Aurélien BESNARD

Published: 01 August 2011

altSenior Lecturer / Directeur d'Etudes de l'EPHE

HDR depuis le 04/09/2013 mémoire à télécharger ici

CEFE/CNRS
Campus du CNRS
1919, route de Mende
34293 Montpellier 5
France 


Tél. :     +33 (0)4 67 61 32 94
Fax      :+33 (0)4 67 41 21 38

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Keywords:Biostatistics; Conservation biology; Amphibians; Birds, Reptiles, Quantitative ecology; Population Dynamics and Demography, Sampling designs.

 

Research

After a PhD on the evolution of crèching behavior in gulls, I am now working in the field of conservation biology. More specifically I am working at developing regular collaborations between field practitioners and stakeholders and biostatisticians that develop methods for population monitoring and population dynamic modeling. I thus did work on :

1.    Estimating demographic parameters mainly for endangered species in the context of conservation plans

2.    Estimating the impact of perturbations or habitat alterations on these species.

3.    Evaluating and building monitoring protocols for endanger species (often rare, with small distribution or/and hard to detect) by using power tests for instance to compare the performance of several methods

4.    Developing new methods or refining existing ones when necessary

In this context I worked, and am still working, on several species such as birds (black-headed gulls, slender-billed gulls, black-billed gulls, Corsican nuthatches, woodpigeons, little bustards, bonelli’s eagles, golden eagle, grey and red-legged partridges, ptarmigans, european rollers…), reptiles (Herman’s tortoise, European pond turtle, pyrenean lizards, orsini’s viper...), amphibians (crested newt, marbled newt, yellow-bellied toad…), mammals (ibex, Pyrenean desman, wild boar, otter, bonobo…),  insects (coleopteran, grasshoppers, dragonflies…),mollusks but also more recently on plants.

All these works are conducted in direct collaboration with scientists of course but also field practitioners and stakeholders (several state organisms such as all national parks, several national reserves, the national office for hunting now French Office of Biodiversity…) but also several international, national or local NGO  (WWF, Birdlife, LPO…) and private environmental consultants (biotope, ecomed…). I am also involved in several species conservation plans (National plans for bonelli’s eagle, Hermann’s tortoise, Orsini’s viper, Pyrenean desman…). 

 

Recherche

 Après une thèse de biologie évolutive chez les mouettes et goélands (télécharger cette thèse), mon champ de recherche actuel se situe dans le domaine de la biologie de conservation. Plus précisément, il consiste à développer l’interface entre les méthodologistes qui travaillent à développer les outils statistiques pour l’étude des paramètres démographiques et populationnels et les conservationnistes ayant besoin de ces nouvelles méthodes. 

       1. d’estimer les paramètres démographiques de petites populations d’espèces à forte valeur patrimoniale et souvent fragmentées
       2.  d’estimer l’impact de perturbations ou de modification de l’habitat sur la dynamique des populations de ces espèces
       3.  d’aider à la mise en place de protocoles de suivi par la mise en œuvre de pré-études, de tests de puissance afin de déterminer quelle sera la méthode la plus adaptée à telle ou telle situation
       4.  de développer des méthodes statistiques lorsque cela s’avère nécessaire (notamment en CMR ou dans le cadre bayesien)

Ainsi j’ai pu travailler sur un certain nombre d’espèces d’oiseaux (mouette rieuse, goéland railleur, mouette scopuline, mouette de  buller, lagopède alpin, sitelle corse, perdrix grise, rollier d’Europe, papangue de la Réunion, pipit rousseline, alouette lulu), des reptiles (lézard des Pyrénées, lézard ocellé, lézard de Manapany, vipère d’Orsini, tortue d’Hermann, cistude d’Europe), des batraciens (triton crêté, triton marbré, crapaud sonneur à ventre jaune), des insectes (coléoptères, criquets, libellules), des mollusques (grande Mulette) et des mammifères (vison d’Europe, campagnol amphibie).

Tous ces travaux sont menés en collaboration directe avec des scientifiques bien sûr mais aussi des praticiens de terrain et des parties prenantes (plusieurs organismes d'état comme tous les parcs nationaux, plusieurs réserves nationales, l'office national de la chasse aujourd'hui Office Français de la Biodiversité...) mais aussi plusieurs ONG internationales, nationales ou locales (WWF, Birdlife, LPO...) et des consultants privés en environnement (biotope, ecomed...). Je suis également impliqué dans plusieurs plans de conservation d'espèces (plans nationaux pour l'aigle de Bonelli, la tortue d'Hermann, la vipère d'Orsini, le desman des Pyrénées...). 


 

PUBLICATIONS

 my publications here https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=fr&user=0XZcyPwAAAAJ

and here : https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aurelien-Besnard

 

ENCADREMENT D’ETUDIANTS / STUDENTDS

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS/ATER

2021    Vacher, Jean-Pierre (co-supervision with C. Miaud 50%) – the efficiency of highways underpasses.

2020-21          Canonne, Coline (supervision 100%) – Population dynamics of rock partridge in French Alps.

2020-21          Corbeau, Alexandre (supervision 100%) – Defining a protocol to assess the efficiency of automatic detection of birds at windfarms.

2020-21          Chambert, Thierry (supervision 100%) – The demographic impact of collision with windfarms on bird populations.

2019-21          Dortel, Emmanuel (80%, co-supervised by Nicolas Poulet, OFB) – Long-term trends in fish populations in France.

2019    Mohamed Ibouroi Thani (supervision 100%) – population genetics of two large fruit bats in Comoros Islands.

2018-22          Couturier, Thibaut (supervision 100%) – Optimisation of monitoring design for biodiversity conservation programs.

2018-19          Dortel, Emmanuelle (supervision 100%) – Definition of optimal sampling design of marine birds colony to inform EU Habitat directive.

2017-19          Chambert, Thierry (supervision 100%) – The potential of adaptive monitoring in conservation biology, the case of Golden eagle in French National Parks.

2016-17          Borner, Leyli (50%, co-supervised by Laurent Granjon, IRD) – The relative roles of anthropic and climatic factors on gerbila invasion in Senegal studied at three nested spatial scales.

2015-17          Zabala Albizua, Francisco Javier (25%, co-supervised by Xavier Lambin, University of Aberdeen, and Alexandre Millon, University of Aix-Marseille, Marie - Curie Post-doctoral fellowship) - Delivering better fitness estimators for wildlife ecology and management and effective monitoring. 

2015-16          Devoucoux, Pierrick (supervision 100%) – Impact of large transportation infrastructures on bird populations. The case of Little bustard in southern France.

2015-16          Santos, Raphael (80%, co-supervised by Nicolas Poulet, ONEMA) – Long-term trends in fish populations in France in relation to demographic strategy of the species.

2015-18          Courbin, Nicolas (50%, co-supervised by David Gremillet, CNRS) – Shearwaters as ecological indicator in Mediterraean sea, the relevance of combining demographic parameters and movements of individuals.

Couturier, Thibaut (supervision 100%) – Age, experience and habitat impact on Bonelli’s eagle productivity in France since 1990.

 

Doxa, Aggeliki  (supervision 100%) – Inferring dispersal dynamics from local population demographic modeling: the case of the slender-billed gull in the Camargue. 

PhD STUDENTS

2019-…          Perret Jan (50%, co-supervised by Anne Charpentier, CEFE). Title: optimization of plant monitoring or conservation agencies.

2017-20          Schwartz, Timothée (80%, co-supervised by Arnaud Béchet, Tour du Valat research station). Title: Are artificial shelters potential ecological-traps in restauration ecology?

2017-20          Canonne, Coline (80%, co-supervised by Daniel Maillard, French National Office for Game and Wildlife). Title:  comparative demography of mountane galliforms, relative impacts of global change and hunting pressure.

2017-20          Couet, Pauline (80%, co-supervised by François Gally, Cotentin Cetacean study Group). Title: Monitoring of small sedentary cetacean species. How to optimize dophins population monitoring from field work to data analyses?

2015-19          Chiffard-Caricaburu, Jules (75%, co-supervised by Gilles Nigel Yoccoz, University of Tromsoe). Title: The birds at high elevation as indicators of threatened ecosystems.

2014-17          Ibouroi Thani, Mohamed (80%, co-supervised by Claude Miaud, EPHE). Title: Habitat selection and population dynamics of Livingstone’s fruit bats in Comoros Islands.

2014-17          Guérin, Sandra (50%, co-supervised by Damien Picard, University of Angers). Title: Impact of large transportation infrastructure on metapopulation dynamics of amphibians.

2013-17          Acker, Paul (50%, co-supervised by Emmanuelle Cam, University of Toulouse).Title: The evolution of coloniality in gulls: the mechanisms of habitat selection in unpredictable environments.

2013-16          Francesiaz, Charlotte (80%, co-supervised by Claude Miaud, EPHE and Arnaud Béchet, Tour du Valat research station). Title: Habitat selection and coastline management for gulls and shorebirds..

2012-16          Cayuela, Hugo (25%, co-supervised by Pierre Joly, University of Lyon and Claude Miaud, EPHE).Title: Movements and breeding in a highly unstable habitat: the case of the yellow-bellied toad.

2011-14          Devoucoux, Pierrick (50%, co-supervised by Vincent Bretagnolle, CNRS).Title: Population dynamics of the little bustard: impact and consequences of high-speed railway construction in Nimes Costières.

2008-11          Couturier, Thibaut (50%, co-supervised by Marc Cheylan, EPHE, and Roger Prodon, EPHE).Title: Ecology and conservation of the Hermann’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni). A multiscale approach in a Mediterranean landscape.

2003-06          Moneglia, Pasquale (25%, co-supervised by Roger Prodon, EPHE, and Jean-Claude Thibaut, MNHN). Title: Corsican nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi) and Corsican pine (Pinus nigra ssp. laricio var. corsicana): Food resources and fire impact.

 

2003-06          Lyet, Arnaud (50%, co-supervised by Marc Cheylan, EPHE, and Roger Prodon, EPHE). Title: Conservation ofthe French population of Orsini’s viper, a multidisciplinary and practical approach.

 

BIOGRAPHIE

Janv. 2007- Juin 2008 : Post-doctorat au sein de l’équipe EBV-EPHE, CEFE-CNRS / Directeurs : Roger Prodon / Marc Cheylan.

Sept 2005- Sept. 2006 : ATER   au sein de l’équipe EBV-EPHE, CEFE-CNRS / Directeurs : Roger Prodon / Marc Cheylan.

Sept 2004- Sept 2005 : Divers Contrats pour Analyses Statistiques, publications et enseignement (notamment pour l’EPHE et le CBGP-INRA)

Sept 2003- Sept 2004 : ATER   au sein de l’équipe EBV-EPHE, CEFE-CNRS / Directeurs: Roger Prodon / Marc Cheylan

2002-2003 -  Divers Contrats pour analyses statistiques organismes de recherche (EPHE , INRA, CNRS) et de gestion d’espace naturels (CEEP )

Oct 1998- déc 2001 : Doctorat Biologie de l'Evolution, Université Montpellier II. Mention Très favorable.Bourse du MENRT du Ministère Français de la Recherche. Sujet «  évolution des stratégies de reproduction des Laridés » (Directeur : Jean-Dominique Lebreton, CEFE-CNRS, Montpellier)