Nous sommes à la recherche d'un candidat ou d'une candidate pour une thèse en écologie comportementale sur les soins parentaux chez les bécasseaux arctiques. Il s'agit essentiellement d'un travail théorique (modélisation) mais du terrain en Arctique (Groenland, Sibérie) est envisageable. La thèse est financée sur un programme ANR (PACS). Elle sera basée à Lyon, et elle peut débuter début 2022.
PhD title: Modelling adaptive parental care strategies in Arctic shorebirds
Supervisors and host laboratory:
Supervisors: François-Xavier Dechaume-Moncharmont (fx.dechaume@univ-lyon1.fr) & Jérôme
Moreau (Jerome.moreau@u-bourgogne.fr)
Thesis advisors: Loic Bollache (loic.bollache@u-bourgogne.fr) & Olivier Gilg (olivier.gilg@gmail.com)
Laboratory: Lehna, UMR CNRS université Lyon 1, bât. Darwin C, campus de la Doua, Lyon, France
Date of the offer: 3-year position, flexible from January 2022
Funding: PhD grant from the ANR PACS 2022-2025
Languages spoken in the lab: mostly French, English is welcome
Keywords: parental care, predation, nest thermoregulation, incubation, sandpiper, Calidris, Arctic fox,
behavioural ecology, polar ecology, dynamic programming
Project description: Arctic ground-nesting birds are facing
conflicting demands. They must maintain optimal incubating
temperature for their eggs, which supposes the shortest
possible absence from the nest (incubation recess), but they
must also maintain their own reserves through repeated
foraging trips, which can signal their presence to a predator
and leaves their eggs without protection. The optimal recess
strategy is expected to vary dynamically on both short
(within-day, as a function of predator activity hours, local
temperature, food availability) and long (across-day within
season as a function of the maturation stage of the embryo, annual phenology of resources, etc) terms.
Capitalizing on long-term field data (Meyer et al. 2020, 2021), our aim is to model the optimal recess
routines under the triple trade-off between adult reserve maintenance, nest thermoregulation and nest
predation. This project is mostly theoretical (lab based) but can also include field work in the Arctic
(depending on opportunities and personal skills of the applicant).
Profile: We are looking for a behavioural ecologist deeply interesting in modelling (mathematical
and/or computational evolution, dynamic programming). Advanced knowledge in at least one
programming language (for instance R, python, C) is requested.
Application: Applicants should send an application letter, a CV (resume), an extended list of credits,
marks and ranking from bachelor´s and master’s study, a copy of your master thesis, the name and
contact of at least two scientists for professional recommendations. For further information about the
position, do not hesitate to contact the supervisors.
Lab publications or recommended review on the subject:
Meyer N, Bollache L, Dechaume-Moncharmont F-X, et al. (2020) Nest attentiveness drives nest predation in
arctic sandpipers. Oikos
Meyer N, Bollache L, Galipaud M, Moreau J, Dechaume-Moncharmont F-X, et al. (2021) Behavioural responses
of breeding arctic sandpipers to ground-surface temperature and primary productivity. Science of The Total
Environment
Chevalier L, Labonne J, Galipaud M, Dechaume-Moncharmont F-X (2020) Fluctuating dynamics of mate
availability promote the evolution of flexible choosiness in both sexes. American Naturalist
Higginson AD, Fawcett TW, Trimmer PC, McNamara JM, Houston AI (2012) Generalized optimal risk allocation:
foraging and antipredator behavior in a fluctuating environment. American Naturalis