M2 - Plant Biodiversity and Tropical Ecosystem Management (BioGET)

The objective of this course unit is to facilitate the implementation of the projects defined as part of the M1S2 course unit.

Summary of the learning unit:

- Independent work supervised by student groups: readjustment of project objectives and methodology as needed; data collection; ecological and/or evolutionary analyses and interpretations in accordance with the tentative schedule established in M1S2; presentation of results at a joint symposium for the various tracks.

Assessment Procedures:

As with the M1 course, this course is based on a problem-based learning approach. Students are therefore assessed on an ongoing basis based on their progress in completing their project (40% of the grade), and then at the end of the semester on their ability to present and discuss their project results during an oral presentation at a general project presentation session (60% of the overall grade).

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This course unit addresses questions surrounding ecosystem management from the perspective of the social sciences, and more specifically “science studies.” It aims to help develop a general understanding of the relationship between ecological sciences and society, and to equip participants with the tools to analyze social issues and the underlying socioscientific controversies. The first part of the course provides the conceptual and methodological framework necessary for introducing a reflective tool for analyzing the interactions of actors and the (epistemological and axiological) arguments involved in socioscientific controversies, and illustrates this tool using current examples. Subsequently, thematic presentations by researchers in ecology highlight a variety of issues surrounding the ecological sciences and serve as a basis for students to apply and master the reflective analytical tool. Students are thus assessed on their ability to use this analytical framework to take an individual and well-reasoned position in controversies related to the ecological sciences.

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The educational objective of this course unit is to provide an overview of the major soil types on a global scale, explain their formation, and identify the mineral phases or primary abiotic factors that may regulate biological activity in soils. Based on this analysis, the various soil organisms (microorganisms, micro-, meso-, and macrofauna) will be presented, along with their interactions, in order to contextualize the cycles of organic matter and mineral elements in the soil across different temporal and spatial scales. The concepts of recycling, the closure of biogeochemical cycles, and the principles governing community assembly will also be addressed. This course unit is organized around lectures and presentations, as well as tutorial sessions and fieldwork.

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Module Objectives:

Acquire the knowledge necessary to understand recent advances and current debates in the field of tropical plant community ecology, as a basis for evaluating environmental policies and projects.

Module Content:

This module provides an introduction to the structure and functioning of tropical forest and savanna ecosystems. It examines their determining factors, characteristics, and certain implications for management and conservation. It also addresses some of the ecological controversies surrounding tropical forest ecosystems.

Teaching and Learning Methods: 

- Course (6 hours)

- Thematic literature reviews conducted in groups (12 hours) and discussion during presentation sessions with external experts (8 hours).

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The goal of this course unit is to support students in developing their career plans and searching for internships, while helping them begin to prepare for their transition into the workforce by providing a comprehensive yet personalized overview of possible career paths.

Specifically, sessions with various stakeholders provide an opportunity to present the doctoral thesis (a presentation by the GAIA doctoral school, presentations by doctoral students) and to explore the professional opportunities targeted by the different tracks (research careers and the non-academic sector). Activities specific to each track then help students better identify the scientific fields most closely aligned with their career goals. Finally, tutorial sessions are designed to prepare students for writing scientific articles in English.

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The objective of this course unit is to explore the diversity of life forms and the morphological and functional adaptations of plants living in tropical regions. Each of the major biological types will be analyzed (trees, herbs, vines, epiphytes, hemiepiphytes, etc.) in order to understand their architecture and modes of development, and to study the specific characteristics of their functioning.

A comparative analysis will attempt to define the nature of the adaptations that have enabled these plants to occupy all available niches.

Particular emphasis will be placed, from an evolutionary perspective, on the study of the biomechanical and in situ conduction properties that characterize some of them.

Another focus will be on tree ontogeny, addressing concepts of architecture related to the processes involved in the development of the large crowns of tropical trees, including root strategies. The interaction between vegetative structures, reproduction, and secondary growth will be explored in laboratory exercises using tropical plant material.

The concepts of growth and competition within a stand will be explored using simple examples that incorporate concepts of growth modeling.

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This course introduces students to social science research (from defining the research question to writing a report), with an emphasis on qualitative methods. It consists primarily of a field study on the general theme of urban nature management. It aims to introduce students to the social dimensions of environmental management issues, as well as to the methods of collecting and analyzing qualitative data in the social sciences. In this regard, it trains students to develop assessments of environmental management situations by focusing on three main types of skills: (i) Generating and analyzing diverse data (written, oral, observational), (ii) Analyzing multidimensional, complex, and unique situations, (iii) Communicating the complexity of these situations to an audience.

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1. Bayesian inference: Motivation and a simple example. 

2. The likelihood. 

3. A detour to explore priors. 

4. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods

5. Bayesian analyses in R using the Jags software.  

6. Compare scientific hypotheses using model selection (WAIC).

7. Heterogeneity and multilevel models (also known as mixed models). 

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Strategic Analysis of Environmental Management (SAEM) is a theoretical framework that provides a basis for analyzing a management situation based on a clearly articulated environmental concern. It sheds precise light on the exercise of environmental responsibility in relation to the exercise of other collective responsibilities, within the context of a pluralistic debate.  By identifying the basic structures of environmental management situations, particularly in international contexts, it provides criteria that, on the one hand, explain the difficulties environmental public policies face in gaining prominence relative to other areas of public policy—particularly development policies — and, on the other hand, make it possible to identify opportunities to promote changes that lead to greater accountability for environmental issues. The module is structured around two key components: (1) The presentation of various action research studies that utilize this analytical framework to illustrate the application of the ASGE’s analytical frameworks, (2) A guided assignment that combines the critical analysis of environmental project documents with the development of a proposal for an alternative action research study using the ASGE framework, which is presented and discussed collectively at the end of the module.

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Land-use changes account for approximately 10% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Tropical forest ecosystems can contribute to both pillars of addressing climate change—namely, mitigation and adaptation:

-Tropical forests and plantations are significant potential carbon sinks; their biomass can provide energy as a substitute for fossil fuels, while reducing deforestation and forest degradation and improving forest management (REDD+) can significantly reduce anthropogenic GHG emissions

-The ability of human societies—which are still predominantly rural—to adapt to climate change depends in part on the state of available natural resources, while the necessary adaptation of tropical ecosystems to climate change can be facilitated by human interventions.

As part of the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and REDD+, along with voluntary markets and ecosystem-based adaptation, provide new opportunities for tropical forestry, as well as a potential lever for the protection or restoration of tropical forests. This module provides an understanding of the basic concepts of climate change, the role of tropical ecosystems in the global carbon cycle, and the technical, political, and economic responses to the challenges of climate change.

Module Content:

This module provides basic knowledge on topics such as the carbon cycle, the mechanisms and consequences of climate change, and the technical and policy measures for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The potential of tropical agroecosystems is assessed based on scientific studies and existing operational projects.

Teaching and Learning Methods:

-Course (18 hours)

-Tutorial (3 hours).

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This course introduces concepts of plant architecture and the development of the entire plant (stem and root) as part of an assessment of tree health and function, with a view to implementing management practices tailored to specific objectives. The assessment and management of trees are guided by different criteria depending on the context (forest, orchard, or urban). The following topics will be covered both theoretically and practically, with hands-on exercises. (1) Overview of morphology and concepts of whole-plant architecture, (2) Tree life cycles and growth stages, (3) Stressors (competition, pruning, pests and diseases) and architectural responses, (4) Hands-on exercises in assessing forest, fruit, and urban trees.

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The objectives of this learning unit are to explore key concepts related to climate change, to illustrate important concepts in ecology and evolution in the context of climate change across a wide range of ecosystems, and to synthesize the various scientific and societal issues and challenges posed by climate change.

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"Businesses play a central role today in the processes leading to ecosystem degradation, and as such are increasingly called upon to contribute to their protection. How, then, can we improve businesses’ consideration of biodiversity issues and their involvement in the localized management of ecosystems? Furthermore, while conservation science and ecology offer a growing number of indicators and data to assess biodiversity in its many forms, how should this information be structured so that it provides a basis for strategic and collective action and for dialogue among stakeholders?"

An approach based on ecological accounting as a discipline within management sciences allows us to address these issues regarding the structuring of ecological indicators and information systems, the assumption of responsibility by the various actors who interact with ecosystems, and the associated forms of accountability.

The field of ecological accounting and its recent developments regarding biodiversity aim to transform the accounting systems traditionally used by firms to better account for the value of natural capital (biodiversity, ecosystems), thereby embedding it at the heart of management processes at various levels of corporate governance. Innovation in ecological accounting also exists at other levels (national, ecosystem-wide) and can thus help create linkages across different scales of ecosystem governance.

Interactive lectures are interspersed with exercises of varying lengths that engage students actively:

- reading and lively discussion of scientific articles in the field;

- a tool for the comparative analysis of natural capital accounting tools and models, etc.

-A tutorial on applying ecosystem accounting approaches based on a case study "

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1. “The way the modern West conceives of nature is the least widely shared view in the world” (Descola, 2005, p. 56). According to anthropologist Philippe Descola, the category of “Nature,” as a reality separate from the human world, is a European invention that is merely one of the possibilities available to societies for accounting for the living and non-living beings that surround them.

While Philippe Descola helps to revitalize the discussion of the relationship between society and the environment, he nevertheless draws on a long tradition in the humanities and social sciences. Numerous studies have already explored the various forms of knowledge and social organization that arise from this relationship: ethnoscience, the anthropology of technology, economic anthropology, ethnoecology, the sociology of science and technology, and so on.

This issue is by no means confined to the academic sphere. It also attracts the interest of stakeholders in conservation (biodiversity, natural resources, etc.) and industry (pharmacology). It also mobilizes so-called “indigenous” peoples, who are advocating—both locally and internationally—for access to resources and the preservation of their intangible cultural heritage.

2. Situated at the intersection of the social sciences and the life sciences, these disciplines analyze how human societies use plants, animals, and other components of the environment, as well as how their conceptions and representations of their environment(s) shape these uses. This research also explores how human societies organize themselves, perpetuate themselves, change to adapt to new contexts (globalization, global changes), and transmit knowledge about their relationships with nature.

For a long time, these disciplines focused more specifically on the interrelationships between so-called “traditional” societies and their immediate environment. Subsequently, beginning in the 1970s, researchers reevaluated the distinction between so-called “traditional” and “modern” societies in order to better address new contemporary environmental and social transformations.

Indeed, on the one hand, local communities—even the most isolated ones—are affected by events that are decided and unfold at various levels (international agreements, economic crises). Their immediate environment is also affected by global phenomena (climate change, loss of biodiversity, etc.). Conversely, their actions can also have international ecological, social, and economic repercussions, for example, when these communities organize to voice their demands in international forums.

Furthermore, the relationship that modern societies have with their environment is being reshaped in light of the reality of an increasingly “artificialized” planet threatened by serious disruptions and crises. The role of flora and fauna is being reevaluated, and their rights are the subject of controversy. Furthermore, the onset of a new geological era—the Anthropocene—is cited to challenge both the natural sciences and the humanities and social sciences to reconsider how we view the shared history of the environment and societies.

3. The very work of scientists and engineers is being viewed in a new light. In this regard, a new research project in the humanities and social sciences aims to reexamine the role of “non-humans” and calls for the development of analytical categories other than those of Nature and Culture. New scales and methods of investigation are also being considered to analyze global processes.

These recent shifts in scale prompt researchers in the humanities and social sciences to (re)examine their methodology through a reflective approach: they are no longer mere observers, but can also be active participants in these processes—even when they are not directly involved in a social movement.

4. The objective of this module is to introduce these various scientific and operational fields. It aims to provide students with points of reference and food for thought so that they can formulate scientific questions about the relationship between society and the environment, with a view to reflecting on how to address current environmental and social challenges. The instructors’ diverse geographical and disciplinary backgrounds will help illustrate this approach through a wide range of ecosystem types, sociocultural contexts, and themes. Given the time constraints, we do not intend to provide an exhaustive coverage of all topics, approaches, and methods. Any student wishing to delve deeper into this field should pursue more in-depth training.

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"The overall objective is to provide students with the basic knowledge necessary to understand international environmental policy and the main paradigms that underpin it: international environmental agreements and commitments and their implementation in the Global South; actors on the international stage, including the role of donors and the strategies of environmental NGOs; and the standards and instruments they seek to promote."

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The goal of this course unit is to support students as they finalize their career plans and prepare for life after the master’s program.

The EU is organized around the entire program, with regular discussion sessions between the teaching staff and students.

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The M2 individual internship lasts approximately 5 to 6 months and, depending on the student’s track, must be completed in a research laboratory or a non-academic organization. It allows students to gain in-depth professional experience in the field of biodiversity, evolution, or ecology. It may be conducted at a local, national, or international organization on a topic approved by the faculty to ensure it aligns with the specific objectives of the student’s track of study.

Evaluation: The internship is evaluated during a public defense before a panel, during which the content of the thesis and the quality of the student’s responses to the panel’s questions are assessed. The student’s conduct and initiative during the internship are evaluated by the internship supervisor.

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