The LÉGUER BOCAGE Project

Knowledge of the biodiversity associated with the bocage landscape and practical applications to the Léguer watershed  LÉGUER BOCAGE

2016-2019 Coordinator: UMR BAGAP BAGAP Contact: Jacques Baudry BAGAP Research Area: Biodiversity conservation in rural and urban areas, Landscape modeling and analysis Keywords: hedgerow network, hedgerow management, landscape connectivity, mapping, outreach

Research

Context and Objectives

Hedgerows and hedgerow networks, bocages, are valued for their cultural value as well as the many ecosystem services they provide such as the control of water runoff, their windbreak effect, their role of habitat for plants and animals. Hedgerows are also a source of renewable energy (wood), even wood for buildings, tools etc. The Lannion Trégor Communauté (LTC), a federation of 40 municipalities, has promoted a coop to harvest wood for energy with farmers and the inhabitants buying the wood. The objective is to develop a sustainable sale channel. The harvest of wood must not diminish the potential of production. With this project, LTC and the Brittany Region want to incorporate the biodiversity dimension.

Methodology

In this project the first axis, mainly developed by LTC and the hunter federation 22, deals with the in situ evaluation of biodiversity of hedgerows at the hedgerow and farm levels, the units of management and production. The BAGAP research unit is involved in a second axis for the analysis at the landscape level of ecological connectivity and the implementation of ecological networks in planning documents.

Results

We have developed a model using data from our Long-term Ecological Research Site, the Zone atelier Armorique. This model predicts the presence and abundance of forest carabids, a species largely used to assess landscape conditions. The model has been successfully tested on the Léguer.

BAGAP Staff Involved

Jacques Baudry, Pierline Tournant

Partners

• Lannion Trégor Communauté LTC
• Fédération des Chasseurs des Côtes d’Armor Chasseurs 22

Funding

• Région Bretagne
• Fonds européen de développement régional