Fish ponds and ecosystem services

The thesis focuses on ponds used for extensive fish farming and the ecosystem services they provide. These environments are man-made. In fact, they were mainly created by monastic communities in the Middle Ages from wetlands. They are therefore associated with historical management practices, but also contain significant biodiversity, including rare or endangered species.

Léo Girard mainly studies the relationships between these management practices and biodiversity, all in the context of climate change. This involves agroecology applied to extensive fish farming. The Isara research team works with fish farmers and pond managers to combine fish production with the preservation of the environment and biodiversity.

In the first part, Léo analyzes the effects of certain agro-fish farming practices on the ecological functioning, biodiversity, and productivity of ponds. The aim here is to show that it is possible to reconcile two important services: agroecological fish production and the maintenance of biodiversity.

In the second part, he questions what other services these environments can provide and what role they can play in the context of climate change. To do this, he studies both the influence of this change on biodiversity and the regulatory services provided. Are fish ponds carbon sinks or sources ?

All this work is part of the European PONDERFUL project, and the data comes from two fish farming regions, Dombes in France and Midden-Limburg in Belgium.