Landscape dynamics in an interdisciplinary perspective: 25 years of research for sustainable agriculture and forestry

Poster Number: 
394
Presenter/Primary Author: 
Marc Deconchat
Co-Authors: 
Balent, G.
Co-Authors: 
Gibon, A.

The study site, located in southwest of Toulouse (France) is a typical agricultural landscape (agricultural mosaic + forest remnants) with mixed production systems. This region is considered as an “intermediate zone”, without any particular conservation value, any agricultural potential, and any social challenge. The total study site area is around 15 000 hectares. Agriculture remains the predominant activity, but it is encountering difficulties in marginal areas that do not have particularly high agricultural potential. The social system is traditionally organized in "houses" which correspond to a well-identified land domain, name and social roles, which, in particular, determine the inheritance process. 25% of the area is covered by small private; most of the farms have woodlots in their holdings Several sub-parts of the study region were more specifically sampled, to cover fine and large scale processes, and according to the sampling constraints imposed by each disciplines. Multiple date spatial databases were implemented in GIS platform (under Arcview 9.3 software). GIS experience help to link ecological and social data to analyze the multiple use of this rural landscape. The first research on the site started in 1981. We study different biological models in order to investigate the various ecosystem services as well as the different compartments of an ecosystem: primary production, herbivores and predators (insects and birds) linked by functional processes. The integration between researches on management practices and strategies, the landscape structure and dynamics and the functioning of ecological processes is searched in the building of a multi agent (MAS) simulation model currently under progress.