M2 - Chrono-Environments and Paleo-ecology (CEPAGE)

The objective of this UE is to allow the implementation of projects defined in the framework of the UE project of M1S2.

Synthetic content of the EU:

- Tutor-led autonomous work by groups of students: readjustment of the project's objectives and methodology if necessary, acquisition of data, ecological and/or evolutionary analyses and interpretations according to the provisional schedule defined in M1S2, restitution of results in the framework of a conference common to the different courses.

Methods of control of knowledge:

As for the M1 project UE, the UE is based on a problem-based learning approach. Students are therefore evaluated as they go along on how they are progressing with their project (40% CC), and then at the end of the semester on their ability to present the results of their project and discuss them in an oral presentation at a general restitution conference (60% of the overall mark).

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This course focuses on the analysis of the impact of man on the climate and the environment

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To present different methodological approaches in an applied approach, from data acquisition to interpretation. Each approach is covered in a half-day (3h), addressing the methods of data acquisition (1.5h TP) and the interpretation of results (1.5h TD).

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"This course aims to present and explain the concepts, the problems, the operational approach in the field and in the laboratory, the methodological and analytical strategies that allow us to infer and reconstruct the fluctuations of wild and human-used biodiversity over time. It is based on empirical and modelled, ecological, palaeoecological, palaeobiogeographical, archaeobiological and palethnobiological data sets. Particular attention will be paid to:

- the functional role of ecological disturbances such as fire in the transformation of the vegetation cover;

- the impact of the evolution of human societies on the dynamics of forest ecosystems;

- exploitation, cultivation / breeding and domestication of plants and animals based on the study of modern and bioarchaeological data. "

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The objective of this course is to accompany the student in the construction of his professional project and his search for an internship, while beginning to prepare his integration into professional life by an exhaustive and personal vision of possible career paths.

In concrete terms, meetings with different speakers allow the presentation of the doctoral thesis (presentation of the GAIA doctoral school, presentations by thesis students) and the professional environment targeted by the different courses (research professions and the non-academic sector). Activities specific to each pathway then help to better target the scientific fields most closely related to the students' professional projects. Lastly, the course includes practical sessions designed to prepare students to write scientific articles in English.

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In this course we will approach the main theoretical concepts of evolutionary processes through the fossil record. The aim is to reconcile microevolutionary mechanisms with macroevolution. The concepts addressed will be: species and intraspecific variability, speciation and evolutionary rhythms, adaptive radiation (ecological speciation) in the fossil record, targeted extinctions (migrant-autochthonous competition) or mass extinctions (major biological crises), evolutionary modalities (anagenesis and saltationism) observed in the fossil record and a comprehensive review of microevolutionary mechanisms.

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The objective of this resolutely transdisciplinary course is to provide skills useful for an effective management and a relevant exploitation of data of various origins and nature, and in particular with spatial component. The UE is composed of three successive complementary axes. The first one deals with the issues inherent to data compilation and the solutions provided by database management systems (DBMS): from database design to queries. The second deals with geographic information systems (GIS): from cartographic representation to geoprocessing. Finally, the third axis presents the diversity of spatial analysis tools that allow the quantitative exploitation of spatial data, whether it be metrics or statistical tests.

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The pedagogical objective of this course is to reposition the main types of soil on a global scale, to explain their formation and to identify the mineral phases or the main abiotic factors likely to regulate the biological activity of soils. Based on this analysis, the different soil organisms (micro-organisms, micro-, meso- and macro-fauna) will be presented as well as their relationships in order to reposition the cycle of organic matter and mineral elements in the soil at different temporal and spatial scales. The notions of recycling, looping of biogeochemical cycles and community assembly rules will also be addressed. The organization of this course is based on lectures and conferences as well as fieldwork.

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"The objective is to analyze the phylogenetic, developmental and functional constraints that may have governed the morphological changes discernible in the fossil record. The phylogenetic approach will be approached by reconstruction methods applicable to fossils (parsimony; cladistic analysis). Developmental and functional approaches (mainly odontology) will be illustrated by different methodologies developed on the Montpellier campus (notably X-ray microtomography). The critical review of reference articles in the considered field will give rise to an oral presentation followed by questions."

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Land use change is responsible for about 10% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Tropical forest ecosystems can participate in both pillars of addressing global warming, namely mitigation and adaptation:

-Tropical forests and plantations are important potential carbon sinks, their biomass can provide energy to replace 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 essentially 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.

In the context of the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, mechanisms such as the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) and REDD+, and voluntary markets, as well as ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change, provide a new opportunity for tropical forestry, as well as a potential lever for tropical forest protection or restoration. The module provides an understanding of the basic concepts of climate change, the role of tropical ecosystems in the global carbon cycle, and the technical, policy and economic responses to climate change issues.

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 frameworks for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. The potential of tropical agro-ecosystems is assessed based on scientific studies and existing operational projects.

Teaching and Learning Methods:

-Course (18 hours)

-TD (3 hours).

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1. Bayesian inference: Motivation and simple example. 

2. The likelihood. 

3. A detour to explore priors. 

4. Markov chains Monte Carlo methods (MCMC)

5. Bayesian analyses in R with the Jags software.  

6. Contrast scientific hypotheses with model selection (WAIC).

7. Heterogeneity and multilevel models (aka mixed models. 

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1 "The way in which the modern West represents nature is the least shared thing 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 an invention of Europeans that is only one of the possibilities available to societies to account for the living and non-living beings that surround them.

If Philippe Descola contributes to renewing questions about the relationship between society and the environment, he nevertheless draws on a long tradition in the human and social sciences. Numerous works have already explored the various forms of knowledge and social organization to which these relationships give rise: ethnoscience, anthropology of technology, economic anthropology, ethnoecology, sociology of science and technology, etc.

This issue is far from being confined to the academic sphere. It also arouses the interest of actors in conservation (biodiversity, natural resources, etc.) and industry (pharmacology). It also mobilizes so-called "indigenous" populations who claim, both locally and internationally, access to resources and the preservation of an intangible heritage.

2. Situated at the meeting point of the social sciences and the life sciences, these disciplines analyze how human societies use plants, animals, and other components of the environment, but also how their conceptions and representations of their environment(s) guide 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 interrelations between so-called "traditional" societies and their immediate environment. Subsequently, since the 1970s, researchers have reconsidered 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 societies, even the most isolated, are affected by events that are decided and take place on different scales (international conventions, economic crises). Their immediate environment is also affected by global phenomena (climate change, erosion of biodiversity, etc.). In return, their actions can also have international ecological, social and economic repercussions, when, for example, these societies organize themselves to bring their claims to international arenas.

On the other hand, the relationship that modern societies have with their environment is being reconfigured in the face of the observation that the planet is increasingly "artificialized" and threatened by ruptures and serious crises. The place of fauna and flora is being reconsidered and is the subject of controversy as to their rights. Moreover, the entry into a new geological era, the Anthropocene, is invoked to challenge both the natural sciences and the human and social sciences on the need to consider differently a common history of the environment and societies.

3. The very work of scientists and engineers is apprehended in a new light. In this respect, a new scientific project in the humanities and social sciences aims at reconsidering the role of "non-humans" and calls for finding other analytical categories than those of Nature and Culture. New scales and methods of investigation are also envisaged to analyze global processes.

These recent changes in scale invite the researcher in the humanities and social sciences to (re)consider his or her approach through a reflexive approach: he or she is no longer a simple observer, but can also be a real actor in the processes, when not directly involved in a social movement.

4. The objective of this module is to introduce these different scientific and operational fields. It is to provide students with reference points and elements for reflection, in order to be able to construct scientific questions on the relationships between societies and the environment, in order to reflect on the ways in which current environmental and social issues can be dealt with. The varied geographical and disciplinary experiences of the speakers will make it possible to illustrate the approach through a wide range of ecosystem types, socio-cultural contexts and themes. In the time available, we will not pretend to cover all the themes, approaches and methods in an exhaustive manner. Any student wishing to delve deeper into this area will need to engage in a more in-depth training process.

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The objective of this course is to help students finalize their professional projects and prepare for the post-master's program.

The EU is organized at the level of the course, with regular discussion sessions between the teaching staff and the students.

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The individual M2 internship lasts approximately 5 to 6 months and must be carried out, depending on the course, in a research laboratory or a structure in the non-academic sector. It allows the student to acquire in-depth professional experience in the field of biodiversity, evolution or ecology. It can be carried out in a local, national, or international structure, on a subject validated by the teaching staff in order to meet the objectives of the course followed by the student.

Evaluation: The internship is evaluated during a public defense before a jury during which the content of the thesis and the quality of the answers to the jury's questions are evaluated. The behavior and dynamism of the student during the internship are evaluated by the internship supervisor.

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