A l'UM la science [S02-ep24]: From the decline of birds to yeast
This week in A l'UM la science, Vincent Devictor and Stanislas Rigal, researchers at ISEM talk about the decline of European birds and its major cause: intensive agricultural practices. The report takes us to the Science for Oenology laboratory and Agnès Pesenti presents the Street Science exhibition. A program broadcast on Divergence FM every Wednesday at 6pm.
Perhaps you have or will take advantage of the long bridges in May to get out of the city and enjoy the countryside, the river or the forest. On the agenda: fresh air, starry skies and maybe waking up to the songs of the birds. For this last privilege, you will probably have to listen a little, not that the birds have become voiceless, no, but their chorus is getting smaller every year, so if you have the joy of catching a whistle or other trill, be aware that you may be hearing a song of resistance.
In 40 years, the global population of birds in Europe has declined by 25%, 20 million have disappeared each year, 800 million since the 1980s. These figures are those of a new study conducted by a team of researchers from the CNRS, the University of Montpellier, the Museum of Natural History and many European countries. They have quantified the direct impact of human activities on avian fauna. I hear you from here: the cat, the cat, the cat! Put away your claws: the culprit of the day is not a ball of fur but the increasingly intensive agricultural practices that decimate the ecosystems of birds with fertilizers and pesticides and thus add to the damage caused by global warming.
Our guests of the day are researchers Vincent Devictor and Stanislas Rigal from the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences(ISEM) in ecology and conservation biology. They signed this study published in the journal PNAS on May 15.
In the second part of the program, we go to the Agro Institute campus and more precisely to the Sciences for Oenology laboratory where Jean-Luc Legras opens the doors of the CIRM-levures, a biological resource center that conserves more than 4000 yeast isolates.
Finally Agnès Pesenti from the scientific culture takes you on the paths of science with theexhibition Street science visible since May 24th at the Jardin des plantes.
At UM la science you have the program, let's go!
Coproduction: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Animation: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Production: Naomi Charmetan
