The SAVE joint research unit is developing research mainly on the wine-growing agrosystem, with the aim of understanding the mechanisms underlying the establishment and development of diseases and pest populations.
The applied aim of SAVE's research is to develop integrated, sustainable protection for vines, while drastically reducing the need for conventional chemical treatments. This objective is part of a context of global change, i.e. changes in viticultural practices, climate change and societal demand.
This objective involves the interaction of different approaches and disciplines: interaction and community ecology, pathology, entomology, epidemiology, modelling of complex systems, population genetics and genomics.
The activities of the UMR SAVE are based on different levels of understanding of the functioning of the vine ecosystem according to 2 main lines of research:
- The biology of pest and disease populations and natural enemies, with a focus on simple 'environment/plant' - pest and disease interactions.
- The ecology of communities and food webs, where we look at complex interactions and species associations, from plot to landscape.