I'm a Doctor of Biology from France ! My PhD focuses on the influence of environmental constraints on individuals' foraging strategies in an alpine chamois population. In the context of global warming, I have been aiming to understand how individuals may adjust their space use and activity budgets in response to summer extreme temperatures, while still addressing their energetic needs, and investigating the potential opportunity costs related to behavioural thermoregulation.
To discover more about my publications:
With the ongoing rise in global temperatures, animals are expected to spend more time and energy on thermoregulation. In response to high temperatures, animals typically seek thermal refuges or reduce activity during the hottest hours. However, the lower resource availability in refuges, combined with reduced foraging, may create indirect energetic costs, leading to further behavioral adjustments. To understand these responses, we studied alpine chamois behavior in relation to temperature and access to thermal refuges within their home range. Using GPS data from 26 females in the French Alps, we found that females increased the use of forests and northern slopes as temperatures rose above 17.8°C. Those with access to forests increased foraging time, while those with access to northern slopes spent more time relocating than foraging. Understanding these nuanced responses is crucial for wildlife managers to protect key thermal cover habitats amidst climate change.
The chamois, belonging to the Rupicapra genus, is the most abundant mountain ungulate in Europe and the Near East, consisting of two species: the northern chamois (R. rupicapra) and the southern chamois (R. pyrenaica). This overview highlights the current research trends and challenges in chamois research and conservation across various fields including taxonomy, genetics, ecology, behavior, physiology, disease, management, and conservation. While research on Rupicapra has a long history and has significantly contributed to understanding mountain ungulates, there are notable gaps in knowledge, particularly regarding species and subspecies diversity. Research efforts have primarily focused on the Alpine chamois (R. r. rupicapra) and, to a lesser extent, the Pyrenean chamois (R. p. pyrenaica), with limited studies on other subspecies or geographic areas. Addressing this disparity and understanding the effects of environmental heterogeneity on behavioral, physiological, and life history traits are crucial, especially in the context of ongoing climate change. Key challenges include quantitatively assessing reproductive success, studying foraging patterns, and investigating disease dynamics. Resolving taxonomic disputes, identifying subspecies hybridization, assessing hunting impacts, and developing reliable abundance estimation methods are essential for conservation efforts. Despite being well-studied, substantial field efforts to collect diverse data on different populations and subspecies are necessary for the successful future of chamois research and conservation.
Based in Chambéry, France
PhD from Université Grenoble Alpes & Swansea University
Formerly associated with LECA (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine) & SLAM (Swansea Lab for Animal Movement)