Postdoctoral position (F/M) in Lynx Dispersal Simulation for 16 months
The Foundation KORA and the Office Français de la Biodiversité (OFB) are both in charge of large carnivore monitoring in Switzerland and France, respectively.
The Foundation KORA studies the life history of the lynx, wolf and wildcat and monitors the development of their populations, as well as those of the bear and golden jackal. KORA observes the impact of large carnivores on our cultural landscape and develops the basis for a low-conflict coexistence between large carnivores and humans. KORA advises the federal office, the cantons, gamekeepers and other experts responsible for the practical management of wildlife. KORA makes information available to all interested parties and promotes dialogue about wildlife in society.
The most important tasks are:
Monitoring: Monitoring the development of the predator populations, in particular large carnivores, in Switzerland;
Research: Researching the life history of carnivores in our multi-use landscape and their interactions with humans and other animal species;
Information: Providing information to the authorities, interested parties and the general public.
Further information: www.kora.ch
The Office Français de la Biodiversité (OFB) was created on 1st January 2020 to protect and restore biodiversity in Metropolitan France and its Overseas Territories. It is a public institution under the authority of the ministries responsible for Ecology and Agriculture & Food.
5 complementary roles:
• Sharing knowledge, research and expertise about species, habitats and their uses
• Environmental and wildlife health policing
• Supporting the implementation of public policies
• Assisting and supporting protected natural area managers
• Supporting stakeholders and mobilizing civil society
Further information: https://www.ofb.gouv.fr/en
The foundation KORA and the OFB are looking for a postdoctoral candidate from January 2025 for 16 months
Your tasks
• Contacting partners (already part of the Eurolynx network or not) to collect existing data about (dispersing) lynx, environmental variables and linear infrastructures in Western Europe;
• Data cleaning;
• Getting familiar with the existing lynx IBMs, mostly the one coded in R from Bauduin et al. (in revision) and applying it to the data;
• Proposing and exploring different types of analysis to evaluate crossings regarding the different types of infrastructures (for details see Appendix);
• Coding the road resistance in R in the dispersal process of the lynx IBM;
• Writing scientific articles about the results.
Your profile
• PhD in ecology or another discipline relevant to the subject;
• Fluent in English. Speaking French is a plus;
• High programming knowledge in R. Coding in other languages (e.g., C++) is a plus;
• Good knowledge of geographic information systems (ArcGis, QGis, R-GIS);
• Knowledge in individual-based models is a plus;
• Experience in working with (large) data sets from different sources (e.g., GPS data, environmental data), data cleaning, spatial or connectivity analyses
• Proactive, independent, team oriented, flexible, contact friendly, responsible, commitment and precise work.
Our services
• Versatile, dynamic and interesting postdoctoral position;
• International cooperation and establishing contacts;
• The ability to work in highly motivated, cross-disciplinary, close-knit teams;
• High professional and methodical support;
Workplaces
The main workplace will be Montpellier, France and the secondary workplace will be Ittigen, Switzerland.
Start
January 2025. Exact date will be chosen with the selected candidate.
Salary
81,600 – 90,000 euros per year, gross.
Possibility of 80% workload.
Contact
Please send 1) a cover letter explaining your qualifications based on the project description, 2) your CV and 3) (work) references, exclusively by e-mail by October 31st 2024 at the latest to Fridolin Zimmermann (KORA, f.zimmermann@kora.ch) and Sarah Bauduin (OFB, sarah.bauduin@ofb.gouv.fr). In your email, please include the subject heading of “lynx dispersal postdoctoral application”. Interviews for selected candidates will be held by mid-November. Fridolin Zimmermann or Sarah Bauduin will be happy to answer any questions you may have. We look forward to receiving your application!
Detailed description of the postdoctoral project
Background and goals
The reintroduction of the lynx has taken place some 50 years ago in different mountain ranges across Western Europe. Today these reintroduced populations are all still small, isolated and inbred due to few founders (Mueller et al. 2022). What needs to be done now is the genetic remedy of inbred reintroduced populations and a large-scale connection between the populations in Western Europe.
In a complicated and resource-constrained environment as observed in most of European landscapes, it is particularly challenging for wildlife conservationists, scientists, and policymakers to optimise outsourced resources, coordinate actions and take the right decisions in due time. As such, models are useful tools among other to test different scenarios and to enlighten the decision-making process. Several studies have used individual-based models (IBMs). These bottom-up models flexibly integrate species demography and how animals interact with their inhomogeneous environment and other individuals, while accounting for individual characteristics. So far applications of IBMs for the lynx allowed evaluating reintroduction scenarios (Kramer-Schadt et al. 2005, Ovenden et al. 2019; Philips 2020), population persistence (Bauduin et al. submitted), the impact of road mortality (Klar et al. 2006), estimating illegal killing (Heurich et al. 2018), or linking movements and genetic diversity (Premier et al. 2020).
Most of these models are based on the rules established by Kramer-Schadt et al. (2004, 2005). In particular the spatially explicit individual-based dispersal process modelled relies on a small number of individuals (5 females and 1 male; Kramer-Schadt et al. 2005) to establish the rules and validate them. The limited data available at that time has led to relatively basic rules. For example, the dispersal process could not account for the gender of the individuals nor the effect of linear features such as roads in the model. In the meantime, our knowledge about dispersal (Port et al. 2021, Zimmermann et al. 2005, 2007) and how lynx establish their territory has increased, but so has the quality and quantity of data to calibrate such models. The connection and exchanges between lynx populations (will) play a central role for the long-term persistence of the lynx in our multi-use and fragmented landscape (e.g., Marboutin et al. 2006). It is therefore essential to provide managers with models that best reflects the biology and ecology of the lynx and allows the exchange of individuals and the connection between populations to be measured with greater reliability.
The aim of this project is to improve the structure and parameterization of the dispersal process of the published lynx IBM by integrating linear structures (e.g., roads, railways, large rivers) as movement barriers and determine the future development and functional connectivity of lynx in Western and Central Europe under different scenarios.
Methods
Dispersal IBM:
We aim to improve the structure and parameterization of the dispersal process in the IBM. Thanks to new telemetry data available, new research on related subject and/or expert knowledge, we want to:
Include linear structures in the movement process as permeable barriers which induce a resistance to cross.
Currently, roads are included in the IBM solely as a mortality source (through vehicle collisions). Railways are not included due to a lack of data regarding train collisions. Large bodies of water and some large rivers are included as complete barriers but no permeability is allowed and not all large rivers were considered.
The main interest is the impact of roads, however, ideally, all linear structures should be considered. The impact of multiple parallel structures should also be considered.
• First step
Collect data about linear structures which may impede lynx movement and lynx telemetry data (VHF, GPS) from partners and other sources.
Include linear structures in the IBM with crossing probabilities in the dispersal process.
• Second step
o Sensitivity analysis:
Test the sensitivity of the permeability of the linear structures by trying different crossing probabilities for each type of structure.
Habitat should not be included as a condition of differentiating crossing probabilities (e.g., highways in open VS closed areas) as it is already included in the dispersal process with the habitat category choice.
Use the whole IBM or just the dispersal process alone.
o Data exploration:
Extract information from telemetry data about road crossings to include in the model.
Use lynx data and map them with the linear structures. Are there signs of presence on each side of the roads (depending on the linear type)? If yes, some crossings can be assumed. Same idea with occupancy estimates.
Are there other factors potentially driving dispersal and crossings? E.g., habitat elements, lynx characteristics.
Use telemetry data or recaptures of individuals from camera-traps (data to collect from partners or other sources). Identify structures that may have been crossed between the two captures.
• Third step
Calibrate the dispersal process by comparing IBM outputs regarding the different parameter combinations with the information extracted from lynx data to identify which parameter values for road crossings are the most realistic.
References
Bauduin, S., Germain, E., Zimmermann, F., Idelberger, S., Herdtfelder, M., Heurich, M., Kramer-Schadt, S., Duchamp, C., Drouet-Hoguet, N., Morand A., Blanc, L., Charbonnel, A., and Gimenez O. In revision. Eurasian lynx populations in Western Europe: What prospects for the next 50 years?
Heurich, M., Schultze-naumburg, J., Piacenza, N., Magg, N., Čeverny, J., Engleder, T., Herdtfelder, M., Sladova, M., and Kramer-Schadt, S. 2018. Illegal hunting as a major driver of the source-sink dynamics of a reintroduced lynx population in Central Europe. Biol. Conserv. 224, 355–365. https://doi.org/S0006320717314003
Klar, N., Hermann, M., Kramer-Schadt, S. 2006. Effects of roads on a founder population of lynx in the biosphere reserve “Pfalzerwald-Vosges du Nord.” Naturschutz und Landschaftsplan. 38, 330–337.
Kramer-Schadt, S., Revilla, E., Wiegand, T. and Breitenmoser, U. 2004. Fragmented landscapes, road mortality and patch connectivity: modeling influences on the dispersal of Eurasian lynx. J. Appl. Ecol., 41, 711– 723.
Kramer-Schadt, S., Revilla, E. and Wiegand. T. 2005. Lynx reintroduction in fragmented landscapes of Germany: projects with a future or misunderstood wildlife conservation? Biological Conservation 125: 169– 182.
Marbountin, E., Duchamp, C., Rouland, P., Léonard, Y., Boyer, J., Michallet, D., Catusse, M., Migot, P., Vandel, J.-M., Stahl, P. 2006. Survey of the Lynx distribution in the French Alps: 2000–2004 population status analysis. Acta Biol. Slov. 49, 19–26. https://doi.org/10.14720/abs.49.1.13530
Mueller, S. A., Prost, S., Anders, O., Breitenmoser-Würsten, C., Kleven, O., Klinga, P., Konec, M., Kopatz, A., Krojerová-Prokešová, J., Middelhoff, T. L., Obexer-Ruff, G., Reiners, T. E., Schmidt, K., Sindičič, M., Skrbinšek, T., Tám, B., Saveljev, A. P., Naranbaatar, G., & Nowak, C. 2022. Genome-wide diversity loss in reintroduced Eurasian lynx populations urges immediate conservation management. Biol. Conserv. 266, 109442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109442
Ovenden, T.S., Palmer, S.C.F., Travis, J.M.J., and Healey, J.R. 2019. Improving reintroduction success in large carnivores through individual-based modelling: How to reintroduce Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) to Scotland. Biol. Conserv. 234, 140–153
Philips, I. 2020. An agent based model to estimate lynx dispersal if re-introduced to Scotland. Appl. Spat. Anal. Policy 13, 161–185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-019-09297-4
Port, M., Henkelmann, A., Schröder, F., Waltert, M., Middelhoff, L., Anders, O., and Jokisch, S. 2021. Rise and fall of a Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) stepping-stone population in central Germany. Mammal Res. 66, 45–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-020-00527-6
Zimmermann, F, Breitenmoser-Würsten, C, and Breitenmoser, U. 2005. Natal dispersal of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Switzerland. J Zool 267:381–395. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0952836905007545
Zimmermann, F, Breitenmoser-Würsten, C, and Breitenmoser, U. 2007. Importance of dispersal for the expansion of a Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx population in a fragmented landscape. Oryx 41:358–368. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605307000712
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