Science at UM [S02-ep24]: From the Decline of Birds to Yeast
This week on *A l’UM la science*, Vincent Devictor and Stanislas Rigal, researchers at ISEM, discuss the decline of Europe’s bird populations and its main cause: intensive farming 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 6 p.m.
Perhaps you’ve already taken advantage of—or are planning to take advantage of—the long weekends 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 sound of birdsong. For that last privilege, you’ll probably have to listen closely—not because the birds have lost their voices, no, but because their chorus is dwindling year by year. So if you’re lucky enough to catch a whistle or other trills, be aware that what you’re hearing might just be a song of resistance.
Over the past 40 years, Europe’s total bird population has declined by 25%; 20 million birds are disappearing each year, and 800 million have been lost since the 1980s. These figures come from a groundbreaking study conducted by a team of researchers from the CNRS, the University of Montpellier, the Natural History Museum, and numerous European countries. They have quantified the direct impact of human activities on birdlife. I can hear you from here: the cat, the cat, the cat! Put away your claws: today’s culprit isn’t a furball but increasingly intensive agricultural practices that are decimating bird ecosystems with fertilizers and pesticides, thereby compounding the damage caused by global warming.
Our guests today are Vincent Devictor and Stanislas Rigal, researchers in ecology and conservation biology at the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences (ISEM). They are the authors of this study, which was published in the journal PNAS on May 15.
In the second half of the program, we head to the Institut Agro campus, specifically to the Oenology Sciences Laboratory, where Jean-Luc Legras gives us a tour of CIRM-levures, a biological resource center that houses more than 4,000 yeast isolates.
Finally, Agnès Pesenti from *La Culture Scientifique* takes you on a journey through science withthe exhibition *Street Science*, on view since May 24 at the Jardin des Plantes.
At UM Science, you’ve got the program—let’s get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Director: Naomi Charmetan
Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
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