To date, the contribution of pesticides to the decline of farmland bird species is still controversial. Most studies interested in the effect of agrochemicals are limited to the assessment of the lethal dose 50 (LD50) and tested on a restricted number of model species. They often ignore the delayed effects on the physiology, the behaviour and the life history traits of the individuals, and their evolutionary consequences at the population level. Understanding and quantifying such effects is fundamental for our knowledge of the avian population decline. With PestiStress, I aim at investigating the effects of realistic pesticide cocktail through two complementary approaches, an experimental design in controlled conditions and the monitoring of a natural population, on two farmland flagship species, the Grey partridge (Perdix perdix) and the Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus). Especially, the emphasis will be put on neonicotinoid insecticides and on glyphosate-based herbicides, both being supposed to be banned by September 2018 and 2021 in France respectively. PestiStress will provide a first assessment of the effects of these pesticides on avian wildlife fauna by an integrative methodology that involves physiology, behaviour and life history traits. I will also for the first time investigate the transgenerational impact of the pesticides under natural exposure. Finally, the data collected during PestiStress will be used to model population dynamics to decipher the importance of long-term effects for conservational purpose in Montagu’s harrier. In the current societal context in regard to the use of pesticides and their effects on biodiversity and human health, PestiStress will provide new insights that will contribute to one of the major societal challenge in Agroecology for this century.

The impact of pesticides on biodiversity and health is widely debated, particularly in wine-growing agro-ecosystems where pesticides are massively used. It is precisely the impacts of the main pesticides used in vineyards (fungicides, insecticides, herbicides) on vertebrate bioindicators of these agro-ecosystems which the VITIBIRD project aims to study. It also aims to determine whether specific agricultural and landscape practices can reduce any impacts by providing alternative habitats and reducing exposure to pesticides. VITIBIRD will rely on original and robust methodologies (national sampling plan, historical and long-term monitoring of bird populations, BACCHUS experimental site, renowned chemical and biological analysis laboratories, and experimental infrastructures). Firstly, we will set up innovative tools to measure the degree of contamination of vertebrates, living in wine-growing areas, by several pesticides. Using the BACCHUS experimental landscape system, we will examine the impact of agricultural practices and landscape complexity on this degree of contamination. Secondly, using historical monitoring, we will assess the evolution of avian biodiversity and bird populations in vineyards over the last 30 years. We will determine which species have declined the most during this period, and we will identify the characteristics that make species sensitive to farming practices. Using the BACCHUS scheme, we will test the impact of landscape and farming practices on biodiversity and bird demography. Thirdly, we will examine the relationships that exist between farming practices, landscape complexity and bird health, focusing particularly on physiological systems, which are essential to the proper functioning of the organism (hormonal axes, metabolism), and on the molecular damage that can be caused by pesticides. Using field and captive experiments, we will test the impact of the pesticides most commonly found in wild birds on these physiological systems (endocrine disruption, metabolism) and on these damages (oxidative stress, telomere erosion). Finally, we will evaluate the ecosystem services provided by birds in vineyards (pest control). We will use experimental approaches to measure trophic interactions between different bird species, grapevine pests and other invertebrate pest predators. Using the BACCHUS system, we will test the impact of farming practices and landscape complexity on the ecosystem services provided by birds and on the biological control of grapevine pests. VITIBIRD will rely on the complementary expertise of several research teams and institutes (CNRS, INRAE, MNHN, Universities) in ecotoxicology, agroecology, ecophysiology and conservation biology. This project has the potential to have a huge impact on the greatest number of people (scientists, students, media, managers) because it is based on a transdisciplinary approach and involves many stakeholders (scientists, students, communities, volunteers, associations, wine-growing professionals). In conclusion, VITIBIRD will improve our knowledge on (1) the transfer of pesticides into the environment, (2) the impact of pesticides and farming practices on biodiversity and health, and (3) the socio-economic benefits rendered by biodiversity in vineyards. Through the consortium's connections with multiple educational, socio-professional and decision-making bodies, this project should make it possible to provide advice and opinions to improve the management of the wine-growing environment.

The secular changes in environmental temperatures and water availability driven by climate change affect the physiological performances of ectothermic animals and push some of their populations on a fast lane to extinction. The sensitivity, resilience and adaptive potential to climate change of ectotherms are all largely determined by physiological and behavioural capacities and tolerances. Individual responses to changes in temperature and water availability involve thermoregulation (i.e., physiological and behavioural regulation of body temperature) and hydroregulation (i.e., physiological and behavioural regulation of the water balance). In ectotherms, responses to water constraints remain poorly investigated when considering climate change. Yet, it is anticipated that hydroregulation and thermoregulation will influence each other through complex, possibly conflicting pathways leading to ecological responses to climate change difficult to predict by focusing solely on thermal biology. How this interplay between thermoregulation and hydroregulation influences vulnerability to climate change remains largely unknown because we lack studies that examine jointly hydro- and thermoregulation strategies involved in response to climate change. One promising and comprehensive approach to tackle this problem is to use heat, mass and water budget models that are robust and sufficiently general to be applied to a large range of study systems. Here, we will use ecophysiology and behavioural ecology to enhance our understanding of this critical facet in terrestrial ectotherms. Focusing on squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes), we will combine mechanistic biophysical models, empirical studies of physiological and behavioural traits at the individual and population levels using two model species from two French Mountain ranges, climate niche simulations for these species, and comparative analyses across all squamate reptiles. We will be able to describe and understand for the first time the covariation patterns between thermoregulation and hydroregulation, and to investigate and improve our capacity to predict ecological effects of two global change pressures (temperature and water) in terrestrial ectotherms. This approach will provide new insights on the role of proximate functional traits in determining species distribution and sensitivity to climate change, and translate into knowledge applicable in other terrestrial ectotherms and wildlife management.

Poly and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are surface-active agents used in in a multitude of manufactured products including firefighting foam, waterproof clothing, non-stick cookware, food packaging, personal care products, electronics and metal plating and even pesticides. Transported over long distances, via atmospheric and oceanic transport, these highly persistent, bioaccumulative pollutants are now ubiquitous. In humans and in laboratory models, PFAS can cause cancer, affect immunocompetence and disrupt the endocrine system. However, the consequences of PFAS exposure remain poorly investigated in wildlife. Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been included under the Stockholm Convention on POPs. However, PFAS cover more than 4,700 substances and the vast majority of PFASs are not regulated yet and some are increasingly detected in biota. Furthermore, development and manufacturing of alternative PFAS which are largely uncharacterized in terms of risks, remains ongoing, despite recent evidences of their environmental occurrence in wildlife tissues. Exposure assessments focused only on legacy substances (PFOS, PFOA) may severely underestimate overall exposure in wildlife. Evaluating exposure and effects of PFAS on wildlife is thus an environmental priority. As apex predators, seabirds are relevant bioindicators for marine pollution and there is an urgent need to monitor PFAS across a large range of habitats. To improve our understanding of the global distribution of PFAS and their effects on wildlife, we propose the ToxSeabird project which aim at providing a comprehensive and unprecedented study of the occurrence and toxicity of legacy and emerging PFAS in seabird species along a unique geographical gradient encompassing Antarctic, subantarctic, subtropical, tropical, temperate and subarctic areas, from overseas and metropolitan France. Overseas and metropolitan France holds millions of seabirds including rare endemics and is therefore responsible for a significant part of the marine biodiversity. ToxSeabird involves five partners: Centre d’Etude Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC); Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux (EPOC); Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (PhyMA), and Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert CURIEN (IPHC). The ToxSeabird project aims to: 1) Document the occurrence of legacy and emerging PFASs in 40 seabird species from overseas and metropolitan France, along Antarctic, tropical, temperate and subarctic areas; 2) Interpret patterns of PFAS contamination through trophic ecology (stable isotopes) and biologging; 3) Experimentally investigate effects of PFAS on key physiological mechanisms (hormones, oxidative stress, telomeres); 4) Relate PFAS contamination to demographic parameters using ongoing long-term ringing studies. Our project should give new insight into the exposome of seabirds across an unprecedented latitudinal gradient and provide innovative information about the poorly explored effects of PFAS on wildlife.

PAMPAS focuses on the future of the coastal marshes of Charente-Maritime and their management against the marine submersion hazard. This project chooses to tackle this issue through a focus on the heritage identity of those marshes to go beyond the classical approaches of conservation ecology, standard economy and conservation of cultural heritage, all considered insufficient to apprehend the heritage, understood as the particular articulation between the components of a marsh that contribute to build its collective identity. PAMPAS therefore aims to lift this lock by an interdisciplinary approach applied to three study areas (the marshes of Fier d'Ars, Tasdon, and Brouage), contrasting both in terms of natural, cultural, landscape heritage and management (dikes, in project of reopening to the sea, in debate of laissez-faire or diking, respectively). PAMPAS is built on a collective approach (co-coordinated by four researchers) and uses participatory methods to foster interdisciplinary between Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth Sciences (48 people from 13 units, 9 disciplines) as well as with managers of marsh areas. It focuses on three major objectives: 1) to characterize the natural functions (biodiversity, biogeochemical functioning and ecosystem functions), cultural (heritage trajectory of property) and landscape (recognition landscape elements by the users and development) of the marshes and integrate these different components into a spatial representation of the heritage identity; 2) define from the socio-ecosystem point of view, the response of these components to the marine submersion hazard: after having characterized physically the submersion hazard, the study of the short-term effects on the heritage components will help to develop a global representation of the socio-ecosystem both in terms of functionalities, services, but also in terms of resilience or ability to adapt to the hazard. The effects at the 100-year scale will also be addressed through the past evolution of territories characterized by contrasting hydrodynamic contexts. Finally, 3) these results will be confronted with the different management practices on the selected sites in order to define evolution scenarios of their heritage identity and evaluate their adaptive potential. This axis includes (i) an analysis of the management methods determining the possible evolutions of the patrimonial identity, following the submersion, (ii) a discussion of the results with managers and the locally elected representatives, using an interactive tool of cartography and focus groups, to discuss the transition of these territories and adaptive management modalities of marshes, and (iii) dissemination of results towards users and the general public to feed an ecosystem vision of marshes exposed to marine submersions. Finally, and based on a revised definition of patrimonial identity adapted to marsh areas, PAMPAS will bring new solutions for sustainable management, by transmitting economic, cultural and ecological knowledge. The stakes and the project issues therefore go far beyond the local level and concern wetlands at the global level for which it is now necessary to review the analysis and management frameworks by integrating the heritage into its various social and ecosystem dimensions. Thus, the project fits naturally into the "Dynamics of ecosystems and their components for sustainable management" stakes of the ANR.