[Call for proposals FRB-MTE-OFB 2022] Impacts on terrestrial biodiversity in the Anthropocene

Biodiversity is declining at an increasingly alarming rate and human activities, directly and indirectly, synergistically or antagonistically, are influencing this decline which must be halted. However, precisely quantifying the impacts of human activities still remains complex because, even if the causes are generally known and agreed upon, it is still difficult to detail them and to measure the precise consequences and their interactive effects, in time and space.

As part of the implementation of the national “terrestrial biodiversity monitoring” programme carried out by the French Biodiversity Office (OFB), which aims to measure, identify and monitor the influence of human activities on biodiversity and the best practices to be promoted, the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE) and the French Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB) are launching the 2022 call for research projects on the “Impacts on terrestrial biodiversity in the Anthropocene ». The call aims to characterize the positive, negative or non-existent impacts of human activities and induced pressures on the state and dynamics of terrestrial biodiversity.

The results of the research funded by the programme should help to strengthen the actions of society as a whole, to halt the decline of biodiversity and promote sustainable human development. 

Projects should focus on at least one of these three themes:

• highlight links between human pressures and the state of biodiversity;
• characterize the links between pressures and impacts using new data processing technologies, new indicators, new protocols, etc. ;
• response to gaps in current monitoring of human pressures or their impacts (spatial distribution, temporal frequency, types of pressure, type of biodiversity).

Human activities and direct or indirect pressures that have implications for terrestrial biodiversity on a territorial scale will be considered (i.e. pressures that have global impacts, such as climate change, cannot be considered on their own, unless they are coupled with other pressures). The geographical framework of this call concerns terrestrial biodiversity, including (but not limited to) French metropolitan and overseas territories. Only pressures that have a significant impact on the biodiversity present on French territory will be considered.

This call for proposals will allow the funding of:

• 3 data SYNTHESIS projects of three years– these projects should develop syntheses of ideas and/or concepts, analyses of existing data, and should focus on factors affecting the state, evolution and dynamics of biodiversity.
  • Selected projects:
    • Discar – Population consequences of human DISturbance on small CARnivores ; Olivier Gimenez (CNRS) and Sandrine Ruete (OFB),
    • Dragon – Dragonflies as bellwether for the human impact on interface ecosystems ; Colin Fontaine (CNRS) and Reto Schmuki (UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology),
    • Motiver – Developing agri-environmental Indicators to MOnitor The Impact of human-driven landscape changes on biodiVERsity in European farmland ; Gaël Caro (Univ de Lorraine) and Ronan Marrec (Univ de Picardie)

• 4 to 6 one-year SYNERGY projects– these projects should provide complementary answers to a question that emerges from a research project that has been finalized or is underway, and should help stakeholders with indicators and practices to be promoted or abandoned to preserve biodiversity.
  • 4 selected projects:
    • Comepi – COmprendre les patrons de biodiversité et leurs impacts fonctionnels, MEsurer des indicateurs pour PIloter les habitats par la gestion anthropique ; Anne BONNIS (CNRS)
    • Indicators – Plant reproductive strategies as new diversity indicators – proof of concept in agricultural landscapes ; Sylvain GLEMIN (CNRS)
    • Pppirec – Pollinisateurs, Pesticides, et Paysages : Indicateurs de Réponses, des Espèces aux Communautés ; Nicolas DEGUINES (CNRS, Université de Poitiers)
    • Rodexpo – Anticoagulant rodenticides in rodent communities sampled along a gradient of forest anthropisation : exposure and resistance ; Virginie LATTARD (Vet-Agrosup)

• 1 to 2 SYSTEMATIC REVIEW projects of two years– these projects must present an inventory of human practices that have an impact on biodiversity and a summary of the state of knowledge on the impacts considered.
  • 2 selected projects:
    • Desybel – A SYstematic review on the impact of anthropogenic noise on terrestrial biodiversity ; Yorick REYJOL (MNHN)
    • Tres-Pratic – Trait-based responses of soil fauna to agricultural practices & agricultural management strategies: a systematic review and meta-analysis ; Mickael HEDDE (Inrae)