The DAGRI currently carries out multidisciplinary studies on agriculture, climate, environment, rural territory, soil, biodiversity protection. DAGRI activities and expertise, acquired thanks to the participation to several international and national
projects, are mainly concentrated in:    

• investigations on relationships between anthropic and natural systems, environment and climate;
• surveys and assessment of agroclimatic parameters affecting plant growth and yield;
• monitoring techniques and design of models for predicting the relation between climatic features and
• agricultural production and distribution;
• assessment of the effects of climate change on vegetation due to green-house effect, ozone layer depletion;
• urban climate monitoring and effect of urban climate on human health;
• Studying, monitoring and automatic processing of agroclimatic factors;
• Research on agricultural and pasture climatic attitudes aiming at their sustainable use;
• Modeling for sustainability impact assessment of land use changes;
• Climatic data series aggregation, processing, validation and interpolation;
• GIS-based studies and modelling of agriculture-climate relationships;
• Development of models, web-sites, web-app;
• Urban climate monitoring: deployment, testing and validation of steady and mobile meteorological sensors.

Contacts:
Marco Bindi: marco.bindi@unifi.it
Giovanni Argenti: giovanni.argenti@unifi.it
Camilla Dibari: camilla.dibari@unifi.it
Nicolina Staglianò: nicolina.stagliano@unifi.it

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We monitor climate-change related impacts on various ecosystem sectors, including glaciers, snow, water, permafrost and the biosphere. In particular we monitor alpine grassland/pastures dynamics in face of climate change since 2008 with a special focus on carbon dynamics, phenology, snow and water cycles. To this end, we use multiple approaches, ranging from meteorological data collection, eddy covariance techniques, remote sensing, proximal sensing, modelling. We recently developed a phenological observational network across the Western Alps, including 20 monitoring sites in Italy and France, mainly located on alpine grasslands. ARPA has a multiannual experience on environmental data archiving, flow and processing.
ARPA VdA took part to 20 EU-Funded projects, including 10 ALCOTRA, projects 6 Alpine Space projects, 2 Italy-Switzerland project and 1 FP7 project.Contacts:Marta Galvagno: m.galvagno@arpa.vda.it
Gianluca Filippa: gian.filippa@gmail.com
Edoardo Cremonese:  e.cremonese@arpa.vda.it
Umberto Morra di Cella: u.morradicella@arpa.vda.it
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CNRS will establish a pasture typology for Parc National des Ecrins and will provide a map of pasture functional types using advanced remote sensing techniques. To do so, it will build on a long-standing cooperation with PNE and relevant stakeholders in the framework of the LTSER Zone Atelier Alpes. It will participate to the definition of relevant environmental and socio-economic indicators for assessing the vulnerability of mountain pastures. It will cooperate to the implementation of a modelling framework for the functioning of pastures. It will provide an analysis of feasible adaptation strategies for mountain pasture management in the context of global change. It will lead and/or participate to the scientific and technical publications, dissemination and information to public and stakeholders. Finally, it will collaborate with other beneficiaries to stimulate networking activities and will provide support in the organization of seminars and events with a particular focus on Parc National des Ecrins.Contacts:    

Philippe Choler: philippe.choler@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr
Sandra Lavorelle:  sandra.lavorel@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr [Hide]

The research axes concern in particular:    

• the preservation of regional peculiarities of agriculture and its products to maintain, as well as a high standard, their strong bond with the territory and with local culture;
• the collection and analysis of data on regional agribusiness, in order to have an updated image of strengths and weaknesses of the Aosta Valley agriculture;
• the search for innovative solutions that respect the characteristics of the products and do not break the fragile balance that for centuries has existed between environment and agriculture, which is a mandatory prerequisite to make environmentally sound and sustainable agriculture;
• the promotion of natural resources, biodiversity and Aosta Valley rural culture;
• the preservation of biodiversity and the protection of environmental and landscape richness.

Having a multidisciplinary and applied approach, the Agronomy Department carries out studies on agriculture, sustainability, natural resources, climate change and biodiversity. Its researchers have gained a long experience in international and national projects and their current works are mainly concentrated on:

• classification of alpine vegetation;
• biodiversity and use values of mountain grasslands;
• management plans for protected areas (network Natura 2000);
• sustainability of mountain farming systems;
• habitat restoration;
• studies on invasive alien species in permanent grasslands;
• coping strategies to climatic variability among agropastoralists

Contacts:

Mauro Bassignana: m.bassignana@iaraosta.it
Francesca Madormo: f.madormo@iaraosta.it [Hide]

The unit of Research Ecodevelopment is a part of the department Sciences for the Action and the Development (SAD) of INRAE. It associates researchers of various disciplines of the social sciences (anthropology, economy, sociology), sciences biotechnics (agronomy, animal breeding) and sciences of the nature (ecology, ethology).
The Joint Research Unit on the Prairie Ecosystem (UREP) studies the agroecology of the grassland ecosystem in the context of global change, including climate change and management practices. The unit has international expertise in the fields of carbon and nitrogen cycles (greenhouse gas balance and carbon sequestration), the assembly of plant communities, biotic interactions (plant-soil – animal) and their consequences on the functioning of grasslands.
IRSTEA conducts its research programs in collaboration with the other research organisations, universities, regional higher education and research centres, competitive clusters and European networks (PEER, Euraqua, Alternet, etc.).
IRSTEA uniquely links researchers and engineers in one scientific approach integrating:

• multiple disciplines: biophysical sciences, computer science, applied mathematics and economic, human and social sciences;
• laboratory or field experiments, on site measurements, theoretical models, technological research and the creation of evaluation models.

Contacts:
Gianni Bellocchi (UREP): gianni.bellocchi@inra.fr

Raphaël Martin (UREP): raphael.martin@inra.fr
Claude Napoleone (Ecodevelopment): claude.napoleone@avignon.inra.fr
Isabelle Arpin (IRSTEA): isabelle.arpin@irstea.fr
 

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The french law of the 14 april 2006 stipulates that parks are made up of a core and partnership zone. The core zone is a protected and unspoiled area which is subject to special rules.Open to everyone, the core zone is governed by a code of good practice. The partnership zone is governed by a charter adopted by the relevant communes. The park’s status is reviewed every 15 years and each park represents an ecological partnership between the core zone and surroundig areas whereby the economic value of the natural resources is promoted in tandem with sustainable development in the communes. The national park is managed by a public body affiliated to the Ministry for Ecology and Sustainable Development. A staff composed from 90 tecnical and administrative people work for the management of this territory.In accordance with their mission and as part of their long-term observation work, the Ecrins National Park is making important contributions to the study and monitoring of phenomena related to climate change. Its work takes information collected at different meteorological stations and supplements it with analyses of vegetation changes through aerial and satellite images, the measuring and monitoring of glaciers and interdisciplinary programs focused on high latitude lakes, mountain pastures and indicator species.
Through its mission and long term observations, the Ecrins National Park contributes to the environmental surveillance of many ecosystems. Working within many different networks and in
partnerships with various research teams, the park is participating in the development of a better understanding of the important changes taking place.    

Contacts:

Richard Bonet: richard.bonet@ecrins-parcnational.fr
Muriel Della Vedova: muriel.dellavedova@ecrins-parcnational.fr
Clotilde Sagot: clotilde.sagot@ecrins-parcnational.fr
Cédric Dentant: cedric.dentant@ecrins-parcnational.fr
Pierre Commenville: pierre.commenville@ecrins-parcnational.fr
Thierry Durand: thierry.durand@ecrins-parcnational.fr

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With reference to biodiversity conservation, PNGP duties are: Habitats conservation and the maintenance of their integrity/continuity, as a fundamental element for animal biodiversity conservation; Monitoring of environmental changes and changes in environmental biodiversity depending, mainly, on climate change, through five-year plans of observation of the presence and abundance of different vertebrate groups (mammals, amphibians and birds) and invertebrates; Identification of sensitive animal taxa to climatic changes, monitored over time, as indicators of biodiversity; Monitoring and protection of endangered species and measurement of the impact of the return of the wolf on the modifications of plant and animal biodiversity; Long term monitoring of mammal populations, to collect information on the biology and ecoethology of the species, taking into account any environmental transformations of mountain environments.
The research activities are connected to environmental education, directed at summer visitors, local population and wildlife protection associations. The project’s actions are therefore in consistency and continuity with the initiatives already undertaken by the Park.    

Contacts:

Bruno Bassano: bruno.bassano@pngp.it
Ramona Viterbi: ramona.viterbi@pngp.it
Laura Poggio: laura.poggio@pngp.it
Fabiola Casa: fabiola.casa@pngp.it
Cristiana Cerrato: cri.entessa@virgilio.it

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