Deadline of the offer: 31st of October 2022
Tuteur du stage et Laboratoire d’accueil / Internship supervisor and Host laboratory:
Laboratoire / Lab : Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, IPHC - Ecology, Physiology and Ethology department
Chef d’équipe / Team leader (name, function, e-mail and telephone): Vincent A Viblanc, Researcher, vincent.viblanc@iphc.cnrs.fr,
Encadrant du stage / Supervisor for the internship (if different): Anouch Tamian (anouch.tamian@iphc.cnrs.fr), Vincent Viblanc (vincent.viblanc@iphc.cnrs.fr), and Claire Saraux (claire.saraux@iphc.cnrs.fr)
Personne à contacter / Contact e-mail: please send CV and cover letter to Anouch Tamian (anouch.tamian@iphc.cnrs.fr)
Adresse du stage / Address of the internship: IPHC, 23 Rue du Loess, 67037 Strasbourg
Site internet de l’équipe / Team Website : https://iphc.cnrs.fr/la-recherche/departement-decologie-physiologie-et-ethologie/depe_epe/
Langues parlées dans l’équipe / Languages spoken in the lab: English, French
Titre du projet de recherche / Research project title:
Microclimate effects on the activity patterns and behaviour of Columbian ground squirrels
Mots clés / Keywords : climate, diurnal and ground-dwelling rodent, hibernation, foraging behaviour
Description du projet / Project description (subject and technics):
Several animal species living in temperate ecosystems must contend with seasonal changes of their environment. For hibernating species that rely on fat stores to survive the winter, the short active summer period is critical since individuals must not only reproduce, but also forage and gain sufficient body reserves to withstand the subsequent hibernation. Variation in climate conditions during this period will strongly influence forage availability and foraging activity, and consequently the animal’s ability to accumulate fat for hibernation. Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus) are ground-dwelling hibernating rodents, with an annual cycle composed of prolonged hibernation periods (8 months) and short active periods (4 months). They live in mountain ecosystems with high spatial heterogeneity and different microclimates. Behavioural patterns and activity have been shown to correlate with ambient temperature (Betts, 1976), but the potential effects of others climate variables such as precipitations, wind, or ground temperature in the close animal environment remain unknown. The objectives of this project are to examine (1) how activity patterns (above and belowground) and time budget of individuals are related to the microclimatic and foraging conditions experienced by the
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individuals, and (2) how these patterns are changing through the season along with environmental changes. We will test whether there are threshold temperatures for which individuals have to enter their burrow for thermoregulation (i.e. to avoid heat stress), but also how precipitations, wind and snowfalls affect the activity budget and foraging behaviour of animals.
Data analysis and collection
The candidate will be responsible for (a) estimating and characterizing the vegetation and microclimate conditions of the study site; (b) analysing behavioural records from a monitored population observed during in 2019 and 2022; (c) analysing time-series of ambient light records (from bio-loggers on animals), corresponding to movements in and out the burrows and daily patterns of activity; (c) studying the link between microclimate, activity, and behaviour in this species.
Required profile
Student interested in behavioural ecology, in quantitative data analyses and statistics, able to handle large datasets and time series.
Publications du laboratoire / Lab publications:
Lane, J. E., Kruuk, L. E., Charmantier, A., Murie, J. O., & Dobson, F. S. (2012). Delayed phenology and reduced fitness associated with climate change in a wild hibernator. Nature, 489(7417), 554-557.
Dobson, F. S., Lane, J. E., Low, M., & Murie, J. O. (2016). Fitness implications of seasonal climate variation in Columbian ground squirrels. Ecology and Evolution, 6(16), 5614-5622.
Tamian, A., Viblanc, V., Dobson, S., Neuhaus, P., Hammer, T., Nesterova, A., ... & Saraux, C. (2022). Integrating microclimatic variation in phenological responses to climate change: a 28-year study in a hibernating mammal. Ecosphere