Context:
Human activities impact non-human life forms at an unprecedented scale, causing a massive decline in current biodiversity (Pimm et al., 2014). Insular species are particularly vulnerable since ca. 75% of recorded species extinctions have occurred on islands, and these ecosystems continue to face significant threats (Fernandez-Palacios et al., 2021). Biological invasions, over-exploitation, and land-use changes are especially harmful to native insular species (Leclerc et al., 2018). Identifying which species are affected by specific threats is crucial, but studying the traits of species (i.e., characteristics linked to their ecological roles, see Violle et al. (2007)) provides a deeper understanding of how particular species are vulnerable to specific threats (Marino et al., 2022). Looking at species traits offers a more mechanistic insight into community dynamics, including species’ resilience to environmental pressures and human impacts (McLean et al., 2019).
Leclerc et al. (2020) demonstrated that certain ecological strategies are more strongly associated with specific threats in insular systems: for instance, mammals threatened by wildlife exploitation or cultivation were more diurnal while mammals threatened by biological invasions were more nocturnal than the global pool of insular mammals. Plus, insular species are affected by multiple threats conjointly (Leclerc et al., 2018). However, less is known about the shared traits of species affected by multiple threats simultaneously, and whether these threats impact different portions of the functional space occupied by all island species. The aim of this internship is to study the vertebrate communities of several archipelagos affected by over-exploitation, invasive species, and land-use changes, and to assess the functional traits of species impacted by these multiple combinations of threats.
Tasks:
Based on the RIVAGE database of native species assemblages on islands, the intern will first extract information on species’ extinction risk and the main threats affecting them with the IUCN RedList database (2024). Second, the intern will select relevant morphological and life-history traits from open-access trait databases, such as AVONET or COMBINE, which integrate morphological measurement, life-history and ecological functions of species (Tobias et al., 2021; Soria et al., 2021). With these two types of data, the intern will compare the traits of species pertaining to different groups of threats and extinction risk. Trait comparison will be made using uni-dimensional statistics (e.g., Bray-Curtis dissimilarity (Richard et al., 2021) and multi-dimensional techniques based on trait spaces (Mammola & Cardoso, 2020). The intern will first focus on birds but the project could be extended to mammals.
Methods implemented:
– Collecting data and handling large databases from the main open access database in the field of ecology and biological conservation.
– Analyzing large sets of data using R or Python softwares, including dimension reduction, statistical analysis and visualization.
Expected outputs:
– An internship report in English;
– A repository with the data and scripts used for implementing the analyses;
– An oral presentation of the results (lab meeting or workshop).
Skills Required:
– Proficiency in R or Python, with the ability to work independently
– Experience with database management, including data extraction and manipulation using tools like `tidyverse` in R; experience in spatial data handling would be appreciated
– Solid statistical skills, including familiarity with multidimensional reduction methods (e.g., PCA) and basic statistical tests
– A good command of written and spoken English (the project involves co-supervision by French and Spanish researchers)
Starting date and duration:
Early 2025 (flexible dates), duration of 4 to 6 months.
Location (to be discussed) and supervision:
Option 1: in France. This internship could take place in the BioM team of the Ecology, Systematics, Evolution laboratory (UMR 8079) at the Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (91400). Supervisors on site: Clara Marino (part time), Martin Philippe (part time), and Céline Bellard (full time). Online meetings with Ana Benítez López.
Option 2: in Spain. This internship could take place in the Ana Benítez López team of the Departamento de Biogeografía y Cambio Global del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (BGC-MNCN). Supervisors on site: Martin Philippe (full time), Clara Marino (part time), and Ana Benítez López (full time). Online meetings with Céline Bellard.
Salary: if located in France, the salary is set at 15% of the hourly social security ceiling. If located in Spain, there is no remuneration, but the intern could visit the partner labs in Montpellier or Paris with paid missions.
Application and contacts:
Send a resume and a cover letter to Clara Marino and Martin Philippe. Applicants will be shortlisted for an oral interview, potentially including Céline Bellard and Ana Benítez López.
Clara Marino (postdoctoral researcher at the FRB-Cesab in Montpellier): clara.marino@fondationbiodiversite.fr
Martin Philippe-Lesaffre (postdoctoral researcher at MNCN-CSIC in Madrid): martin.philippe@mncn.csic.es
Céline Bellard (CNRS researcher in Gif-sur-Yvette): celine.bellard@universite-paris-saclay.fr
Ana Benítez López (MNCN-CSIC researcher in Madrid): ana.benitez@mncn.csic.es
References:
Fernández-Palacios, José María, et al. « Scientists’ warning–The outstanding biodiversity of islands is in peril. » Global Ecology and Conservation 31 (2021): e01847.
IUCN. 2024. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2024-1. https://www.iucnredlist.org.
Leclerc, Camille, Franck Courchamp, and Céline Bellard. « Insular threat associations within taxa worldwide. » Scientific reports 8.1 (2018): 6393.
Leclerc, Camille, et al. « Global changes threaten functional and taxonomic diversity of insular species worldwide. » Diversity and Distributions 26.4 (2020): 402-414.
McLean, M. et al. Trait structure and redundancy determine sensitivity to disturbance in marine fish communities. Glob. Change Biol. 25, 3424–3437 (2019). DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14662
Mammola, Stefano, and Pedro Cardoso. « Functional diversity metrics using kernel density n‐dimensional hypervolumes. » Methods in Ecology and Evolution 11.8 (2020): 986-995.
Marino, Clara, Camille Leclerc, and Céline Bellard. « Profiling insular vertebrates prone to biological invasions: What makes them vulnerable?. » Global Change Biology 28.3 (2022): 1077-1090.
Pimm, S. L., et al., The biodiversity of species and their rates of extinction, distribution, and protection. Science 344,1246752(2014). DOI:10.1126/science.1246752
Richards, Cerren, Robert SC Cooke, and Amanda E. Bates. « Biological traits of seabirds predict extinction risk and vulnerability to anthropogenic threats. » Global Ecology and Biogeography 30.5 (2021): 973-986.
Soria, Carmen D., et al. « COMBINE: a coalesced mammal database of intrinsic and extrinsic traits. » (2021): e03344.
Tobias, Joseph A., et al. « AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. » Ecology Letters 25.3 (2022): 581-597.
Violle, Cyrille, et al. « Let the concept of trait be functional!. » Oikos116.5 (2007): 882-892. DOI: 10.1111/j.0030-1299.2007.15559.x
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