PhD student – University of Montpellier

I’m a PhD student interested in animal behaviour and cognition, and how they translate into the spatial and demographic dynamics of populations. During my PhD, I focus on the interplay between individual movements and the dynamics of population networks through two case studies: 1) migratory connectivity and its relationship with the demography of migratory populations; 2) informed dispersal and its implications for the structuring and the stability of larid colonies. Linking individual and population-level processes leads me to draw on methods from both behavioural ecology and population biology.

Supervisors: Pierre-André CROCHET (DR, CNRS), Aurélien BESNARD (DE, EPHE).

Contact information

Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0316-5041
CEFE, 2ème étage aile C, bureau 202A

PhD candidate – Université de Montpellier

Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.

PHD project: What are the drivers of European otter recolonization in France? Making the best of non-invasive sampling with statistical ecology.

Supervisors: Olivier Gimenez (CEFE-CNRS), Sébastien Devillard (LBBE)

Project outline

The aim of my PhD is to study the recolonization of the European otter (Lutra lutra), which has been taking place in France for over a decade. My research mostly focuses on the spatial dimension of recolonization with three main objectives.

First, I am building distribution models that integrate both protocol-based data from a national monitoring plan and opportunistic data to map the species’ range expansion. I will then investigate how this expansion is favoured or hindered by habitat characteristics and landscape connectivity.

In the same time, I am studying how to include alternative sampling strategies like environment DNA in the monitoring plan for this species, using a case study in several catchments near Montpellier.

Finally, using sequencing data from scats collected in several areas, I am using capture-recapture methods to compare the socio-spatial organization of otters – home range size, sex-ratio, individual turnover – in their core range and in the colonisation front.

Publications

• AMÉLINEAU, Françoise, TARROUX, Arnaud, LACOMBE, Simon, et al. Multi‐colony tracking of two pelagic seabirds with contrasting flight capability illustrates how windscapes shape migratory movements at an ocean‐basin scale. Ecography, 2023, p. e06496.

• LACOMBE, Simon, IMS, Rolf, YOCCOZ, Nigel, et al.Effects of resource availability and interspecific interactions on Arctic and red foxes' winter use of ungulate carrion in the Fennoscandian low-Arctic tundra. In preprint.

PhD candidate – Université de Montpellier

Doctorante en écologie statistique, j’étudie l’apport des méthodes de suivi non-invasif, de l’intégration de données et de la modélisation statistique à la compréhension de l’écologie des populations de carnivores en France. Je travaille en particulier sur les questions de connectivité.

I’m a PhD student in statistical ecology. I study the contribution of non-invasive monitoring, data integration and statistical modelling to study the ecology of carnivore populations in France. I work in particular on connectivity issues.

Supervisor: Olivier Gimenez (CEFE-CNRS)
Co-supervisor: Cyril Milleret (NMBU, University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway)

Contact information

Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.
Twitter / X: @MaelisKervellec
Bureau 202, 2ème étage aile C