Maxime Ragué

Spatial and temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator interactions: consequences on crop pollination

Agricultural landscapes are complex ecosystems where wild and domesticated species coexist. In a context of reconciliation between agricultural activity and biodiversity, it is necessary to understand the impact of these domesticated species on wild species but also on the functioning of the agroecosystem. Thus, the study of interactions involving, on the one hand, weeds and cultivated plants and, on the other hand, wild pollinators and honeybees has a double interest because the yield of crops but also the maintenance of wild species depend on these interactions. My thesis work is based on data acquired in the Plaine & Val de Sèvre Workshop Area. I would like to understand if domesticated species (honey bees and flowering crops) modify the use of floral resources by wild pollinators in space and time and study the consequences on the pollination function. Different underlying questions will thus be addressed during my thesis (i) What is the temporal and spatial effect of rapeseed flowering on insect pollination function? (ii) What is the role of weeds in maintaining wild pollinators in agricultural landscapes and, is this role different in the presence of honey bees and flowering crops? (iii) What is the impact of competition between honey bees and wild pollinators on the use of floral resources by wild pollinators in sunflower crops? Answering these questions will help identify policy levers to maintain wild pollinator communities in agricultural landscapes and thus increase the resilience of the pollination function in these systems.
 
PhD student AGRIPOP team (2018-2021)
Supervision: Sabrina Gaba (INRAE-AGRIPOP) and Florence Carpentier (INRAE – AgroParisTech)
Funding: Birdland (Région Nouvelle Aquitaine) and SMACH (INRAE) projects
Doctoral school: Euclid (LRU)

maxime.rague(at)cebc.cnrs.fr