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Most species are declining due to human-induced perturbations: climate change, habitat destruction, exotic species introduction... Stopping this biological erosion has become a major challenge for humanity. But proactive biodiversity conservation and management are difficult without a deeper understanding of processes determining species and population viability. This understanding is the best warranty of long-term efficiency of conservation and/or of management decisions that are taken.
Our team, led by Nicolas Schtickzelle, focuses on viability and dynamics of (meta)populations in a context of biodiversity conservation. More specifically, our research aims to study, quantitatively and on model systems, the effect of major perturbations on species viability. We model the functioning of animal populations and analyse the link between environmental conditions and population performance. We use mathematical modelling to try and predict the long term effect of plausible scenarios such as the increase of the pressures on the species or, on the contrary, conservation and protection measures.
Answering questions raised by this research theme requires the use of quantitative methods (experimental design, statistics, computer modelling) to best exploit the data gathered by field or laboratory experiments. Research in our team primarily focuses on butterflies and microorganisms, but other organisms are also studied in side projects (salmon, birds). Many butterfly species are indeed good model organisms to study in situ the reaction of species to perturbations in their environment: their populations are well delimited, easy to study, and rapidly react to perturbations due to their short life cycle. The study of real populations in nature is nevertheless limited by numerous practical constraints, and hardly allows rigorous experimentation given the many uncontrolled phenomena. The development of microcosms - small artificial worlds inhabited by microorganisms - in the laboratory is an essential complement: with them, it is possible to test specific aspects of the links between populations and their environment.
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The zigzag arrow symbolizes the current decrease in biodiversity. The expanding butterflies reflect our will to contribute to its recovery.
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