Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC)

In this very first episode of #VaSavoir, Maxime meets snakes with Xavier Bonnet and his team from the Chizé Centre for Biological Studies. Xavier Bonnet has studied snakes for more than 30 years and is one of the most well-known French herpetologists. A perfect opportunity to consider if it is actually reasonable to fear them, but also to try to understand some strange evolutionary mechanisms and the need to make space for life in this over-tidy room that is our landscape…

Antarctica is a hostile territory due to its isolation and extreme climatic conditions, but it is also a place of unique opportunities for research and has been a protected area reserved for scientific exploration since the Madrid Protocol was signed in 1991. This film presents the work of four researchers from various fields who went to Antarctica to conduct their research project: studying animal behaviour, observing the Earth's magnetic fields, collecting and analysing micrometeorites and…

Birds are an increasingly rare sight in our cities. In this report, researchers from the Centre for Biological Studies of Chizé (CEBC) investigate the problems – noise, light, lack of food – that affect various species of birds in urban areas, and seek solutions to save them from extinction.

Waterproofing, fire-proofing and non-stick coating. These technologies bring safety and comfort to our daily lives, but are based on chemicals called per and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS. Nicknamed “forever chemicals”, these molecules are volatile - they can be emitted by the materials they are applied on and get released into the air. There, they can linger in the environment for decades and travel vast distances, accumulating in regions far from their initial site of emission. In the…

They place microphones in sunflower fields... to count bees and other pollinators! Discover the ingenious experiments to study these diverse insects and their effects on our crops, conducted by a team from the Centre for Biological Studies in Chizé.

Viewing the decreasing of certain birds species, some CNRS researchers, of whom Sylvie Houte from the Chizé Centre for Biological Studies, have done the hypothesis that this phenomenon is due to the lack of cavities available to the birds reproduction. To raise citizens awareness of the biodiversity conservation in their own village, Sylvie Houte, goes to schools to familiarize children and their families.

Golem Grad is a mysterious island in Macedonia where two fascinating and quite unique phenomena have occurred: the appearance of a new type of dice snake and of a population of homosexual turtles. For ten days, an international team of scientists carries out extensive tests and experiments to try and explain the mysteries of this exceptional ecosystem.

The South Polar Ocean, encircling the continent of Antartica, containc the most powerful ocean current on our planet, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, not so well known, but playing a fundamental role on the climate. Studied by a satellite and a oceanographic expedition (Drake), it will allow to evaluate the climate evolution over the last thirty years.