RÉSUMÉ
Source : d'après la présentation du projet dans la liste des projets retenus du meta-programm ACCAF 2011
Plurispecific systems include mixtures of herbaceous species (intercropping), of trees and crops (agroforestry) and of trees (mixed forests). The ecological theory usually states that mixtures are more resilient to disturbances than monospecific ecosystems; this project aims at questioning it in the case of cultivated systems facing climate change. Climate change will be qualified as combinations of an updrift in temperature, a decrease in rainfall, and an increase in its variability, with consequences on the pest and disease pressure. The project will assess how mixtures may better cope with such stresses, with in 3 workpackages:
- defining what is resilience of agroecosystems under climate hazards and how it can be measured
- exploring past and present records of mixed systems behaviour under climate variability
- defining a relevant modelling approach to compare the behaviour of mixed and pure systems under climate variability, and the potential economical impact of adopting mixtures. Inspecting the broad spectrum of mixed systems will allow analyzing which features make mixtures more resilient, and finding common mechanisms and modeling strategies.
