Theoretical and applied ecology

Coordinator : Estelle Pitard

We are interested in various topics in theoretical ecology since a few years, which are completed by a few applied topics were data can be gathered.

One case study is the study of the spatiotemporal dynamics of seagrass growing in coastal lagoons, in particular in the Bagnas reserve near Agde (Menu et al 2021, and thesis by Adam Bernard 2021-2024 codirected by François Munoz fromLiphy in Grenoble).

This work is based on the analysis of satellite images (Sentinel 2) and their classification to track the seagrass occupancy by means of machine learning algorithms. This can be done over several years thanks to the temporal frequency of the satelliute data (at best every 5 days). Moreover, environmental parameters (such as temperature, salinity, depth, dry events,..) are measured frequently, which allowed us to understand the correlations between those parameters and the seagrass occupancy, as well as its resilience to changes.

Finally, the spatial distribution of seagrass allows to gain insight into the dynamic mecanisms at stake, such as colonization and extinction. These mechanisms can be represented by simple reaction diffusion stochastic processes (6 months internship of R. Ayad, interdisciplinary IDIL master student, article in preparation with R. Ayad, J. Dorignac, F. Geniet).

We will investigate further such stochastic processes of interest for different applications, such as recovery after stress, geometrical constraints (for example for the continent-islands model), or for several interacting species (in collaboration with Maxime Clenet from Sherbrooke University and François Munoz, Liphy Grenoble).