Sujet : Exploring the potential of soil mites for monitoring and promoting the agroecological transition: a case study in viticulture (MonSoil)
Dates : 30 août 2023 – 19 août 2024
Responsable CBGP : D. Navia & M.S. Tixier

This exploratory project will focus:

1. on the soil, a major infrastructure in agroecosystems; and within it,
2. on edaphic mites (both predators and saprophagous), the most diverse and one of the most abundant group of organisms of the mesofauna and that are multifunctional providers of key ecosystem services; and
3. on vineyards, agroecosystems in great need for an agroecological transition due to the environmental impact of conventional practices.

The specific objectives are evaluating:

1. the potential of edaphic mites as bioindicators of ecosystem functioning and soil health in vineyards along an agroecological gradient. The hypothesis is that the presence/absence and/or diversity/abundance of certain taxa is correlated with ranges of physical, chemical and biological soil traits and then with the agrosystem ecological status.
2. the effect of agricultural practices in vineyards on soil predatory mites communities (SPM) and consequently on the supply of ES of pest regulation. The hypothesis is that the grass cover, the presence of trees (agroforestry system), and the low level of mechanization (less compaction of the soil) have a positive impact on the richness and abundance of soil predatory mites (reservoir affects, habitat effects, alternative food-source supply effects), and on the communities of its potential preys.

A parallel objective of this exploratory project is to expand competences of the French team working on acarology and on agroecology, up to now working on plant mites (aboveground, both phytophagous and predators), to evaluate groups of edaphic mites (belowground, saprophagous, fungivores, predators) which are multifunctional and that have showed as promising biological control agents along the last years.