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Charlotte Ducotterd

Charlotte Ducotterd
info fauna · Coordination Center for the Conservation of Reptiles and Amphibians of Switzerland (karch)

PhD in Life Science

About

17
Publications
6,092
Reads
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31
Citations
Introduction
I did a PhD on the ecology of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis), the only native freshwater turtle species of Switzerland. Combining both fundamental and applied sciences, in order to propose an efficient conservation strategy for this species. Today, I am studying the ecology and communities of reptiles in Vietnam and Laos with the NGO Turtle Sanctuary and Conservation Center. Also, I am doing a management project for invasive turtle species in Switzerland.
Additional affiliations
September 2020 - present
Centre Suisse pour la coordination de la protection des amphibiens et des reptiles de suisse (karch)
Position
  • Scientific collaborator
Description
  • Propose a methodology to fight against the presence of exotic aquatic turtles in Switzerland. • determine most suitable catching methods; • determine if dogs can detect egg laying; • impact on native fauna by studying the diet and parasite charge; • impact on the only native turtle (Emys orbicularis); • identify areas at high risk of presence/reproduction of Trachemys scripta; • protocol for the management of captured animals; • applicable procedure to cover the entire problem.
September 2019 - present
Turtle Sanctuary and Conservation Center
Position
  • Wildlife Ecologist
Description
  • As a wildlife biologist, I take part in the development and application of field studies and scientific research in Asian country, especially Vietnam
August 2019 - February 2021
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland
Position
  • Research Assistant
Education
January 2016 - August 2020
University of Lausanne
Field of study
  • Ecology
September 2012 - February 2015
Université de Neuchâtel
Field of study
  • Parasitology and Eco-Ethology
September 2008 - July 2011
Université de Neuchâtel
Field of study
  • Biology

Publications

Publications (17)
Article
Full-text available
Molecular technologies, such as metabarcoding, have become powerful tools for conservation purposes. Here, we present a non-invasive study analyzing the diet of one population of European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) during its whole activity period and of four other populations during the same period, based on faecal sample, and using for the fi...
Article
Full-text available
Almost all Asian turtle species are considered threatened by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). We investigated the turtle fauna and their distribution in hilly forests in northern Vietnam (Tam Thanh commune, Quan Son district) during two consecutive periods (12th to 23th May, 12th to 24th August 2019). These forests are of the Subtropical Moist...
Article
Full-text available
High‐throughput sequencing has become an accurate method for the identification of species present in soil, water, faeces, gut or stomach contents. However, information at the species level is limited due to the choice of short barcodes and based on the idea that DNA is too degraded to allow longer sequences to be amplified. We have therefore devel...
Article
Full-text available
The snake communities in Asian tropical forests are relatively unknown, with most studies focusing on species lists. We investigated species composition, relative abundance, and community ecology of snakes in a mature secondary hilly forest area in the Quan Son District, northern Vietnam. To our knowledge, it is one of the few field investigations...
Article
Full-text available
Nowadays, Laos remains one of the scientifically least known countries of Asia in terms of herpetological knowledge. Here, we evaluate composition of species in freshwater ecosystems (main river courses) and terrestrial ecosystems (forests) in two distinct regions using Visual Encounter Surveys along designed transects, examination of fishers’ catc...
Article
Full-text available
Very little is known of the ecology and distribution of Vietnamese tortoises and freshwater turtles, even though Vietnam is one of the world’s hotspots of chelonian diversity and, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), almost all its species are threatened. We report the diversity of chelonians for two distinct...
Article
Full-text available
Most of the extraordinary biodiversity richness of SouthEast Asian countries is concentrated in the national parks and other Protected Areas, with species-rich turtle communities surviving mostly in these reserves where their natural habitats are better preserved. However, very few studies have documented the turtle species richness of the various...
Article
Full-text available
According to the IUCN, Southeast Asia is the area of the world with the highest number of threatened turtle species. The current status of chelonians is particularly catastrophic in Vietnam. However, there is still a lack of field data to unambiguously support this fact for a few species. To better understand the freshwater turtle diversity and eve...
Article
Full-text available
Rafetus swinhoei is a giant freshwater turtle (>160 kg) and is the rarest turtle species in 30 the world, with just two individuals surviving in Vietnam and China (only one in the wild). Being on the brink of extinction, it is an absolute priority to search for additional individuals in the wild, and for new areas of potential presence. Here we ana...
Article
Rafetus swinhoei is the world's most threatened turtle with only two known specimens remaining, with high probability both males. The species is therefore on the brink of extinction and discovering new individuals in the wild is crucial for the survival of the entire species. Despite the almost-extinct status, field research aimed at locating new i...
Presentation
Knowledge of feeding strategy and food preferences is one of the milestones of the natural history of a species and is essential to optimise conservation programs. The European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis, L. 1758) is the only freshwater turtle living in Switzerland and ranked as critically endangered on the Swiss Red List. Its diet is still uncl...
Conference Paper
Full-text available

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