
Mario LepageFrench National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) | INRAE · Department of Waters
Mario Lepage
Research engineer
About
125
Publications
26,227
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2,673
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Introduction
FUTUREMARES is ongoing with new insight about climate change effects on fish as far as I am concerned. We demonstrated an effect with Community Thermal Index aka CTI on fish in the Gironde estuary over the last 30 years. New niche models are developed to identify potential risk in the future. I also drive the project DILEME that will care about fish larvae dispersion in estuaries in order to help habitat restoration projects.
Additional affiliations
Education
January 1999 - January 2001
École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie de Toulouse
Field of study
- Ecology and functioning of Aquatics ecosystems
Publications
Publications (125)
Since 2004, Irstea, the French research institute of science and technology for environment and agriculture was deeply involved for the developpement of research programs aiming to build the toolbox necessary for the implementation of the European Water framework directive in France. This book presents a synthesis of all these programs, explaining...
Estuaries and intertidal mudflats are commonly used by young fishes due to their high productivity, associated with high food availability. In order to evaluate the contribution of these areas to the growth and survival of mullet larvae, sampling was carried out in these different habitats located in the Gironde estuary. For this purpose, golden mu...
Estuaries are complex and highly productive ecosystems associated with many ecological functions and ecosystem services. These transition areas provide diverse niches to fish species with a variety of life history strategies. Early life stages of fishes (i.e. eggs and larvae) are particularly vulnerable with mortality rates of up to 99% recorded fo...
This chapter presents the causes of physical and ecological degradation of estuaries in relation to human activities and climate change. The direct and indirect effects of degradation on ecosystem services and fish are listed, as well as the key questions that need to be answered in order to undertake rehabilitation and restoration actions. Ecohydr...
This chapter addresses the use of fish as indicators of environmental health. The main anthropogenic pressures impacting estuarine fishes are reviewed, as well as the main types of responses by fishes at different levels of biological organisation. Fishes have been widely used to assess estuarine health through different methodological approaches,...
p>New Chinese mitten crab sequence data were obtained from eight European localities spanning France, The Netherlands, England and Wales. The Netherlands and Wales samples were taken from two areas where mitten crab populations had never before been sequenced. DNA results uncovered the presence of a second Eriocheir species coexisting sympatrically...
La directive cadre européenne sur l’eau a placé l’hydrobiologie au cœur de l’évaluation de la qualité des milieux aquatiques. Dans ce contexte, la bioindication est redevenue une discipline très active de l’écologie, soutenue par des enjeux sociétaux forts. Dans cet article, les auteurs présentent un aperçu des différents aspects du contexte dans l...
La directive cadre européenne sur l'eau exige des États membres la production d’indicateurs physico-chimiques devant traduire le fonctionnement des écosystèmes et la production de valeurs seuils correspondant à différents niveaux de leur dégradation. Or, en France, ces données manquent en raison notamment de la diversité des écosystèmes et de la fa...
Malgré les nombreux usages dont ils font l’objet et leur rôle avéré pour la biodiversité aquatique et terrestre, les plans d’eau et les estuaires français ont été historiquement peu étudiés, et leur état écologique peu renseigné. L’évaluation et le suivi de leur qualité écologique dans le cadre de la directive cadre européenne sur l’eau ont relevé...
a directive cadre européenne sur l'eau (DCE, 2000/60/CE) impose aux États membres la préservation et la restauration de la qua-lité de l'eau et des milieux aquatiques au plus tard en 2027. Aujourd'hui, beaucoup d'efforts ont été consentis pour établir des diagnostics de l'état des milieux au travers de la surveillance. Des évaluations sur des cycle...
Connectivity between spawning grounds and recruitment areas of marine fish species drives population structure and dynamics, and may be affected by climate-induced changes in oceanographic processes. We analysed the variability in recruitment success of larvae to estuarine nursery areas along the Iberian Atlantic coast of four fish species with dis...
During the last decades, the highly-anthropized Seine estuary has been impacted by modification of its habitats (building of a major extension of Le Havre harbour, i.e. Port2000) and a significant natural decrease in freshwater discharge. A Before/After analysis, using a toolbox of indicators, was applied to characterize the effects of both events...
Globally, there has been a decrease in dissolved oxygen in the oceans, that is more pronounced in coastal waters, resulting in more frequent hypoxia exposure for many marine animals. Managing hypoxia requires an understanding of the dynamics of dissolved oxygen (DO) where it occurs. The French coast facing the Bay of Biscay (N-E Atlantic Ocean) hos...
Since the end of the 1980s, white shrimps (Palaemon longirostris) from the Gironde estuary have exhibited exoskeletal malformations, mainly involving cephalothorax, rostrum, scaphocerites and uropods. An 8-month study was carried out in 2015. Each month, 200 individuals were sampled and examined for exoskeletal malformations. Temporal variations in...
Climate, by altering the spatio-temporal distributions of suitable habitats, leads to modifications in a multitude of species ranges. In recent years, the ability of species to adjust to changing climatic conditions is of growing concern. In the present study, a generic trait-based method to assess species exploratory potential under climate change...
Habitat loss and fragmentation remain major threats in estuaries, particularly with respect to the erosion of intertidal areas that provide shelter and food resources for numerous fish species. Improving our understanding of the fauna-intertidal seascape Relationship is this of critical importance. Here, the seascapes of 24 tidal estuaries were com...
Assessing ecological health of aquatic ecosystems is crucial in the current context of biodiversity loss to guide and prioritize management actions. Although several fish-based indices were developed to assess the ecological status of estuarine ecosystems, they do not provide guidance on the causal responses of communities to disturbances. The func...
The impact of species loss on ecosystems functioning depends on the amount of trait similarity between species, i.e. functional redundancy, but it is also influenced by the order in which species are lost. Here we investigated redundancy and sensitivity patterns across fish assemblages in lakes, rivers and estuaries. Several scenarios of species ex...
We applied a diversity partitioning approach to identify the influence of multiple environmental factors on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of estuarine fish assemblages at different spatial scales. Our aim was to determine (1) how variation in γ-diversity (estuary scale) is supported by changes in α- (local scale) and β-components...
The life history strategies of fishes can be defined by specific combinations of demographic traits that influence species performances depending on environmental features. Hence, the constraints imposed by the local conditions restrict the range of successful strategies by excluding species poorly adapted. In the present study, we compared the dem...
Non-native species, i.e. species occurring outside of their native range, have been recognised as a major threat for ecosystem functioning. Indeed, the number of non-native species introduced at all continents to support human activities or needs has increased during the last decades and several non-native species are now spread worldwide, e.g. mos...
Summary D5.1-1 Part 1: Multi-stressors on surface water and effects on ecological statusHumans have increased the discharge of pollution, altered water flow regime and modified the morphology of rivers. All these actions have resulted in multiple pressures on freshwater ecosystems, undermining their biodiversity and ecological functioning. The Euro...
La préservation de l’estuaire de la Gironde représente un enjeu majeur. En effet, malgré les innovations déployées sur le territoire de Bordeaux Métropole, il fait l’objet de constats alarmants dans un contexte où les pressions sont croissantes (démographie de l’agglomération, changement climatique, etc.). Pour répondre aux ambitions de Bordeaux Mé...
397 Research Article Spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence of three alien hydromedusae, Blackfordia virginica (Mayer, 1910), Nemopsis bachei (Agassiz, 1849) and Maeotias marginata (Modeer, 1791), in the Gironde Estuary (France) Abstract The species composition and seasonal abundance patterns of gelatinous zooplankton are poorly known for many...
A simple procedure to harmonise and intercalibrate eight national methods classifying the ecological status using fish in transitional waters of the North East Atlantic is described. These methods were initially intercalibrated and a new method recently developed was added to this exercise. A common human pressure index pre-classified the status of...
A community hosted by an ecosystem composed of species sharing the same characteristics i.e. species showing the same response to the environment and/or species with the same impact on their environment, can be defined as a community with high functional redundancy. Such community is supposed to be less vulnerable to species loss and the ecosystem...
Estuaries are subjected to multiple anthropogenic stressors, which have additive, antagonistic or synergistic effects. Current challenges include the use of large databases of biological monitoring surveys (e.g. the European Water Framework Directive) to help environmental managers prioritizing restoration measures. This study investigated the impa...
The Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis H. Milne Edwards, 1853, is a European
invasive well known for causing considerable damage to natural ecosystems and
economy. Molecular analysis of eight mitten crab populations from Europe uncovered
the presence of a second species of Eriocheir coexisting in sympatry with E. sinensis.
According to Sakai (...
La Directive Cadre européenne sur l’Eau (DCE) mise en place en octobre 2000, imposait aux Etats membres d’atteindre le “Bon Etat” des masses d’eau de surface à échéance de 2015. Cette directive demandait également aux Etats de se doter d’outils d’évaluation de la qualité écologique, de la qualité chimique et de la qualité hydromorphologique de ses...
La Directive Cadre européenne sur l’Eau (DCE) exige des états membres de se doter d’outils d’évaluation de la qualité écologique des eaux de surface dont les estuaires. Les départements français ultra-marins ont obtenu des délais supplémentaires pour développer leurs outils mais aussi pour répondre aux exigences d’atteinte du bon état des masses d’...
European estuaries are subjected to a large spectrum of anthropogenic pressures, which are known to have additive, antagonistic, synergistic and multiplicative impacts on the functioning of ecological systems. Understanding the pressure-impact relationships and the interactions effects among pressures are essential requirements to develop accurate...
L'utilisation de l'hydroacoustique en estuaire est encore peu fréquente et la technique a besoin d'être testée dans plusieurs conditions pour vérifier son applicabilité en milieu turbide et peu profond. Une comparaison des résultats obtenus en bi-fréquences (70 et 120 kHz) sur l'estuaire amont de l'Escaut (Zeeschelde) et sur une zone de salinité se...
Aquatic ecosystems facing multiple stressors lead to challenging conditions for their management, as
stressors can have additive, but also interactive effects on organisms, populations and communities.
Accounting for these interactions is important in the assessment of the stressor’s impacts and to
implement good restoration measures.
Using a compa...
Acoustic technology in use for over 40 years has proven to be an effective tool to collect high-quality data describing animal size, abundance, behavior (1) across a wide range of spatio-temporal scales in aquatic ecosystems (2). It is considered as compatible with best practices defined by European Directives and applied as an alternative and/or c...
Cet article se propose d'expliquer, sur l'exemple de l'ichtyofaune des masses dreau de transition, la démarche adoptée par la France pour répondre aux objectifs de la DCE et les défis qu'elle présentait dans des délais contraints. Nous présentons le vide de connaissances et des données qui régnait au début des années 2000 et les actions mises en oe...
Aquatic ecosystems facing multiple stressors lead to challenging conditions for their management, as
stressors can have additive, but also interactive effects on organisms, populations and communities.
Accounting for these interactions is important in the assessment of the stressor’s impacts and to
implement good restoration measures.
Using a compa...
Assessing water quality is an essential prerequisite for good water bodies’ management. In this respect, fish are excellent sentinel species and have proven their usefulness for more than a century. While the initial use of fish was restricted to acute toxicity testing, recent developments of methodologies, equipment, techniques and concepts have l...
The Gironde estuary was recently classified for the purpose of the Water Framework Directive in Europe, in poor ecological status according to the ELFI index that considers mainly juvenile fish populations. A question arises: is the low abundance of juvenile and adult fish caused by a failure in settling or by an unsuccessful viability of larvae?...
The Gironde Estuary (S-W France) is an essential migration way for fishes such as shads (Alosa alosa, Alosa fallax), sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) and some shrimp (Palaemon longirostris) developmental stages, which are among the most sensitive species to estuarine hypoxia. Hypoxic threshold is largely characterized by a dissolved oxygen (DO) content...
There is a lack of studies devoted to coarse particulate matter (CPM) in estuaries, although this fraction can disturb activities that filter large volumes of water, such as industrial or fishery activities. In the macrotidal and highly-turbid Gironde Estuary, a monthly sampling of CPM was performed in 2011 and 2013 at two stations in the Turbidity...
Fish-based multi-metric indices have been widely developed in ecological quality assessments of estuaries in the past few years, but the ability of these indices and their respective metrics to respond to human pressures may be quite different. Based on a group consensus approach eliciting information from multiple experts integrating ecological se...
The Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association (ECSA) symposium on Estuarine and Lagoon Ecosystem Trajectories (ELET) organised by CEMAGREF (now IRSTEA), Université de Bordeaux, France, 24–28th October, 2011, was an opportunity to bring together researchers from 13 countries to strengthen the transdisciplinary links between the natural sciences and t...
In the Water Framework Directive (European Union) context, a multimetric fish based index is required to assess the ecological status of French estuarine water bodies. A first indicator called ELFI was developed, however similarly to most indicators, the method to combine the core metrics was rather subjective and this indicator does not provide un...
Essential fish habitat suitability (EFHS) models and geographic information system (GIS) were combined
to describe nursery habitats for three flatfish species (Solea solea, Pleuronectes platessa, Dicologlossa
cuneata) in the Bay of Biscay (Western Europe), using physical parameters known or suspected to
influence juvenile flatfish spatial distribut...
Caill-Milly, N., P. Prouzet, I. Auby, A. Borja, I. Castège, G. Chust, M.N. De Casamajor, J. d’Elbée, N. Goñi, M. Lepage, D. Maurer, G. Morandeau, J.C. Quéro, T. Renault, 2013. Ressources exploitées par la pêche et l’ostréiculture. In: Les impacts du changement climatique en Aquitaine (Ed. H. Le Treut). Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, LGPA-Editi...
A l'échelle du Golfe de Gascogne et de ses zones côtières et littorales, les suivis de la biodiversité montrent d'importantes variations annuelles d'abondance et de répartition géographique des espèces en relation avec le climat. Ces évolutions font apparaître des phases brutales d'accélération en relation avec des variations de même forçages clima...
A l'échelle du golfe de Gascogne et de ses zones côtières et littorales, les suivis de la biodiversité montrent d'importantes variations annuelles d'abondance e de répartition géographique des espèces en relation avec le climat. Les tendances actuelles montrent que la biodiversité va évoluer vers une augmentation de représentativité des espèces tem...
Dans le cadre de la mise en oe½uvre d’une Stratégie d’observation à Long terme de l’estuaire de la Seine, l’objectif de ce travail est de proposer des éléments concrets pour la mise en place d’un protocole minimal de suivi de l’ichtyofaune dans l’estuaire de la Seine. Cette stratégie d’observation doit autant que possible permettre une approche fon...
Ce chapitre permet de faire le point sur les orientations de recherche à envisager pour améliorier l'état des connaissances sur les effets de changements climatiques sur les communautés d'intérêt halieutique et les perspectives de gestion pour le maintien de l'activité économique qui en découle.
Multimetric fish-based indices have been increasingly gaining importance in Europe, as the Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires fish fauna, and particularly its composition and abundance, to be taken into account in the assessment of the ecological quality of continental surface waters, including transitional waters. These indices are composed...
Estuaries and lagoons are especially affected by anthropogenic pressures. This has resulted in symptoms of degradation including water quality impairment and loss of aquatic biota. Protection of aquatic biodiversity and management of these coastal systems require robust tools to assess habitat integrity. Fish populations have been extensively used...
In view of the European Union (EU) requirements to diagnose and monitor the ecological status of estuarine ecosystems using fish-based indicators, we assessed the effect of the sampling protocol in meeting these objectives. Using three different sampling surveys, we evaluated the impact of four components, i.e. sampling gear, spatial extent, length...
In the context of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), monitoring programs and related indicators have been developed to assess anthropogenic impacts on various components of aquatic ecosystems. While great precautions are usually taken when selecting and calculating relevant core metrics, little attention is generally paid to the generati...
The structure of fish assemblages accounted for by different sampling methods (namely fyke net, seine
nets, visual census) applied to vegetated and unvegetated lagoon habitats was investigated in terms of
species composition, functional groups (ecological and trophic guilds), and fish size distribution.
Significant differences were detected among m...