Welcome to Newcomers

Welcome to Newcomers

Welcome to Newcomers!

  • Berta Ramiro Sanchez, research officer, joined BIOPAC team at MNHN in Paris, since 1th November, in collaboration with Boris Leroy.

Title of the scientific project: Mapping the biogeography of vulnerable marine ecosystems in the Southern Indian Ocean »

« Project on the biogeography of the Southern Indian Ocean to identify biogeographical regions of indicator taxa of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) in the Agreement Area of the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA). The project will develop distribution models of VME predicted occurrence, along with associated uncertainty measures, in order to create several state-of-the-art bioregionalisation schemes for the Agreement Area. The outputs will be used to provide advice to the SIOFA Scientific Committee in order to inform the management of bottom fisheries activities and the conservation of VMEs in the Agreement Area ».

Contact: berta.ramiro-sanchez@mnhn.fr

 

  • Johanna Faure, PhD, joined BIOPAC team at MNHN in Paris, since 1th November, under the supervision of Guy Duhamel and Clara Péron.

Title of the scientific project:   « Vulnérabilité des raies capturées par la pêcherie palangière ciblant la légine australe dans les ZEE de Kerguelen et Crozet »

« Elasmobranchs (sharks and skates and rays) are among the species most threatened by fishing globally. Their life-history traits make them particularly vulnerable to overexploitation when there are not subject to a specific management and these species are often caught by fishing vessels targetting other species, they are bycatch. These bycatch, most of the time discarded, sometimes cut off alive contitute a prioritary conservation issue for marine resource management. In the Southern Ocean, elasmobranchs species are few and the most abundant ones are found in benthic habitats at great depths. The french longline fishery targetting Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), managed by the french collectivity TAAF (Antarctic and Southern French territories) has a cautious stock management approach established from the beginning of the exploitation under the auspices of the CCAMLR (Commision for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources). Although the target species represents the majority of catches, between 15 and 30% of the catches are not targetted. Among these species, three skate and rays species, Bathyraja eatonii, Bathyraja irrasa and Amblyraja taaf.

The objectives of my researches are to improve biological and ecological knowledge on each species (growth, fecundity, mortality, etc) and to estimate the populations sizes and dynamics by modelling. An other aspect of my thesis is to establish operational solutions onboard of fishing vessels.

This work will allow to evaluate the vulnerability degree of these skates species bycatch of this fishery, establish monitoring tools for management and support fishermen to reduce skate and rays bycatch ».

Contact: johanna.faure@mnhn.fr

 

  • Amélie Lehuen, PhD, joined RECAP team at University of Caen Normandy, since the 2th november, under the supervision of Francis Orvain, in relation to the MELTING POT project.

Title of the scientific project:   « Marine Ecosystem Engineers Long-Term Evolution ModelING in resPOnse to climate change and sediment Transport in Seine EStuary »

« The doctoral project is to determine the optimal physical conditions for six species among the benthic fauna found in the Seine estuary, using the MARS3D physical model from IFREMER and biological data collected since 1990. In parallel, bioturbation models of the same species will be developed in order to be able to translate the effect of fauna on the evolution of the sediment (erosion / accretion) in the MARS3D model. The ultimate objective being to be able to spatially and temporally model the habitats of the species chosen via MARS3D, in order to be able to assess their evolution under future conditions, in 2050-2100, corresponding to the scenarios of the IPCC and thus assess the future of the ecosystems of the estuary ».

Contact: amelie.lehuen@unicaen.fr

 

  • Marie Deschler, PhD, joined ECOFUNC team since 1th October, in relation to the INCIDENCE project, under the supervision of Céline Boulangé-Lecomte (UMR SEBIO), Nathalie Niquil et Juliette Fauchot (BOREA Caen) ».

Title of the scientific project: «  Interactions et la communication chimique entre les diatomées toxiques Pseudo-nitzschia et les consommateurs primaires »

« Diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia are present in many marine ecosystems including the bay of Seine. These micro algae produce a neurotoxin the domoic acid. They may be responsible for harmful algal blooms with human health and socio-economic consequences. Despite studies on shellfish and upper trophic level contamination, the harmful effects of Pseudo-nitzschia on marine ecosystems are poorly studied. Very few is known about the impact of domoic acid in food webs, especially on mesozooplankton mostly represented by copepods. These organisms may operate as a vector toward higher trophic levels for the toxin. The presence of copepods has also been shown to modulate toxicity of some Pseudo-nitzschia species. The NEMESIS thesis will explore for the first time the interactions between Pseudo-nitzschia and its planktonic primary consumers of the Bay of Seine. Using controlled laboratory experiments, the reciprocal influence of both partners will be studied, focusing on physiology and behaviour. The chemical communication involved in this interaction will be also explored. Finally, an in situ approach will allow to validate laboratory observations ».

Contactmariedeschler@gmail.com

 

  • Aurore Sauvey, research engineer, joined ECOFUNC team since 28 September, in relation to the PHENOMEN project coordonnated by Juliette Fauchot, in collaboration with Eric Goberville et Dominique Lamy (SOMAQUA team) 

Title of the scientific project: « PHENOMEN - Phénologie et variabilité interannuelle de la diversité des diatomées toxiques Pseudo-nitzschia : facteurs de contrôle et influence sur les concentrations en toxine amnésiante en Baie de Seine. Analyse de 10 années d’observation et approches innovantes »

« My current research is part of the PHENOMEN project (2020-2024). The objective of this project is to precisely identify the link between environmental conditions and the development of different Pseudo-nitzschia species, and the link between the blooms of these different species and the presence of domoic acid - both particulate and dissolved - in the ecosystem of the Bay of Seine. In this context, I participate in the biostatistical analysis of 10 years of observations (2012-2022) at the Luc-sur-Mer sampling station as well as in the development of innovative approaches to improve and diversify the parameters studied in order to characterize the factors associated with acute and chronic risks of amnesic toxin in the Bay of Seine ».

Contactauroresauvey@gmail.com

 

  • Maud Thermes, research engineer, joined ECOFUNC team since  14 September, in relation to the APPEAL project, under the supervision of Nathalie Niquil ».

Title of the scientific project:  « Projet APPEAL tâche 4.3 : Modélisation du Socio-Ecosystème du parc éolien flottant Groix Belle-Île ».

« Développement du modèle socio-écosystémique au moyen de digraph orientés dans le cadre du projet de parc éolien flottant de Groix Belle-Île. Ce travail est basé sur le réseau d’acteur développé par le travail de terrain effectué par une sociologue. Le but étant d’examiner les effets indirects, par le biais du réseau trophique, de différentes mesures de gestion de l’environnement. Cette étude s’appuiera sur un réseau d’interactions positives, négatives ou nulles. La méthode des Bayesian Belief Networks sera appliquée et permettra de quantifier les probabilités d’effets positifs, neutres ou négatifs de la perturbation de chaque élément du système socio-écologique, par les cascades au travers du réseau trophique. Une attention particulière sera portée sur les questions susceptibles d’interférer avec l’appropriation par le grand public ».

Contactmaud.thermes@unicaen.fr