Publication of the opening lecture by Pr Tatiana Giraud

Tatiana Giraud

Dynamics and evolution of biodiversity and ecosystems

" Biodiversity is an incredible diversity of life forms, not only animals and plants of course, but also a gigantic and invisible diversity in the world of the ultra-small. "

To preserve biodiversity and the many services it provides, we need to understand how it was formed and what factors influence its dynamics. The theory of evolution by natural selection offers a powerful paradigm to explain why the living world is the way it is, how biodiversity is formed, what its dynamics are, and finally how populations manage to adapt or not to a changing environment. Faced with the threat of climate change and the rapid decline in biodiversity it entails, the sciences of ecology and evolution are essential for measuring the scale of the current crisis and its consequences for human societies.

Giraud T., Dynamique et évolution de la biodiversité et des écosystèmes, Paris, Collège de France/Fayard, coll. " Leçons inaugurales du Collège de France ",^no 309, septembre 2022, 96 p.

ISBN :978-2-213-72496-6
Price :12  €
Publication  : September28  2022

Tatiana Giraud is Director of Research at CNRS ( Ecology, Systematics and EvolutionUnit, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, AgroParisTech) and a member of the French Academy of Sciences. She is visiting professor at the Collège de France on the annual Biodiversity and Ecosystems chair, created in partnership with the Jean-François and Marie-Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre Foundation, for the 2021-2022 academic year.