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Introduction
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February 2002 - present
October 2000 - February 2002
January 1998 - October 2002
Education
January 1998 - September 2003
September 1996 - August 1997
September 1994 - September 1997
Publications
Publications (80)
Understanding and predicting responses of plant community diversity and ecosystem functioning to disturbance is essential to achieving forest conservation and management goals. In recent decades, the abundance and geographic distribution of wild ungulates have expanded in many parts of Europe due to, among other factors, land-use changes, hunting r...
Large frugivorous species shape vegetation dynamics by assisting seed dispersal and affecting the seedling establishment through endozoochory. Their seed dispersal effectiveness depends on a quantitative (number of seeds dispersed) and a qualitative (probability that a dispersed seed will germinate, survive and grow to an adult plant) component, wh...
Les paysages qui nous entourent sont un héritage du passé. L’écologie historique nous invite à remonter le temps pour mieux les interpréter, pour comprendre la biodiversité et le fonctionnement actuels des écosystèmes qui les constituent et, finalement, anticiper leurs trajectoires à venir.Écologie historique propose une synthèse complète et actual...
Long-distance seed dispersal is a crucial process de- termining the distribution of plant biodiversity and, therefore, of major interest in biogeography and mac- roecology. A recent data article on Global Ecology and Biogeography presented a database of estimated seed- dispersal distance classes for the European flora, where the classes are defined...
The management of biological invasions, which pose a growing threat to natural resources and human well-being, is critical for reducing associated negative impacts. As part of the process of developing a strategy for the management of biological invasions in the South African National Biodiversity Institute’s (SANBI) gardens, we collated a list of...
This chapter first highlights how large herbivores shape local plant assemblages, as ecosystem dominant interactors. It then explains how ecologists overcame methodological challenges and made it possible to monitor the effects of large herbivores at different spatial scales over the long‐term. The chapter also summarizes the hypotheses related to...
Browsing damage in forests relies on a complex interaction between herbivore density and forest understory composition and relative availability. Although variation in the amount of browsed twigs is sometimes used to assess abundance of large herbivores, the potential confounding effect of resource availability on this relationship has not been inv...
Conventional conservation policies in Europe notably rely on the passive restoration of natural forest dynamics by setting aside forest areas to preserve forest biodiversity. However, since forest reserves cover only a small proportion of the territory, conservation policies also require complementary conservation efforts in managed forests in orde...
Browsing damage in forests relies on a complex interaction between herbivore density and both forest understory composition and relative availability. Although variation in the amount of browsed twigs is sometimes used to assess abundance of large herbivores, the potential confounding effect of resource availability on this relationship has not yet...
Background and Aims
The role of deer (family Cervidae) in ecosystem functioning has traditionally been neglected by forest ecologists due to the animal’s scarcity in most parts of the northern hemisphere. However, the dramatic rebound in deer populations throughout the 20 th century has brought deer browsing to the forefront of forest ecological qu...
Plant dispersal syndromes are allocated based on diaspore morphology and used to predict mechanisms of dispersal. Many authors assume that only angiosperms with endozoochory, epizoochory or anemochory syndromes have a long-distance dispersal (LDD) mechanism. Too much faith is often placed in classical syndromes to explain historical dispersal event...
Plant dispersal syndromes are allocated based on diaspore morphology and used to predict the dominant mechanisms of dispersal. Many authors assume that only angiosperms with endozoochory, epizoochory or anemochory syndromes have a long‐distance dispersal (LDD) mechanism. Too much faith is often placed in classical syndromes to explain historical di...
Ungulates are present worldwide with 257 recorded species, including livestock. They cover different functional gradients, be it feeding regime, digestive strategy, body size, body mass, fur characteristics or sociality. All these specificities may intervene at different stages of animal-mediated plant dispersal. Ungulates move diaspores from both...
Background:
Vertebrate-mediated seed dispersal is probably the main long distance dispersal mode. Through endozoochory, large mammals act as mobile links between habitats within and among forest patches. Along with other factors, their feeding regimes do affect their contribution as dispersal vectors. We conducted a cross-species comparative exper...
Les 26 et 27 mars 2019 se tenait, au sein du Domaine national de Chambord, un colloque international regroupant une centaine de participants originaires d’une dizaine de pays
(photo ci-dessous). Cet évènement scientifique venait conclure le projet de recherche interdisciplinaire COSTAUD « Contribution des ongulés sauvages au fonctionnement de l’éco...
Les populations d’herbivores sauvages sont en nette augmentation depuis plusieurs décennies dans l’hémisphère Nord en raison du changement des pratiques agricoles et des plans de gestion environnementaux. Cet essor est à l’origine de surpâturage, de perturbations physiques du sol par piétinement et labour du sol et de dégâts aux écorces et aux bour...
Animal visitation to fruiting plants and fruit removal are fundamental for fruit consumption which may potentially lead to seed dispersal. Endozoochorous seed dispersal has been extensively documented showing avian species as main vectors; however, some studies have investigated prominent mammalian species such bats, primates and ungulates. Nonethe...
Up until now, zoochory-based interaction networks largely focused on seeds produced by the parent plant and dispersed by endozoochory. Relatively few studies have dealt with fur-epizoochory, and even fewer with these two dispersal mechanisms together. Here, we specifically focused on plants co-dispersed by ungulates, assuming that this could genera...
This book contains 23 chapters divided into seven parts. Part I reviews the key hypotheses in invasion ecology that invoke biotic interactions to explain aspects of plant invasion dynamics; and reviews models, theories and hypotheses on how invasion performance and impact of introduced species in recipient ecosystems can be conjectured according to...
Background: Among other factors, feeding regimes of different mammals affect their roles as endozoochorous seed dispersal vectors. We thus conducted a cross-species comparative approach involving two herbivores, red and roe deer; and two omnivores and opportunistic frugivores, wild boar and brown bear, which occupy the forest and prairie-forest eco...
Background: Vertebrate-mediated seed dispersal is probably the main long distance dispersal mode. Through endozoochory, large mammals act as mobile links between habitats within and among forest patches. Along with other factors, their feeding regimes do affect their contribution as dispersal vectors. We conducted a cross-species comparative experi...
We here describe the multiple mechanisms by which ungulates distribute diaspores across landscapes. There are three primary and three secondary seed dispersal mechanisms by which ungulate dispersal agents contribute to the spread of plant diaspores, both with and without the intervention of other biotic and abiotic agents. These dispersal mechanism...
Increasing deer and wild boar populations in North America and Western Europe are suspected of threatening low-nesting forest birds. Ungulates may directly affect these birds by predating eggs or chicks, or indirectly attract other mammalian or avian predators or reduce nesting site availability and habitat quality. To test some of these various me...
The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is the largest carnivore species in Iran which can be found in large parts of the Alborz and the Zagros mountain ranges but reaches remarkable densities in northern forest, ranging from Golestan National Park to western Gilan. We investigated the potential of brown bear for endozoochory in Golestan National Park throug...
External retention time assessed from observational experiments on different body parts of three ungulate species using Xanthium strumarium
Aim
In several ecosystems, the diversity of functional species traits has been shown to have a stronger effect on ecosystem functioning than taxonomic diversity alone. However, few studies have explored this idea at a large geographical scale. In a multisite experiment, we unravelled the relationship between ecosystem function and functional comple...
Large animals tend to disperse seeds over long distances via ingestion and defecation due to their large home range and capacity to move among different habitats for feeding. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of endozoochorous seed dispersal by five herbivores: Ovis vignei , Capra aegagrus , Gazella subgutturosa , Cervus elaphu...
By manipulating faeces during feeding and breeding, dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) fulfil important ecosystem functions in terrestrial ecosystems throughout the world. In a pan-European multi-site experiment (MSE), we estimated the ecosystem functions of dung removal and secondary seed dispersal by differing combinations of dung beetle fun...
By manipulating faeces during feeding and breeding, dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) fulfill important ecosystem functions in terrestrial ecosystems throughout the world. In a pan-European multi-site experiment (MSE), we estimated the ecosystem functions of dung removal and secondary seed dispersal by differing combinations of dung beetle fu...
In Boulanger et al (2018), we investigated the effects of ungulates on forest plant diversity. By suggesting a revisit of our conclusions regarding ecosystem dynamics since the late Pleistocene, Fløjgaard et al (2018) came to the conclusion that moderate grazing in forest should be a conservation target. Since major points of our paper were mis- or...
Large wild ungulates are a major biotic factor shaping plant communities. They influence species abundance and occurrence directly by herbivory and plant dispersal, or indirectly by modifying plant-plant interactions and through soil disturbance. In forest ecosystems, researchers’ attention has been mainly focused on deer overabundance. Far less is...
The transport phase of the animal-mediated plant dispersal process is critical to dispersal effectiveness as it determines the spatial distribution of the diaspores released and their chance for further recruitment. Assessing this specific phase of the dispersal process generally requires combining diaspore retention times with the associated dista...
Les populations de sangliers et de cerfs sont en constante augmentation depuis plusieurs décennies en France. Ces deux espèces sont connues pour interagir fortement avec leur environnement, occasionnant localement des modifications dans la composition des communautés floristiques et faunistiques. Parmi elles, les populations de passereaux forestier...
Successive ecological filtering processes including dispersal limitation, environmental filtering and biotic interactions among plants and across trophic levels act upon regional species pools to form dynamic transient plant assemblages.
Native herbivorous ungulates regularly disperse numerous seeds, create local chemical and physical heterogeneit...
Plant dispersal is crucial to maintaining plant community dynamics, especially in the current context of rapid environmental changes such as global warming and landscape fragmentation. We seized the opportunity to carry out a pilot study on endozoochorous dispersal by the endangered Pyrenean brown bear. We based our study on faeces collected by the...
Les processus successifs de filtrage écologique dont le frein à la dispersion (la capacité des plantes à atteindre un environnement), le filtre environnemental (contraintes abiotiques locales à l’installation des plantes), et les interactions biotiques entre plantes (compétition, facilitation) et avec d’autres niveaux trophiques agissent sur le poo...
Background/Question/Methods When we talk about fruits, we generally think of the fleshy, juicy structures frugivorous birds, bats or primates feed upon, mostly in tropical ecosystems. Indeed, the fruit is the reward the plant offers to the animal that disperses its seeds. But, if we move back to temperate ecosystems, the structures that contain the...
We studied the effect of fur, grooming and social interactions on epizoochorous dispersal by ungulates using an experimental approach
Aims : Zoochory is a prominent dispersal process in a wide range of plant species. However, the extent to which the trait composition of dispersed seed assemblages differs from the regional assemblage remains untested, as does the extent to which sympatric native herbivores disperse traits non-randomly.
Location : Lorris and Montargis forests, cent...
Supporting information to the paper Picard, M. et al. Functional traits of seeds dispersed through endozoochory by native forest ungulates. Journal of Vegetation Science. Appendix S1 : List of plant species that germinated from the faeces samples. Appendix S2 : Monthly variability. Appendix S3 : Coordinates of plant species attributes on the first...
Herbivorous ungulates are key species in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, and their recent demographic and geographic expansion in some temperate regions is likely to influence ecological processes, particularly if we consider plants and the frequency of mobile links among plant populations. In forests, long-distance seed dispersal essent...
Multi-stage ecological filtering mechanisms including seed dispersal, abiotic constraints and biotic interactions among plants and across trophic levels act upon regional species pools to form dynamic transient plant assemblages. Large ungulates disperse seeds (zoochory), modify the environment (ecosystem engineering) and consume plants (herbivory)...
Dispersal is a key process in metapopulation dynamics as it conditions species' spatial responses to gradients of abiotic and biotic conditions and triggers individual and gene flows. In the numerous plants that are dispersed through seed consumption by herbivores (endozoochory), the distance and effectiveness of dispersal is determined by the comb...
Habitat fragmentation contributes to the decline of plant species by decreasing gene flow among populations. Restoring connectivity among habitat patches is therefore a major issue for plant conservation. However, deciding where to focus restoration efforts requires identifying suitable dispersers for each target plant species. We collected data fr...
Key message Thanks to the concomitant recordings of vegetation and deer browsing sampled first in 1976, then resurveyed in 2006, we show that forest plant communities shifted in response to deer population dynamics, stand management and eutrophication.
Context and aims : High deer populations alter forest understory dynamics worldwide. However, no...
Plant communities are often dispersal‐limited and zoochory can be an efficient mechanism for plants to colonize new patches of potentially suitable habitat. We predicted that seed dispersal by ungulates acts as an ecological filter – which differentially affects individuals according to their characteristics and shapes species assemblages – and tha...
Seeds, plants, ungulate vectors and their associated traits, in relation to both endozoochory and fur-epizoochory
L’équilibre entre une population d’ongulés sauvages
et son habitat constitue un objectif essentiel pour
les gestionnaires. Dans un contexte d’augmentation
des populations de cervidés en France, cet équilibre
est défini, par la loi, relativement aux impacts
économiques pour la foresterie et l’agriculture.
Plus largement, l’ensemble de la biodiversit...
During the twentieth century populations of several deer species (Cervidae) increased dramatically in temperate and boreal forests worldwide, leading to major changes in forest plant and animal communities. The consequence of deer overabundance on their understory vegetation has been documented repeatedly. In situations of severe browsing pressure,...
Nous avons eu l’opportunité de mener une étude pilote sur la dispersion endozoochore par l’ours brun (Ursus arctos) des Pyrénées, à partir des relevés d’indices de présence effectués par l’Équipe Ours et le Réseau Ours Brun et des données de localisation par GPS de 3 individus slovènes relâchés en 2006. Nous avons examiné 39 échantillons répartis s...
Cet article support de la fête de la Science 2013 décrit le projet de Recherche DIPLO mené en Région centre sur le rôle des ongulés forestiers dans la dispersion des plantes. Les premiers résultats montrent que les ongulés sont à l'origine de la dispersion dans leur pelage d'au moins une plante sur 7. Sachant que ces espèces animales effectuent d'i...
We are currently witnessing a major biodiversity crisis mainly due to habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation and climate change. This crisis has led to a reduction in seed dispersal services, particularly in tropical forests. Simultaneously though, in Europe and North America, some species like wild ungulates are increasing in abundance and exp...
Le potentiel de disperser à longue distance est déterminant pour expliquer les migrations passées et la distribution actuelle des plantes ainsi que pour prédire leur répartition future, notamment sous la contrainte des changements globaux. Les animaux, le vent, l'eau et les activités humaines sont les principaux vecteurs qui pourraient permettre au...
Background – Seed dispersal appears to be a key process in maintaining plant population and community dynamics, even more so in the current context of global warming and landscape fragmentation. Wild ungulates, due to their capacity to cover long distances in a large variety of habitats, are potential vectors of long-distance dispersal for plants....
Numerous plant colonizations have been putatively attributed to deer, based on plant species traits, fur brushing or dung
analyses. But, in woodlands, direct links between the expansion of zoochorous plant species and ungulate presence have seldom
been reported. Based on coupled floristic and browsing surveys, repeated in time, we analysed the caus...
Une part importante de la biodiversité ordinaire que renferment les forêts se trouve dans les assemblages d'espèces végétales ou en dépend directement (avifaune, entomofaune). La préservation de ce patrimoine passe donc par une meilleure compréhension des facteurs susceptibles d'en modifier sa composition et ses caractéristiques écologiques. L'Homm...
Une part importante de la biodiversité ordinaire que renferment les forêts se trouve dans les assemblages d'espèces végétales ou en dépend directement (avifaune, entomofaune). La préservation de ce patrimoine passe donc par une meilleure compréhension des facteurs susceptibles d'en modifier sa composition et ses caractéristiques écologiques. L'Homm...
Dans ce livre, le Cemagref, institut de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement, fait le point de ses travaux scientifiques menés sur la forêt. Pourquoi une recherche sur la forêt ? D'abord parce qu'elle occupe plus d'un quart de la surface de notre territoire métropolitain. Ensuite, parce qu'elle fournit tout un ensemble de serv...
In this project, we will quantify the role of forest-dwelling ungulates as long-distance seed dispersers using a comparative approach of three different species: the red deer (Cervus elaphus) as a grazer species, the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) as a browser species and the wild boar (Sus scrofa) as an omnivorous frugivorous species. These ungula...
Seed dispersal by animals is a major mechanism by which plant species spread over long distances. Furthermore, ungulates are said to be particularly relevant vectors in forest habitats. Based on coupled floristic and browsing surveys, we described and analyzed the causes of the spatio-temporal progression of the rare epizoochorous species Cynogloss...
As a result of diverse management policies, densities of red and roe deer have varied considerably for the last few decades in Europe. Their selective browsing on woody species can modify the interactions between competing species and thus change overall patterns of plant diversity in forests. However, no classification of woody species according t...
Large herbivores and deer in particular can have dramatic effects on ecosystem functions and act as keystone species in many forest systems. At high densities, deer are assumed to determine the structure and composition of forest understory. The introduction in the late 19th century of the Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) on...
We recorded 30 24-h monitoring periods with 10-min sampling intervals on seven (three female; four male) Global-Positioning-System-collared
adult free-ranging red deer (Cervus elaphus), from June 1999 to December 2000, in the Parc National des Cévennes, France. We observed the duration of resting bouts (n = 385) and then microhabitat variables (asp...
The current increase in deer populations in many forests has fostered a growing concern about their impact on forest ecology. Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitchensis) were introduced to Haida Gwaii (British Columbia, Canada) in the late 19th century, and they have dramatically affected the regeneration of woody species in both old-...
Plus que leur présence, c’est bien l’accroissement des populations des grands herbivores et leur maintien à des niveaux trop élevés qui constituent une perturbation majeure pour l’écosystème forestier. Circonscrire et maîtriser leur influence sur le milieu naturel est un véritable enjeu non seulement pour la forêt et son renouvellement, pour la san...
The geographic and demographic expansion of large herbivores in Europe leads to situations where many species live in sympatry: this is the case for red and roe deer in France. To monitor a given species, indirect methods based on signs like faeces, tracks or beds have been used for a long time. They are generally cheap and accurate. However, signs...
Red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) are 2 of the most numerous wild ungulate species in Europe. They are sympatric over a large part of their total geographic range. There are no reliable techniques for differentiating between them when studies are based on hair or fecal sampling in the field where the 2 species' ranges ove...
La prise en compte des cervidés dans l'aménagement forestier nécessite le développement d'un outil d'appréciation de la capacité d'accueil, dont les disponiblités alimentaires. L'élaboration d'une typologie de faciès alimentaires en phase de révision de l'aménagement forestier permet de caractériser les disponibilités alimentaires en début d'aménag...
Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) and Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) are two abundant cervids in Europe, and they often share the same habitat. Cervids rest for about half of the time. However their bedsite selection criteria have rarely been studied. Our goal is double: i) to describe bedsite selection patterns for each species at different temporospatial...
The intentional removal or addition of species or specific human impacts on ecosystems trigger changes that can help us understand species interactions. In many temperate forests, deer populations are increasing and so is the need to understand how they influence ecosystems. We took advantage of the introduction of Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoile...
Nous avons étudié l'impact d'un grand herbivore (le cerf à queue noire Odocoileus hemionus sitchensis) sur le patron de régénération de Thuya plicata en milieu perturbé sur les îles de la Reine Charlotte (Canada). Pour cela, nous avons comparé sa dynamique de régénération, en fonction de la proportion de thuya de la forêt primaire avant coupe et de...
