequently evolve thanks to the Biosefair community.

BIOSEFAIR's priority research questions

How do the interfaces between environments and interactions between activities influence biodiversity and ecosystem services?

The vast majority of analyses of the state of biodiversity and ecosystem services are carried out according to a grid based on major types of land use or activities and certain organisms. 
Biosefair will focus on the study of interfaces between ecosystems, interactions between species and that between ecosystem services, and the study of the conflicts and synergies between activities and between stakeholders. The spatial diversity and range of practices among stakeholders are at the heart of this issue. 

What are the dynamics of ecosystem service networks in a context of global change and in response to management steps taken for these transitions? 

Ecosystem processes have their own dynamics in a fast-changing world, services can take time to manifest themselves, and the demands of society are known to change. 
Biosefair will use modelling and simulation to better explore the dynamics of biodiversity and ecosystem services in a variety of situations, and contribute to making conceptual and methodological adjustments by relying on, notably, long-term study sites.

Global health: what are the new challenges of preserving biodiversity?

The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown into relief the societal stakes surrounding the links between health in a broad sense, and the state of ecosystems. The concept of “global health” attempts to establish links between biodiversity, the functioning of ecosystems, the health of organisms that make up those ecosystems, and human health. For Biosefair, this is a promising research frontier. The metaprogramme proposes to bring together diverse research bodies (animal and plant health, ecotoxicology, quality of products, biodiversity, ecosystem services, etc.) with different activities and knowledge-sharing to build conceptual frameworks and research approaches.