Land-use changes, habitat destruction and fragmentation are among the most important drivers of the current biodiversity crisis. While species-centred approaches have helped assess remediation strategies against the decline of endangered species, they miss the complexity of ecological interactions, the potential for these interactions to modulate anthropogenic ecological damage, and the spatial propagation of such damage. Understanding interactions is crucial because current changes are expected to lead to vast turnover in composition and structure of natural communities with immediate consequences for stability and functioning, and thus ecosystem services. Similarly, better understanding spatial dynamics is required as spatial propagation among disturbed ecosystems may strongly constrain the resilience to current changes at large scales. The ANR WINE project (Webs of Interactions NEtworks, funded over the period 2023-2027) seeks to understand how spatial connectivity affects species interactions by altering the movement of organisms and their resources, and, conversely, how biotic interactions affect effective connectivity by altering the space use of organisms and their impact on resources. These feedbacks are likely to occur at different spatial and temporal scales and to determine ecosystem properties.
The WINE project is structured through three different approaches (each corresponding to a different work package): theory and mathematical models (WP1); experiments in microcosms (WP2); analysis of existing data (WP3). This 2-years postdoc position is part of WP3, which will also involve the recruitment of a post-doctoral fellow who will focus on the evolutionary aspect of the questions posed.
This postdoctoral position aims to explore and compare spatialized food webs to better understand the ecological mechanisms that link the properties of interaction networks and their spatial dynamics.
The postdoc project will be structured along two lines of research:
– Effects of spatial structure and heterogeneity on local food webs
Objectives: (1) analyse how the topology of the spatial network influences the structure of local food webs across a diversity of empirical systems, (2) analyse the interactive effects of spatial network topology on the structure of local food webs
– Effects of spatial structure on meta-food webs
Objectives: (1) investigate how the properties of the spatial network influence the structure of the meta-web, (2) compare the effects of spatial connectivity on food webs.
The postdoc will start by investigating these questions on a dataset of freshwater communities (long-term monitoring of French rivers, https://zenodo.org/records/8099409) that has already been studied in previous projects (metaweb, stability). These lines of research will be further carried out using additional datasets on marine and terrestrial systems that are provided by members of the project. For marine systems, the dataset involves trophic networks among fish in coral reefs (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5647995.v2). For freshwater systems, the dataset involves trophic networks among fish within rivers. For terrestrial systems, the dataset involves plant-pollinator networks in agricultural landscapes (https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1906419116 and https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910023117, not yet open access but belonging to members of the consortium). While the freshwater dataset appears as a good starting point as promising preliminary analysis were performed, the use of the others will depend on the candidate interests and progresses. Finally, the postdoc will also investigate the relative influence of species’ traits and trophic position on these spatial network properties.
Candidate
Candidates should hold a PhD in ecology or mathematics for life sciences, with a taste for theoretical questioning regarding ecological stability, webs and modeling skills. Knowledge of GIS tools is a strong asset. We’re looking for a self-motivated, autonomous individual with a solid command of English and good writing skills.
Working environment
The position will be based at the Center of Ecology and Conservation Sciences (https://cesco.mnhn.fr/fr), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. CESCO is an interdisciplinary research unit whose research aims to build a future that preserves biodiversity. With around 120 staff (including PhD students) in ecology and the human and social sciences, it currently consists of a single team organised into working groups and 2 technical platforms, CRBPO and Vigie-Nature (see cesco.mnhn.fr). The person recruited will take part in ANR project meetings and will thus be able to benefit from interactions with people working on WP3 (from iEES-Paris, UMR RECOVER, UMR UREP, ISEM) and on other aspects of the project.
How to apply
Interested candidates are asked to send a CV, a covering letter explicitly mentioning the names and contacts of three referees, in a single PDF file, to both supervisors’ e-mail addresses: maud.mouchet@mnhn.fr and colin.fontaine@mnhn.fr, by January 5th, 2025.
Duration: 24 months
Starting date for the post-doc: February-April 2025
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