Mathieu Sarasa

Common names (CN) add to linguistic richness and ultimately derive from how a majority of people refer to a species. CN have a biological and–above all—practical importance given that they are essential for connecting specialists and lay people. To illustrate the diversity of CN between and within species, we made an overview of common name in Capr...

Common names of species matter in species management. However, taxonomic inertia and a blurred perception of a species can hinder the updating of framework documents and conservation schemes. Ibexes from Asia are a notable case of a polytypic species with numerous common names. This review examines data on the common names and taxonomy used for thi...

Unusual plumage colours are of interest for environmental and evolutionary questions. This brief article reappraised information on male western capercaillies Tetrao urogallus individuals with atypical white feathers. It was inspired by a casual observation of T. u. aquitanicus in the Pyrenees. The presence of colour aberrations has been reported f...

Nest predation is the main cause of reproductive failure, particularly in ground-nesting birds on farmlands. Understanding the links between nest predation and habitat change can help design effective management schemes to constrain the negative impact of predation pressure on birds. However, the mechanisms underlying the relationships between land...

Rupicapra rupicapra - IUCN reassessment 2020

Predation is a major evolutionary force in animal ecology. Mechanisms by which prey coloration provides camouflage has been widely studied. However, predator response to prey camouflage and concealment has received less attention. Understanding vegetation structure effect on depredation success could help managers design strategies to mitigate the...

Behavioral adjustments are of critical importance for the survival of animals when exposed to risk and resource variations in their environment. Moving to safer habitats allows prey to reduce the risk of mortality triggered by predation. This response has been well studied at the population level to assist in identifying key habitat components for...

In human-dominated landscapes, human disturbances may contrast (spatially and/or temporally) with risk imposed by non-human predators. However, how prey adjust behaviour to minimize risk from multiple threats remains unclear. In Central-Western France, we investigated patterns of activity, space and habitat use, and causes of variations during the...

In this study we describe the finding of a Cephenemyia stimulator larva in the brain of a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) after performing a computed tomography (CT) scan of its head. Despite this anatomical location of oestrid larvae could be relatively frequent in other genera, such as Oestrus, to our knowledge, this is the first reported case inv...

Interspecific competition is expected to occur between phylogenetically closely related species when sharing resources. In birds, interspecific competition often occurs by song-mediated interference and frequently implies asymmetrical outcomes between the species pairs involved. Habitat loss resulting from agricultural intensification is expected t...

Nest predation is a major cause of reproductive failure in birds, but predator identity often remains unknown. Additionally, although corvids are considered major nest predators in farmland landscapes, whether breeders or floaters are involved remains contentious. In this study, we aimed to identify nest predators using artificial nests, and test w...

Flaviviruses have become increasingly important pathogens in Europe over the past few decades. A better understanding of the spatiotemporal distribution of flaviviruses in France is needed to better define risk areas and to gain knowledge of the dynamics of virus transmission cycles. Serum samples from 1014 wild boar and 758 roe deer from 16 depart...

Wildlife management benefits from studies that verify or improve the reliability of monitoring protocols. In this study in Isère, France, we tested for potential links between the abundance of black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) in lek–count surveys and cofactors (procedural, geographical and meteorological cofactors) between 1989 and 2016. We also examin...

This study aims at assessing the serological cross‐reactions existing between three mosquito‐borne flaviviruses with avian reservoirs co‐circulating in Europe: West Nile (WNV), Usutu (USUV) and Bagaza (BAGV). The study is useful for a better interpretation of serological results in diagnostics and surveillance. Serum samples obtained from a natural...

• Changes in agricultural practices have reshaped agricultural landscapes and triggered a drastic decline in spatial and temporal heterogeneity leading to changes in habitat quality and food resources for birds. However, the precise relationships between landscape changes, spatial and temporal heterogeneity, and habitat preferences in response to t...

The Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) is a galliform bird of boreal climax forests from Scandinavia to eastern Siberia, with a fragmented population in southwestern Europe. We extracted the DNA of T. urogallus aquitanicus and obtained the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequence by combining Illumina and Sanger sequencing sequence...

Studies of animal ecology can benefit from a quantified understanding of eco‐physiological processes and, in particular, of the physiological responses in free‐ranging animals to potential stressors. The determination of fecal cortisol metabolites as a noninvasive method for monitoring stress has proved to be a powerful tool. High‐performance liqui...

Bagaza virus (BAGV; synonymous to Israel turkey meningoencephalomyelitis virus, ITV) is a relevant arthropod-borne epornitic flavivirus. In its first emergence in Europe (southern Spain, 2010) BAGV caused an outbreak, severely affecting red-legged partridges and common pheasants. The effects (pathogenicity, role as reservoir host) of BAGV in other...

Capsule: Most Continental Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosa limosa using the Doñana wetlands during post-breeding migration appear to begin moult before they arrive and suspend moult before they migrate onwards to West Africa. Aims: We aim to describe the primary moult strategies and patterns in the Continental Black-tailed Godwits using the Doñan...

For decades, decreases in several populations of some small sedentary game species have been reported in Europe. From the literature, we extracted mortality and reproductive rates that were available for European populations in four iconic species, the grey partridge (Perdix perdix), the black grouse (Tetrao tetrix), the capercaillie (T. urogallus)...

Extinction risk and conservation status of species are assessed at the global scale by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). To ensure objectivity, repeatability and traceability, assessments follow a standardized process that uses reliable and verifiable information. Assessments are synthesized according to guidelines, which h...

Migrating long distances requires time and energy, and may interact with an indi-vidual's performance during breeding. These seasonal interactions in migratory animals are best described in populations with disjunct nonbreeding distributions. The black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa limosa), which breeds in agricultural grasslands in Western Europe,...

Three third-instar Oestrus larvae were found in the frontal sinus of an adult female Asiatic ibex (Capra sibirica) in the Tian Shan mountain range, Kyrgyzstan. The larvae were identified as Oestrus ovis based on morphology and after sequencing and analyzing a fragment of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. In light of this identification and the f...

Wildlife monitoring and the identification of factors associated with disease outbreaks are major goals in wildlife conservation. We reviewed demographic and epidemiological data for the Alpine ibex Capra ibex from 1975–2013 to characterize the species’ abundance and distribution dynamics on a large scale. We also explored methodological bias in mo...

Distance sampling is being extensively used to estimate the abundance of animal populations. Nevertheless, the great variety of ways in which data can be analyzed may limit comparisons due to the lack of standardization of such protocols. In this study, the influence of analytical procedures for distance sampling data on density estimates and their...

Status and trends of breeding bird populations in France: summary review of the first national reporting under the Birds Directive. With the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) as pilot, a group of over 100 scientists and experts participated in the national bird reporting process, gathering and validating information on more than 300 bird sp...

Status and trends of breeding bird populations in France: summary review of the first national reporting under the Birds Directive. With the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) as pilot, a group of over 100 scientists and experts participated in the national bird reporting process, gathering and validating information on more than 300 bird sp...

With the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) as pilot, a group of over 100 scientists and experts participated in the national bird reporting process, gathering and validating information on more than 300 bird species including 295 breeding taxa. Over 650 distinct references have been entered in the data base. Data from ongoing projects such...

With the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) as pilot, a group of over 100 scientists and experts participated in the national bird reporting process, gathering and validating information on more than 300 bird species including 295 breeding taxa. Over 650 distinct references have been entered in the data base. Data from ongoing projects such...

Abstract Our study focuses on the Iberian ibex from the Sierra Nevada Natural Space (southern Spain), where sarcoptic mange is an endemic disease and animals are affected by a highly seasonal environment. Our aim was to distinguish between disease and environmental influences on seasonal variation in body weight, hematology, and serum biochemistry...

Most studies of lateralized behaviour have to date focused on active behaviour such as sensorial perception and locomotion and little is known about lateralized postures, such as lying, that can potentially magnify the effectiveness of lateralized perception and reaction. Moreover, the relative importance of factors such as sex, age and the stress...

The discipline of epidemiology is the study of the patterns, causes and effects of health and disease conditions in defined anima populations. It is the key to evidence-based medicine, which is one of the cornerstones of public health. One of the important facets of epidemiology is disease-navigating webs (disease-NW) through which zoonotic and mul...

Abstract Oestrosis is one of the most prevalent parasitosis affecting the Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica. To date, both the diagnosis of oestrosis and the determination of the intensity of parasitism require the use of invasive methods (necropsy), which necessarily limit research posibilities. We analysed the immune humoral response (IgM and IgG) ag...

Awareness of the importance of the wildlife trade and human perception in animal conservation is growing. Recent studies carried out on a continental and world scale have analysed the associations between trophy score, rarity and prices. As a large range of ungulates are legally hunted throughout the world and numerous ungulate taxa are threatened,...

Intensive monitoring suggests population oscillations and migration in wild boar Sus scrofa in the Pyrenees.— As few studies have analysed local variability in populations of wild boar Sus scrofa in Western Europe in recent years, our understanding of ecological processes currently affecting this species is limited. To analyse questions regarding l...

Monitoring programmes and studies focused on secondary sexual characters (SSCs) depend on the accuracy of measurements. However, methods of measurements of SSC, such as horns of ungulates, vary throughout the literature. Thus, the accuracy of horn growth measurements as proxies of true horn growth and the comparability of results inferred from diff...

Background Hybridization between closely related wild and domestic species is of great concern because it can alter the evolutionary integrity of the affected populations. The high allelic variability of Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) loci usually excludes them from being used in studies to detect hybridization events. However, if a) the pa...

Picture of Iberian ibex x domestic goat hybrid calf in the Mountain of Sierra Nevada in 1997.

Picture of Iberian ibex x domestic goat hybrid adult in the Mountain of Sierra Nevada in 1997.

Reproductive costs may increase the susceptibility of breeding females to parasites. Compatibility may be modulated by immunity and nonimmunological factors. However, experimental tests attempting to unravel the role of nonimmunological compatibility to parasites are scarce. We experimentally infected breeding and nonbreeding females with pseudoect...

Heterogeneity in host compatibility is one of the main hypotheses proposed to explain uneven resistance to parasites and uneven parasite load between hosts. It suggests that differences between hosts modulate their predispositions as suitable environments for their potential parasites. Interesting studies of antiparasitic behavior have reported the...

In this study we examined the influence of several factors, like the surface of skin with lesions attributable to Sarcoptes scabiei, the time of year and host sex and age on variations of mite load in Iberian wild goats, Capra pyrenaica, from the Sierra Nevada Natural Space, southern Spain. As well, the surface area of skin with scabietic lesions e...

Host acquired immunity is a critical factor that conditions the survival of parasites. Nevertheless, there is a shortage of data concerning inter-individual immunological inequalities in wild mammals. Sarcoptic mange is a widespread parasitosis that severely affects mammals such as the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica). Despite some work on the subjec...

Testes mass is a key factor in male reproductive success and is potentially exposed to so-called 'parasitic castration'. This is the result of the direct destruction or alteration of reproductive cell lineages (parasitic castration sensu stricto), or the indirect detrimental effects - for example, via body condition - on the ability of progenitors...

Sperm competition is a powerful evolutionary force, and understanding the factors that regulate testes characteristics may lead to a better understanding of the variability in male reproductive success. We explored the effects of age, body condition and season on relative testes mass in the Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica. We analysed the variability...

We studied the factors that determined kidney fat stores (KFs) and kidney stores (Ks)—defined as the residuals from the linear regression of kidney mass and kidney fat, respectively, on body weight—in 463 Iberian wild goats (Capra pyrenaica) from the Sierra Nevada (southern Spain). Despite the fact that body stores in both sexes were highest during...

The objective of the present study was to examine the extent of genetic diversity among Sarcoptes scabiei individuals belonging to different skin subunits of the body from individual mangy hosts. Ten microsatellite primers were applied on 44 individual S. scabiei mites from three mangy Iberian ibexes from Sierra Nevada Mountain in Spain. Dendrogram...

RESUMEN En Sierra Nevada se localiza la población de cabra montés (Capta pyrenaica hispanica) más numerosa del mundo. En los últimos años se ha abordado el estudio de la bioIogla de esta especie desde varias perspectivas: dinámica pobIacional. ecopatología. morfologia genética de poblaciones. etc. Sin embargo. y debido a la orografia del macizo mon...

Les pathogènes sont actuellement au centre de problématiques fondamentales et appliquées. Cependant, les causes et conséquences des infestations de pathogènes ne sont pas toujours bien connues. Ce projet s'est axé sur plusieurs facettes associées à ces thèmes en étudiant l'interaction entre un parasite ubiquiste, le sarcopte de la gale, Sarcoptes s...