Forest landscapes are generally complex socio-ecological systems, with spatially heterogeneous land
covers and multifaceted interactions involving biological, economic and socio-cultural processes.
Forest landscapes support large populations and provide a large bundle of ecosystem services. In the
era of global changes, with intensifying perturbations (e.g., droughts, fires) and associated cascading
effects (e.g., insect epidemics following drought stress), it becomes critical to understand the
resilience of forest landscapes and to predict the fate of multiple ecosystem services as a function of
contrasted management scenarios.
Facing such a challenge, modelling is widely considered to be an effective way of addressing
questions related to multiple ecosystem services and their dynamics. A commonly used modelling
approach is to couple several quantitative models, each of which allowing one or more services to be
assessed independently. However, one of the main drawbacks of this approach is that it may not
adequately take into account the potentially close interdependencies between these services.
Recently, network-based models have become increasingly popular and are seen as a promising
alternative for dealing with multiple ecosystem services. The latter approach represents a complex
landscape into a simplified network, in which the associations between ecosystem services can be
grasped more holistically.
This postdoctoral project aims to explore the potential of an existing network-based model, namely
DORIAN, in the case of multiple ecosystem services (Mao et al. 2021). DORIAN is a discrete-event
model that computes the dynamics of any socio-ecological system in the form of an ecosystem
(interaction) network composed of two elements: (i) discrete objects (‘nodes’), which correspond to
concrete (e.g., a forest, a village, etc.) or abstract (e.g., a season) components of a system, and (ii)
discrete rules (‘edges’), which mimic biophysical and/or socio-ecological processes (Gaucherel et al.
2019). Each node has a binary and qualitative state: ‘On’ or ‘Off’. The appearance or disappearance
of some nodes, or the appearance or non-occurrence of some edges, can lead to the appearance,
maintenance or disappearance of one or more ecosystem services along to the computed system
trajectory. This ecosystem network is defined using a formalism derived from theoretical computer
science (i.e., Petri nets and some logics).
In the framework of the eco2adapt project, the model will be tested in two Living Labs (LLs):
(i) the Bordeaux pine plantation in France (in collaboration with Dr. Hervé Jactel’s group) and/or
(ii) the Mulan forest in China (in collaboration with Prof. Shuirong Wu’s group).
Each of the two Living Labs hosts a forest-based socio-ecological system that provides multiple
ecosystem services and is exposed to one or more perturbations linked to global changes. In each LL,
social studies including interviews and surveys will be conducted to fully understand the context of
the forest-based socio-ecological system and to identify possible management scenarios. Then, a
holistic modelling will then be carried out for the targeted system to test the impact of the multi-risks
and management scenarios on the future of the whole system and its associated ecosystem services.
Via the modelling work, the postdoc is expected to (i) standardize the use of discrete modelling in
the case of ecosystem services, and (ii) produce a set of computed dynamics for the studied
forested landscapes.
References
Gaucherel, C., Pommereau, F. (2019). Using discrete systems to exhaustively characterize the
dynamics of an integrated ecosystem. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10(9), 1615-1627.
Mao, Z., Centanni, J., Pommereau, F., Stokes, A., Gaucherel, C. (2021). Maintaining biodiversity
promotes the multifunctionality of social-ecological systems: holistic modelling of a mountain
system. Ecosystem Services, 47, 101220.
Co-advisors:
Zhun Mao, INRAE – UMR AMAP (zhun.mao@inrae.fr)
Cédric Gaucherel, INRAE – UMR AMAP (cedric.gaucherel@inrae.fr)
Potential collaborators: other members of the eco2adapt project
Desired candidate profile
– Holding a PhD with a strong background in ecological modelling, programming and/or data
analytical skills
– Clear communication in English in both spoken and written forms
– Good interpersonal skills needed for teamwork
– Knowing social approaches, including interviews and surveys will be a bonus, but not essential
– Speaking French or Chinese will be a bonus, but not essential.
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