Hélène JOLY

CIRAD scientist

CEFE/CNRS
Campus du CNRS
1919, route de Mende
34293 Montpellier 5
 
Tél. : +33/0 4 67 61 22 56
Fax : +33/0 4 67 41 21 38

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Key-words : Species focus : Sorghum,  Prunus dulcis, Ficus carica,   Dacryodes spp.,- Environement : tropical et mediterranean - Discipline : Evolutive Ecology- Technics :  Molecular marqueurs - Research topics:  interactions between social dynamics and evolution of cultivated plant species - Other key-words : genetic resources.

I am interested in the evolutionary biology of plants cultivated or used by human societies; my approach is based on the fact that these species are at once social and biological entities and that the dynamics of the genetic diversity of these species is depending not only on life history traits but also on various cultural, social and agronomic contexts. In traditional farming systems, where farmers produce their own seed, local knowledge and practices influence the evolutionary forces acting on plants evolution (selection, drift, migration) which are also depending on natural factors bound to the biology of the plant and to the environment.

Therefore I lean on a necessary interdisciplinary approach to integrate interactions of natural and socio-cultural factors on the dynamics of varietal and genetic diversity of utilized plants. Sites are identified within the framework of collaborations with ethno-botanists or anthropologists to cover various socio-cultural contexts.

 I work at present, within the framework of several collaborations, on two biological models in tropical region: an annual cultivated species of dry area with sexual reproduction (sorghum) (ANR PlantaDiv project) and a pan-tropical genus of perennial species of equatorial Africa (Dacryodes spp.) which are exploited for wood or are used by local populations for their fruits (ANR IFORA project).

In Mediterranean region, I am involved in a research program on the place of trees in agro-systems, with a particular interest for the impact of the processes of domestication and the contemporary management practices on the dynamics of the varietal and the genetic diversity of almond (Prunus dulcis), olive and fig (Ficus carica) and trees (FruitMed project, supported by the foundation Agropolis).