Alexandre Robert

Recherche fondamentale et appliquée.

Thèmes de recherche

This is me (on the left)

I am interested in the study of the processes driving small populations and metapopulations to extinction. These processes include ultimate, deterministic changes in habitat quality and availability as well as proximal genetic and demographic mechanisms.

Demo-genetic processes

There is a body of evidence that genetic changes in small, isolated populations are significantly involved in extinction and must be included in assessments of species (or population) viability. In particular, genetic threats have been shown to strongly interact with deterministic (such as habitat loss and fragmentation) and stochastic (such as demographic and environmental stochasticities) ecological factors. Part of my work is dedicated to the theoretical study of the demo-genetic interactions and their effect on the persistence of (meta)populations.

Inter-individual and environmental variation

I am also interested in understanding the effects of inter-individual, temporal and spatial variations and covariations in population and metapopulation dynamics. This includes individual quality, reproductive cost, senescence, spatial and temporal environmental variation and autocorrelation, Moran effects.

Population restorations

I apply population dynamic modeling and demo-genetic results to questions related to conservative restorations, with an emphasis on management constraints and on the practical aspects of the release of individuals. Another aspect of my work on restorations involves the analysis of survival patterns in reintroduced populations to study dispersal and density dependent processes.

Community and meta-community dynamics

More recently, I have become interested in the study of ecological processes influencing the dynamics of communities. The approach is based on the use of multi-species models accounting for ecological processes such as competition or predation. A large part of this work is dedicated to study the effects of environmental perturbations on taxonomic (e.g., species richness) and functional (e.g., specialization or trophic index) community metrics, and to the development of new integrative biodiversity metrics.

Publication(s)

• LE COEUR Christie, CHANTEPIE Stephane, PISANU Benoît, CHAPUIS Jean-Louis, ROBERT Alexandre (2016) Inter‑annual and inter‑individual variations in survival exhibit strong seasonality in a hibernating rodent. Oecologia., DOI 10.1007/s00442-016-3597-2 Le Coeur et al 2016_oecologia.pdf
• CHANTEPIE Stephane, TEPLITSKY Céline, PAVARD Samuel, SARRAZIN Francois, DESCAVES B., LECUYER P., ROBERT Alexandre (2015) Age-related variation and temporal patterns in the survival of a long-lived scavenger. Oikos. In press
• CHANTEPIE Stephane, ROBERT Alexandre, SORCI Gabriele, HINGRAT Yves, CHARMANTIER Anne, LEVEQUE Gwenaëlle, LACROIX Frédéric, TEPLITSKY Céline (2015) Quantitative genetics of aging of reproductive traits in the houbara bustard. PLoS One 10(7):e0133140
• KERBIRIOU Christian, JULIEN Jean-François, MONSARRAT Sophie, LUSTRAT Philippe, HAQUART Alexandre, ROBERT Alexandre (2015) Information on population trends and biological constraints from bat counts in roost cavities: a 22-year case study of a pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus Schreber) hibernaculum Wildlife Research, 42, 35–43 Kerbiriou_Wildlife Research_2015.pdf
• LE COEUR Christie, ROBERT Alexandre, PISANU Benoît, CHAPUIS Jean-Louis (2015) Seasonal variation in infestations by Ixodids on Siberian chipmunks: effects of host age, sex and birth season. Parasitology Research 114:2069-78. doi: 10.1007/s00436-015-4391-5 Le Coeur et al 2015 Parasitol Res.pdf
• MONNET Anne-Christine, HARDOUIN Loic, ROBERT Alexandre, HINGRAT Yves, JIGUET Frédéric (2015) Evidence of a link between demographic rates and species habitat suitability from post release movements in a reinforced bird population. Oikos. DOI: 10.1111/oik.01834
• ROBERT Alexandre, CHANTEPIE Stephane, PAVARD Samuel, SARRAZIN Francois, TEPLITSKY Céline (2015) Actuarial senescence can decrease the viability of mammal populations. Ecol. Appl. 25:116–124
• ROBERT Alexandre, COLAS Bruno, GUIGON Isabelle, KERBIRIOU Christian, MIHOUB Jean-Baptiste, SAINT-JALME Michel, SARRAZIN Francois (2015) Reintroducing reintroductions into the conservation arena. Animal Conservation 18 : 413–414
• ROBERT Alexandre, COLAS Bruno, GUIGNON Isabelle, KERBIRIOU Christian, MIHOUB Jean-Baptiste, SAINT-JALME Michel, SARRAZIN Francois (2015) Defining reintroduction success using IUCN criteria for threatened species: a demographic assessment. Animal Conservation. doi: 10.1111/acv.12188
• ROBERT Alexandre, BOLTON Mark, JIGUET Frédéric, BRIED Joël (2015) The survival-reproduction association becomes stronger when conditions are good. Proc R Soc London B (in press)