Ph.D student 2013-2016 (thesis defended on December, 13^th 2016)

Campus du CNRS

1919, route de Mende
34293 Montpellier cedex 5
Tel: +33(0)4 67 61 33 27

Email: afargevieille[at]gmail.com

Research interests:

Evolution of communication signals

Evolution of life-history traits

Comparative methods

Ph.D project:

Sexual selection and the evolution of female ornaments: A study of female plumage colouration using comparative analyses and long-term data sets from blue tit populations

Supervisors:  Claire Doutrelant and Arnaud Grégoire

Topic:  My thesis focused on understanding the contribution of sexual selection in the evolution and maintenance of conspicuous colourations in female birds. 

A first part tested how paternal care and female reproductive costs drove the evolution of female plumage colouration in songbirds, by the mean of a comparative study using spectrometry, avian visual models and life-history traits (Fargevieille et al. In prep).

In a second part, a long-term project data set on blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) was used to test hypotheses related to the evolution of female ornamentation. Ten years of plumage colouration, from four populations were used to assess the evolution of female ornaments. Genetic correlation (Charmantier et al. 2017), relationships between colouration and survival rate or reproductive success (unpublished) were tested by the means of quantitative genetics, CMR analyses and within-study meta-analyses. Quantification of the degree of assortative mating at the population level - considering spatio-temporal variation - was also tested (Fargevieille et al. 2017). It led to a more thorough study at the individual level trying to understand factors underlying assortative mating in our populations (Fargevieille et al. In prep.). 

• Publications:
  • Fargevieille, A., A. Grégoire, A. Charmantier, Maria del Rey Granado, and C. Doutrelant. 2017. Assortative mating by colored ornaments in blue tits: space and time matter. Ecology and Evolution 7:2069-2078. (doi:10.1002/ece3.2822)
    
  • Charmantier, A., M. E. Wolak, A. Gregoire, A. Fargevieille, and C. Doutrelant. 2017. Colour ornamentation in the blue tit: quantitative genetic (co)variances across sexes. Heredity 118:125-134. (doi:10.1038/hdy.2016.70)
  • Charmantier, A., C. Doutrelant, G. Dubuc-Messier, A. Fargevieille, and M. Szulkin. 2016. Mediterranean blue tits as a case study of local adaptation. Evolutionary Applications 9:135-152. (doi:10.1111/eva.12282)
    
  • Lambrechts, M. M., J. Blondel, C. Bernard, S. P. Caro, A. Charmantier, V. Demeyrier, C. Doutrelant, G. Dubuc-Messier, A. Fargevieille, C. de Franceschi, P. Giovannini, A. Grégoire, S. Hurtrez-Boussès, A. Lucas, M. C. Mainwaring, P. Marrot, A. Mennerat, S. Perret, and P. Perret. 2016. Exploring Biotic and Abiotic Determinants of Nest Size in Mediterranean Great Tits (Parus major) and Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). Ethology 122:492:501. (doi:10.111/eth.12494)
    
  • Lambrechts, M. M., P. Marrot, A. Fargevieille, P. Giovannini, A. Lucas, V. Demeyrier, A. Midamegbe, P. Perret, A. Grégoire, A. Charmantier, and C. Doutrelant. 2016. Nest size is not closely related to breeding success in Blue Tits: A long-term nest-box study in a Mediterranean oak habitat. The Auk 133:198-204. (doi:10.1642/auk-15-214.1)
    
  • Lambrechts, M. M., V. Demeyrier, A. Fargevieille, P. Giovannini, A. Lucas, P. Marrot, A. Midamegbe, P. Perret, A. Charmantier, C. Doutrelant, and A. Grégoire. 2014. Great Tits build shallower nests than Blue Tits. Avian Biology Research 7:251-254 (doi:10.3184/175815514X14162394225987)
    
  • Fincke, O.M., A. Fargevieille, and T.D. Schultz. 2007. Lack of innate preference for morph and species identity in mate-searching Enallagma damselflies. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 61:1121-1131. (doi:10.1007/s00265-006-0345-3)

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•  Oral communications in international congresses/conferences:
  • Paternal care and reproductive costs drive the evolution of female ornamentation: comparative analyses in songbirds. XVI^th Congress of the European Society of Evolutionary Biology, Groningen (The Netherlands); August 20^th-25^th 2017
    
  • Evolution of female ornaments: a role of male mate choice? 16^th Congress of the International Society of Behavioral Ecology, Exeter (United Kingdom); July 28^th- August 2^nd 2016
  • Temporal and spatial variation in assortative mating: an example in Blue Tit Mediterranean populations. 11^th Conference of Ecology & Behaviour, Toulouse (France); May 18^th-21^st 2015.

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• Poster communications in international congresses/conferences:
  • Spatio-temporal variation in assortative mating: an example in Blue Tit Mediterranean populations. XV^th Congress of the European Society of Evolutionary Biology, Lausanne (Switzerland); August 10^th-14^th 2015.
  • Assessing the role of sexual selection in the evolution and maintenance of female ornamentation: comparative approaches in birds. 1^st Congress on Modern Phylogenetic Comparative Methods in Evolution, Sevilla (Spain); November 12^th-14^th 2014.

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  (Pictures courtesy of Marie Danielsen, David Grémillet and Stéphan Tillo)