Impacts of agricultural intensification on wild animal population interactions: from individuals to communities - Impacts de l'intensification agricole sur les populations animales

加拿大的农业产业是一个高度活跃的全球参与者。为了在国际上保持竞争力，农业生产者采用了提高产量和降低成本的耕作方法。因此，在过去的几十年里，加拿大出现了一种向集约化农业发展的强烈趋势。在魁北克，从传统的（更粗放的）农业到现在普遍的集约化农业的转变也很壮观。该省生产的这些变化主要发生在专门用于奶牛养殖的土地上，并以牺牲天然林的残余为代价。这极大地改变了景观，并可能影响到几个生态系统的完整性和功能，特别是在圣劳伦斯河谷。然而，人们对集约化耕作方式对邻近生物群落的影响及其在生态系统层面上可能对它们的生态相互作用产生的影响知之甚少。该战略项目的总体研究目标是通过研究涉及捕食者-猎物和宿主-寄生虫相互作用的几个营养水平，量化对比耕作方式对野生动物种群的影响。更具体地说，我们将在魁北克南部农业集约化梯度内建立一个已经建立的树燕（Tachycineta bicolor）生物学研究系统。这个系统的有趣之处在于，燕子的生物学与昆虫的生物学有着错综复杂的关系，昆虫很可能受到农业集约化（包括农药的使用）的强烈影响。这一战略项目将在帮助决策者了解和预测目前通过农业利用资源的长期生态后果方面发挥关键作用。这一点非常重要，因为野生动物提供的生态服务通过授粉和控制害虫影响到几种栽培的产量。

The agriculture industry of Canada is a highly dynamic global player. To stay competitive at the international level, agricultural producers have adopted farming practices that improve yields and reduce costs. As a result, there has been a strong trend towards more intensive farming in Canada over the last decades. In Quebec, the transition from traditional (more extensive) agriculture to the now common intensive farming has also been spectacular. These changes in production in the province occurred mostly on lands dedicated to dairy farming and at the expense of natural forest remnants. This has drastically changed the landscape and potentially impacted the integrity and functioning of several ecosystems, especially in the Saint-Lawrence River valley.  Yet, little is known about the impacts of intensive farming practices on the neighbouring biological communities and on the effects it may have on their ecological interactions at the ecosystem level. The generalresearch objective of this strategic project is to quantify the effects of contrasted farming practices on wild animal populations through the study of several trophic levels involving predator-prey and host-parasite interactions. More specifically, we will build on an already well-established study system on the biology of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) within a gradient of agricultural intensification in Southern Quebec.  The interest of this system lies in the fact that the biology of swallows is intricately related to that of insects, which are likely to be strongly affected by agricultural intensification because of pesticide use, among other things.  This strategic project will play a key role in helping policy makers understand and predict the long-term ecological consequences of the current resource utilization through agriculture.  This is of great importance given that wild animals provide ecological services that affect the production yields of several cultures through pollination and the control of pest insects.