Evolution, Behaviour, Adaptation Group

Members

The Evolution, Adaptation and Behavior group aims at studying the evolution of phenotypic and behavioral traits through a combination of long-term monitoring of natural populations, of field and lab experiments, of molecular analyses, and of mathematical and computational modeling. Our research mainly focuses on animals, in particular mammals (alpine marmot, giraffe), birds (white-throated dipper, collared flycatcher, great tit) and insects (various Drosophila species, the parasitoid wasp Venturia canescens).

 
We study the evolution of fitness-related traits in interaction, either selective or plastic, with an individual’s biotic and abiotic environment. Interactions between individuals have a special importance in our reasoning and are thus the object of a first axis of research on group dynamics and social interactions. We also consider the environment as providing resources and informative signals through two other axes, one on phenotypic plasticity and the other on resource allocation and the sensitivity to environmental variables. In both, we consider the impact of stress factors caused by human activities — such as global warming, artificial lighting or invading species — or by the presence of pathogens.
 
 
Group dynamics and social interaction. The environment encountered by numerous animals contains, on top of resources and other elements, other individuals. Social interactions vary immensely between species, from a solitary lifestyle to such an extreme degree of cooperation that a part of the group sacrifices their reproduction at the benefit of others, specialized in this task. In this axis, we try to understand how groups form and how social structures are maintained, at various scales extending from unicellular organisms to cooperative mammals.
Here are a few examples of questions that we address:

  • Evolution of sociality: what are the consequences of climate change on the benefits of group living (in the alpine marmot)? How does that impact group composition and the probability and age of dispersal?
  • Group dynamics: how does the size and composition of familial groups evolve in the context of climate change? In giraffes, how do temporary groups form, and what role do kinship play in the probability and duration of pairing?
  • Which evolutionary trajectories have led to multicellular organisms expressing differentiated cell types, a part of which sacrifice their reproduction?
  • What are the neurogenomic determinants that signal the presence of related individuals in solitary individuals, triggering altruistic behaviors?

 
Phenotypic plasticity. Evolution by natural selection can drive phenotype changes on short timescales, in the order of a few generations. Yet it remains inefficient to track more frequent environmental changes. Phenotypic plasticity is a means to buffer such environmental variations, either through informed decisions or fixed reaction norms, which are the object of study in this axis.
Here are a few examples of questions that we address:

  • How do individual characteristics, in particular personality traits, shape the use of information on the environment for decision-making?
  • Is there a trade-off between the speed of decision making and its accuracy? What conditions favor genotypes that make fast, error-prone decisions, or slower, more accurate genotypes?
  • What types of environmental variations select for plastic genotypes?
  • Do changes in gene expression observed during environmental fluctuations induce behavioral changes?

 
Resource allocation and sensitivity to environmental variables. Organisms make other decisions throughout their lives as they decide how much resources to allocate to various traits, such as survival, growth, reproduction or immunity. This differential allocation of resources relies on complex systems, or instance the endocrine system in animals, that we study. These systems can be disturbed by anthropogenic changes that disrupt the long-term ecological setting in which they have evolves, resulting in major phenotype perturbations.
Here are a few examples of questions that we address:

  • How do endocrine systems — that allow the communication between tissues and control the differential allocation of resources — evolve?
  • How do chemical pollutants affect physiological processes, ageing and thereby life-history strategies in response to environmental variation?
  • What role do climatic fluctuations play in the heterogeneity of parasite infection, especially at stages that go through the external environment?

 

Publications

Display of 121 to 150 publications on 449 in total

Plasticité phénotypique et réponses adaptatives au changement climatique

Patricia Gibert, Irène Till-Bottraud

L’adaptation au changement climatique . 978-2-271-09482-7 : 95-102

Book chapter

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General conclusion to the special issue Moving forward on individual heterogeneity

Sandra Hamel, Jean-Michel Gaillard, Nigel Yoccoz, Ron Bassar, Sandra Bouwhuis, Hal Caswell...

Oikos . 127 ( 5 ) : 750-756

DOI: 10.1111/oik.05223

Journal article

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Microbial warfare between competing Drosophila species shapes niche partition

Antoine Rombaut, Kenza Qitout, Robin Guilhot, Patricia Gibert, Simon Fellous

International Conference on Ecological Sciences (Sfécologie 2018) . : 825 p.

Conference paper

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Influence of extreme heat or cold stresses on body pigmentation of Drosophila melanogaster

Georges Pétavy, Brigitte Moreteau, Jean David, Patricia Gibert

Journal of Thermal Biology . 72 : 118 - 126

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.01.005

Journal article

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Gene flow and adaptive potential in a generalist ectoparasite

Anais Appelgren, Verena Saladin, Heinz Richner, Blandine Doligez, Karen Mccoy

BMC Evolutionary Biology . 18 : 99

DOI: 10.1186/s12862-018-1205-2

Journal article

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Elevated natural environmental noise impacts breeding success and vocal communication in a songbird

Avelyne S. Villain, Marie S.A. Fernandez, Alexis Billet, Blandine Doligez, Mathieu Mahamoud-Issa, Hédi Soula...

Behaviour 2017: 35th International Ethological Conference (IEC) and the 2017 Summer Meeting of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) .

Poster

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Adaptations des communications acoustiques au bruit environnemental et succès reproducteur chez le cincle plongeur Cinclus cinclus.

Avelyne S. Villain, Marie S. A. Fernandez, Mathieu Mahamoud-Issa, Alexis Billet, Hédi Soula, Blandine Doligez...

47ème Colloque de la Société Française pour l’Etude du Comportement Animal (SFECA) .

Conference paper

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Quantifying individual heterogeneity and its influence on life‐history trajectories: different methods for different questions and contexts

Sandra Hamel, Jean‐michel Gaillard, Mathieu Douhard, Marco Festa-Bianchet, Fanie Pelletier, Nigel Yoccoz

Oikos . 127 ( 5 ) : 687-704

DOI: 10.1111/oik.04725

Journal article

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Offspring sex ratio in mammals and the Trivers‐Willard hypothesis: In pursuit of unambiguous evidence

Mathieu Douhard

BioEssays . 39 ( 9 )

DOI: 10.1002/bies.201700043

Journal article

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Successes and challenges of long-term field studies of marked ungulates

Marco Festa-Bianchet, Mathieu Douhard, Jean-Michel Gaillard, Fanie Pelletier

Journal of Mammalogy . 98 ( 3 ) : 612-620

DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyw227

Journal article

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Environmental and evolutionary effects on horn growth of male bighorn sheep

Mathieu Douhard, Gabriel Pigeon, Marco Festa-Bianchet, David Coltman, Simon Guillemette, Fanie Pelletier

Oikos . 126 ( 7 ) : 1031-1041

DOI: 10.1111/oik.03799

Journal article

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Enseigner les recueil des données : explorer la variabilité biologique ... au chaud, dans une salle de cours

Anne-Béatrice Dufour, Jean R Lobry, Isabelle Amat

Statistique et Enseignement . 8 ( 2 ) : 79-85

Journal article

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The invasive pest Drosophila suzukii uses trans-generational medication to resist parasitoid attack

M. Poyet, P. Eslin, O. Chabrerie, S. Prud’homme, E. Desouhant, Patricia Gibert

Scientific Reports . 7 ( 1 )

DOI: 10.1038/srep43696

Journal article

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Adaptations to different habitats in sexual and asexual populations of parasitoid wasps: a meta-analysis

Isabelle Amat, Jacques J.M. van Alphen, Alex Kacelnik, Emmanuel Desouhant, Carlos Bernstein

PeerJ . 5 : e3699

DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3699

Journal article

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Negative phenotypic and genetic correlation between natal dispersal propensity and nest-defence behaviour in a wild bird

Pierre Bize, Grégory Daniel, Vincent A. Viblanc, Julien G. A. Martin, Blandine Doligez

Biology Letters . 13 ( 7 ) : 20170236

DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0236

Journal article

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Natal dispersers pay a lifetime cost to increased reproductive effort in a wild bird population

M. Germain, T. Part, L. Gustafsson, Blandine Doligez

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 284 : 20162445

DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2445

Journal article

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Managing cold tolerance and quality of mass-produced Drosophila suzukii flies to facilitate the application of biocontrol through incompatible and sterile insect techniques

Katerina Nikolouli, F. Sassú, Thomas Enriquez, Patricia Gibert, Frédéric Vavre, Laurence Mouton...

Third FAO–IAEA International Conference on Area-wide Management of Insect Pests .

Poster

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Drosophila suzukii et la pourriture acide du raisin

Antoine Rombaut, Robin Guilhot, Anne Xuéreb, Laure Benoit, Marie-Pierre Chapuis, Patricia Gibert...

Revue Française d'Oenologie . ( 285 ) : 31

Journal article

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Maternal age affects offspring nutrient dynamics

Doriane Muller, David Giron, Emmanuel Desouhant, Benjamin Rey, Jérome Casas, Nicolas Lefrique...

Journal of Insect Physiology . 101 : 123 - 131

DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.07.011

Journal article

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Cognitive adaptation in asexual and sexual wasps living in contrasted environments

L. Froissart, M. Giurfa, S. Sauzet, Emmanuel Desouhant

PLoS ONE . 12 : e0177581

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177581

Journal article

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The Biased Evolution of Generation Time

Mélissa Verin, Salomé Bourg, Frédéric Menu, Etienne Rajon

The American Naturalist . 190 : E28-E39

DOI: 10.1086/692324

Journal article

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Ecologie de la santé

Stéphane Blanc, - Gilles Boëtsch, Martine Hossaert-Mckey, François Renaud, Stephanie Thiebault, Hélène Broutin...

ISBN: 9782749154251 9782749154251 : 176 p.

Book

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An Experimental Test of a Causal Link between Problem-Solving Performance and Reproductive Success in Wild Great Tits

Laure Cauchard, Bernard Angers, Neeltje Boogert, Lenarth Mélissa, Pierre Bize, Blandine Doligez

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution .

DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2017.00107

Journal article

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Food availability modulates differences in parental effort between dispersing and philopatric birds

Charlotte Récapet, Pierre Bize, Blandine Doligez

Behavioral Ecology . 28 ( 3 ) : 688 - 697

DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arx017

Journal article

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Vocal behaviour of mates at the nest in the White-throated Dipper Cinclus cinclus: contexts and structure of vocal interactions, pair-specific acoustic signature

Avelyne S. Villain, Mathieu Mahamoud-Issa, Blandine Doligez, Clémentine Vignal

Wilson journal of ornithology . 158 ( 4 ) : 897 - 910

DOI: 10.1007/s10336-017-1449-4

Journal article

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Assessment of individual and conspecific reproductive success as determinants of breeding dispersal of female tree swallows: a capture-recapture approach

Pamela Lagrange, Olivier Gimenez, Blandine Doligez, Roger Pradel, Dany Garant, Fanie Pelletier...

Ecology and Evolution . 7 ( 18 ) : 7334-7346

DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3241

Journal article

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The relationship between plumage colouration, problem-solving and learning performance in great tits Parus major

L. Cauchard, S.M. Doucet, N.J. Boogert, B. Angers, Blandine Doligez

Journal of Avian Biology . 48 : 1246-1253

DOI: 10.1111/jav.00953

Journal article

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Integrative genomics and gene networks for studying phenotypic plasticity in the pea aphid

Valentin Wucher, Fabrice Legeai, Lucas Bourneuf, Thomas Derrien, Aurore Gallot, Sylvie Hudaverdian...

10th Arthropod Genomics Symposium .

Conference paper

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Approches expérimentales de l’étude de la Plasticité Phénotypique

Irène Till-Bottraud, Patricia Gibert

Ecole thématique PLASPHEN .

Conference paper

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