IRCC (2)

Interfaces between cultivated roads and fields: does differentiated roadside management induce special problems of weeds in cultivated fields?

The construction of Linear Transport Infrastructures (LTI) has led to increased destruction of ecosystems and fragmentation of the landscape; However, their potential role as corridors and habitats has been highlighted for a number of taxa, including plants (Coffin, 2007). The plant communities present on these linear elements are influenced by many factors acting at different spatial scales. At the landscape scale, it has been shown that landscape composition (e.g., habitat diversity) influences the composition of plant communities (Aavik and Liira, 2010). At the local level, management practices such as mowing have a major influence on these communities (e.g. Way, 1977). Thus, in a context of rarefaction of perennial herbaceous habitats, typical of cultivated plains, where the permanent grassland area has been steadily decreasing for several decades, local actions for the differentiated management of ILT are being tested in order to conserve biodiversity.

In this context, we studied the edges of the departmental roads of Indre et Loire (object of the IRMA project), some of which are mowed down by the Territorial Services of Development since 2009. Within two landscapes of cultivated plain (wooded and open), we evaluate whether management practices influence the diversity and composition of plant communities along the cultivated road-to-field edge, consisting of a verge, an embankment and an interior margin of field grown in cereals. winter (120 borders). In addition, we are interested in the acceptability of late mowing by local actors (farmers) to see if the implementation of management programs is operational. We then make management recommendations that will be applicable to other LTIs that are often in direct contact with cultivated fields, such as railroads and pylons and their right-of-way.