Evolutionary Ecology
The department of Evolutionary Ecology gathers complementary skills in behavioural ecology, population dynamics, population biology, community ecology, and methodology (statistics and modelling). The research done in the department aims at studying how animal species evolve in a changing world by understanding the causes of the evolution of traits, adaptations and interactions. For that, we consider different levels of organization from individuals to populations and communities. Because organisms cannot be considered isolated from other biotic factors, we consider pathogens but also competing species within communities.
We study how individuals adapt to their environments that are largely impacted by anthropic pressures, and how life history traits and behaviour evolve in response to these pressures. Although we mainly focus on phenotype, we more and more consider the mechanistic link between the genotype and the phenotype. We develop the theoretical framework of our discipline through a conceptual and modeling approach. In parallel, we test hypotheses that arise from theoretical predictions through experimental, comparative and observational approaches on different biological models (insects, birds, mammals). Experimental approaches are developed in the laboratory (insect model) and in natura (bird, insect and mammal models). Observational and comparative research is mainly concerned with vertebrates. Our approaches are also, and increasingly, interested in the mechanisms of adaptive responses. In addition to the classical approaches of demographic analysis and trait change, methods of ecophysiology, chemical ecology and molecular biology are used.
Our department hosts several long-term studies of wild populations of different species. These long-term studies offer a valuable way to understand how biotic and abiotic factors affect individuals’ life history traits, and the functioning of populations in natura. Five populations of mammalian species are thus monitored for several years (more than 40 years on roe deer, 30 on Alpine marmots, 25 years on cats, 16 years on zebras, and 20 years on impala). Two of our study sites (La Sassière in Vanoise National Park (Alpine marmots) and Hwange National Park) have been certified as “Site d’Etude en Ecologie Globale” (SEEG), and two (ZA “Hwange” and ZA “Antarctic and sub-Antarctic”) were certified as “Zone Atelier” by the CNRS.
The department of Evolutionary ecology is also largely involved in training activities. Lastly, we also have strong socio-economic relationships. Indeed, because we address questions of major societal interest (global warming, public health) we tightly collaborate with socio-economic partners (Office Français de la Biodiversité, Vanoise National Park, Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, Office National des Forêts, etc.) and participate to general public and media events.
Publications
Display of 1 to 30 publications on 2474 in total
Modelling connectivity at a regional scale during seasonal movements of the greater horseshoe bat
Journal of Applied Ecology .
Journal article
see the publicationNote d'appui scientifique et technique relative aux modalités de surveillance et de lutte contre la brucellose des bouquetins dans les massifs du Bargy et des Aravis
: 19 p.
Report
see the publicationAvis de l’Anses relatif à la « demande d'évaluation du risque de résurgence de la brucellose suite à l'utilisation d'embryons issus du foyer de brucellose bovine en Haute Savoie en 2021»
: 36 p.
Report
see the publicationPerformance of Segmentation Methods Applied to River continuum at Network scale
Conférence internationale I.S.Rivers 2025 .
Poster
see the publicationNatural Disturbances and Connectivity Drive Seasonal Taxonomic and Trait Patterns of Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities Across Europe
Global Ecology and Biogeography . 34 ( 5 )
DOI: 10.1111/geb.70047
Journal article
see the publicationExploring the spatio-temporal dynamics of disturbed metacommunities: A mechanistic modeling approach to species resistance and resilience strategies in drying river networks
Ecological Modelling . 506 : 111136
Journal article
see the publicationContinent-wide differentiation of fitness traits and patterns of climate adaptation among European populations of Drosophila melanogaster
Evolution Letters .
Journal article
see the publicationA New Census of Alien Weeds Present in Crops of Oranie (Northwest Algeria) and a Comparative Study of Their Functional Traits With Native Weeds
Agriculture and Forestry Journal . 9 ( 1 ) : 23-30
Journal article
see the publicationiPAR: A framework for modelling and inferring information about disease spread when the populations at risk are unknown
PLoS Computational Biology . 21 ( 6 ) : e1012622
Journal article
see the publicationImpacts sur la santé publique de la dynamique des populations de renards
Food Risk Assess Europe . 3 ( 2 )
Journal article
see the publicationPositive covariation between current reproduction and subsequent performance in a raptor: Is the devil in the details?
Ecology .
DOI: 10.1002/ecy.70132
Journal article
see the publicationImpact of chlordecone pollution on biodiversity: The blind spot of 15 years of public policy in the French West Indies
Preprint
see the publicationZero‐shot animal behaviour classification with vision‐language foundation models
Methods in Ecology and Evolution . 16 ( 7 ) : 1460-1472
Journal article
see the publicationEnvironmental factors governing spatio-temporal series of aquatic vegetation in the Bagnas lagoon
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science . 319 : 109261
Journal article
see the publicationThe effects of climate on bat morphology across space and time
Ecography .
DOI: 10.1002/ecog.07663
Journal article
see the publicationImpacts of chlordecone on biodiversity: A review
Projet ANR LiCOCO – Workshop de mi-parcours .
Conference paper
see the publicationHarmonisation of the diagnostic performances of serological ELISA tests for C. burnetii in ruminants in the absence of a gold standard: Optimal cut-offs and performances reassessment
Preventive Veterinary Medicine . 239 : 106509
Journal article
see the publicationRobust abundance estimation of harvested populations from low quality time series data: A red deer case study
Ecological Indicators . 173 ( 113398 )
Journal article
see the publicationCauses of Death and Screening for Toxicants and Hemopathogens of European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) from a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Northern France
Journal of wildlife diseases . 61 ( 1 ) : 3766-3774.e3
Journal article
see the publicationHow does ageing affect life history traits and cold tolerance in summer‐versus winter‐acclimated fruit flies?
Ecological Entomology .
DOI: 10.1111/een.13437
Journal article
see the publicationSpecial Feature: Intraspecific variation in ecology and evolution
Journal of Animal Ecology . 94 ( 3 ) : 262–267
Journal article
see the publicationLa diversification de la protéine kinase R contribue à la spécificité des interactions entre chauves–souris et virus
Comptes Rendus. Biologies . 348 : 35 - 41
DOI: 10.5802/crbiol.170
Journal article
see the publicationContinent‐Wide Drivers of Spatial Synchrony in Breeding Demographic Structure Across Wild Great Tit Populations
Ecology Letters . 28 ( 2 )
DOI: 10.1111/ele.70079
Journal article
see the publicationEstimation des densités de deux populations de marmottes Alpines en Savoie
Report
see the publicationZinc Sulfur Nanoparticles Cause Both the Negatory Vitality and Bioaccumulation on Gammarus pulex
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology . 114 ( 3 ) : 36
Journal article
see the publicationEuropean distribution and intramuscular pathogenicity of divergent lyssaviruses West Caucasian bat virus and Lleida bat lyssavirus
iScience . 28 ( 2 ) : 111738
Journal article
see the publicationExploring the role of transposable elements to sex gap in longevity in Drosophila species
Preprint
see the publicationTransdisciplinary Epidemiology to Better Understand, Prevent and Control Emerging Transboundary Animal Diseases
12
Antler size decreases with increasing age: evidence of reproductive senescence in male Fallow Deer (Dama dama )
Journal of Mammalogy .
Journal article
see the publication
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