M2 ECOS Profile 1

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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Ecophysiology is a discipline at the intersection of organismal biology and ecology. Integrative ecophysiology focuses more specifically on the issue of scaling. In other words, the objective of this course unit is to illustrate how the study of acclimation and adaptation mechanisms at the individual (or even sub-individual) level can explain population structure, species distribution, and ecosystem functioning. The responses of organisms and populations to key structuring abiotic parameters (such as temperature, salinity, oxygen availability, and pollutants) will be examined, along with their interactive effects. The role of interactions among organisms will also be addressed. In this course unit, animals, plants, and microorganisms will be examined, and various types of approaches will be illustrated: field observations, in situ experiments, and laboratory experiments.

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The primary objective of this course is to provide students with all the skills necessary to understand and apply the concepts and methods underlying the quantitative study of population phenomena. The main methods for analyzing and modeling these phenomena will be addressed from both a theoretical (formal calculations) and practical (statistics, simulations) perspective, using examples that explore different phylogenetic scales (microbial dynamics, invasive species, human demography), spatial (from local to global) and temporal (transient and steady-state regimes, eco-evolutionary coupling), with particular attention paid to heterogeneity (spatial, genetic, or phenotypic) and randomness (stochasticity, uncertainties) characteristic of populations or inherent in their study.

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The objective of this teaching unit is to demonstrate that biological diversity serves a functional purpose:

1) for various groups of organisms: plants, insects, aquatic organisms, vertebrates, and

2) at different organizational scales (from organisms to ecosystems). The course aims to explain how to approach this functional aspect of diversity for the more than 10 million organisms present on the planet’s surface, using examples from highly and minimally anthropized environments.

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The goal of this resolutely transdisciplinary course is to provide the skills necessary for the effective management and meaningful use of data from various sources and of various types, particularly data with a spatial component. The course consists of three complementary, sequential modules. The first addresses the challenges inherent in data compilation and the solutions provided by database management systems (DBMS): from database design to queries. The second focuses on geographic information systems (GIS): from cartographic representation to geoprocessing. Finally, the third area presents the diversity of spatial analysis tools that enable the quantitative exploitation of spatial data, whether through metrics or statistical tests.

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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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The module aims to provide theoretical and practical knowledge of statistical analyses of spatial and temporal constraints: classification and ordination under constraints, "two-table ordination methods and statistical tests: canonical analyses (AFD, CCA, RDA, CAP)," "statistical tests on distance matrices, and matrix comparisons (PERMANOVA, Mantel, Procrustes)."

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The courses cover four aspects of conservation biology, drawing on current scientific research in this field:  

1. Introduction to Biodiversity Conservation(BC): Definition of Conservation Biology. Why conserve biodiversity? Who are the key players in BC, and what is the role of science in BC? 
2. Species Conservation: Which species are priorities? How can we conserve species? How do we know if a species is “well conserved”? 
3. Conservation of Areas: Which areas are priorities? How can we conserve these areas? 
4. Does Conservation Work?The Importance of Social Acceptance and Political Commitment. The Need for Biodiversity Indicators and for Measuring the Impact of Conservation. 

Students also work in groups to present a community library project, addressing the following questions: Why, what, where, how, how much does it cost, and how can we tell if it’s effective? 

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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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"This course unit consists of three main sections: I—Physical Characterization and Biogeochemical Cycles of Coastal Marine Ecosystems; II—Biodiversity and Functioning of Coastal Marine Ecosystems; III—Coastal and Maritime Law; Uses, Conflicts, and Integrated Management of the Coastal Zone. This course unit offers students a systemic approach to the study of coastal marine ecosystems from a highly multidisciplinary perspective. The physical structure of these ecosystems will be addressed through courses on their geomorphology and hydrology, with particular emphasis on water interactions with the open sea and their watersheds. Their biogeochemistry will be examined, notably to describe carbon and nutrient fluxes through the water and sediment compartments. Various aspects of their biodiversity will be illustrated to highlight the importance of these ecosystems as habitats for dependent species, with particular emphasis on the role of this biodiversity in their functioning. The coastal zone is densely populated by humans (40% of the world’s population). Particular attention will be given to human uses (e.g., aquaculture) and their spatial planning, including the assessment of their ecosystem services in an economic context, management and protection measures (e.g., Marine Protected Areas, Natura 2000), and professionals involved in managing these environments will share concrete experiences. Finally, the implications of the law of the sea for the management of the littoral and coastal zones will be covered."

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This module covers topics related to identifying, quantifying, and modeling the interactions between climate, marine species, and their exploitation.

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Behavioral ecology approaches the study of behavior from an evolutionary perspective to examine its mechanisms, function, and the role behavior plays in evolutionary and ecological processes. Research in behavioral ecology helps us understand other phenomena observed in other disciplines of biology, since all animals—from single-celled organisms to the most complex vertebrates—exhibit behavior.

The module exposes students to various basic concepts, as well as the wide range of tools that may be used (observations and experiments in natural populations or on captive individuals, comparative analyses, the use of modeling tools, ecophysiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, embedded electronics, etc.). Part of the course focuses on specific discussions of potential research approaches, the tools used, and the limitations of the inferences that can be drawn. Students will be expected to participate actively at these various levels, particularly through critical discussions of research articles.

The topics covered range from the exploration of food-foraging strategies, mate selection, habitat choice, and investment in reproduction to the study of animal communication and the reasons for living in groups. The historical dimension of the discipline is addressed in the introduction, but also depending on the instructors’ perspectives and the specific topics covered (the meanings and relationships between “Animal Behavior,” “Ethology,” “Behavioral Ecology,” etc.).

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