Conservation Biology Section Scientific staff Pierre Devillers PhD Ecology Section Head Ecology and conservation of plant

Conservation Biology

Conservation biology is a relatively new, multidisciplinary science, developed in response to the biological diversity crisis, which endeavours to evaluate the impact of human activities on biological diversity and to design corrective measures. Drawing on the results of population biology, evolutionary science, ecology and ethology, conservation biology generates methodologies specifically adapted to the analysis and attenuation of extinction risks of threatened species and populations on the one hand, to the detection and reversal of the degradation, simplification, regression or fragmentation of communities of plants and animals, on the other hand. The Conservation Biology Section of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences has developed activities along both of these main axes.

In the domain of threatened species, research and studies are related mainly to the detection of species and populations at risk, their evolutionary history, biogeography, eco-ethology and trends, to the prediction of the dynamics and extinction risks of small populations, to the development of data collection methodologies adapted to vulnerable species, in particular, individual marking, identification and monitoring techniques, to the design and implementation of restoration programmes.

In the domain of ecosystems, projects focus mainly on the identification, evaluation and

demarcation of areas of biological interest, on the definition of selection criteria for protected areas and of adequacy requirements for networks of protected areas, on the design of habitat typologies and catalogues, on the identification of constraints and threats, on the principles of habitat management and their application to complex sites, on the methodologies of trend evaluation, biological indicators and environmental impact studies.

The activities of the Section of Conservation Biology are organized into five programmes inscribed within the pluriannual plan of the Institute. These programmes include both permanent activities and targeted projects undertaken at the request of actors in the field of nature conservation.

THREATENED SPECIES AND POPULATIONS: Direct contribution to the preservation of fragile species or populations, through, in particular, the preparation of conservation or recovery plans and a participation in their implementation. Development of methodologies appropriate to the evaluation of extinction risks of populations, to the diagnosis and quantification of risk factors, to the identification and monitoring of corrective measures. A limited number of groups of plants and animals is involved in the programme, their selection determined by contingencies related to conservation priority needs as well as by the expertise accumulated by the Section. Current projects are conducted within the framework of the implementation of the Bonn Convention and concern critically threatened migratory species, Sahelo-Saharan antelopes on the one hand, the curlew Numenius tenuirostris on the other hand. Recently completed projects addressed the conservation of the Mediterranean Monk Seal, Monachus monachus, of the Hazel Hen, Bonasa bonasia, in the Ardennes, of the European Lady's Slipper Orchid, Cypripedium calceolus, Gorilla gorilla.
LONG-TERM EVOLUTIONS: Study and quantification of middle- and long-term dynamic trends of populations or species belonging to sensitive groups. Methodological contribution to the development of data-gathering and interpretation systems. This programme exploits the opportunities for continuity of research provided by the administrative structure of the Royal Belgian Institute and includes projects which have been sustained over several decades. The main components of the programme are the study of populations and movements of European birds through ringing, the study of bat distribution, abundance and ecology in Belgium, the monitoring of forest and peri-urban avifaunas.
IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF FRAGILE COMMUNITIES: Contribution to the identification and elaboration of networks of protected areas, established, in particular, within the framework of European directives and international conventions. Identification and characterisation of fragile communities, evaluation of their state of conservation, of their trends, of their range and of the risk factors to which they are submitted. Definition, selection and evaluation of networks of protected areas based on an adequate representation of distinct plant and animal communities. Design of management techniques contributing to the preservation of fragile communities. Conception of management and incitation measures applicable outside protected areas and contributing to an overall improvement of the quality of communities. Currently running projects include the development of a habitat typology, initiated for Europe within the CORINE programme of the European Communities, extended to the Palaearctic Region in collaboration with the Council of Europe and the Barcelona Convention, now adapted to several continents. They also include validation projects, oriented towards relations between habitat typologies and faunal elements and towards the evaluation of scale factors; they use several ensembles of bio-indicators, among them the litter fauna, orthopterans, amphibians and reptiles, birds, bats, primates.
BIOINDICATORS: Evolutionary biology, eco-ethology and biogeography of species and groups of species of high relevance to nature conservation and with strong bioindicator characteristics. Development and experimentation of methodologies of biodiversity evaluation relying on indicators. Study of the applicability of these methods to various approaches of the conservation of the natural heritage. Experimentation of environmental monitoring methods relying on the observation of the evolution of the richness of sample sites in species belonging to indicator groups, or of appropriate parameters and indices related to that richness. Current projects concern mammals, in particular bats, birds, terrestrial orchids and selected groups of invertebrates.
INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT: Integration of the preoccupations of conservation of the natural heritage in land planning policies. Identification of sites of conservation importance, characterisation of ecologically sensitive areas, management techniques. Definition and application of the special protection area concept. Establishment of protected areas, parks and nature reserves. Elaboration of management and action plans for protected areas or species. Inventories. Conception, implementation and evaluation of awareness campaigns in favour of protected areas or species. Site evaluation methodologies. Relations between agriculture, environment and biodiversity. Land planning and impact study methodologies. Biological potential of administrative entities. This programme incorporates in its conceptual core results of projects pertaining to other programmes, but its field of application is situated somewhat downstream, at the level of the integration of biological data in conservation programmes and of their interaction with economical and social constraints. Studies in support of the implementation of the European directives on wild birds and on fauna, flora and habitats, on the one hand, of the Bonn, Bern and biodiversity conventions, on the other hand, fit in this programme. The programme also includes ecological network studies in urban and suburban areas, management, improvement and restoration programmes in favour of sites of importance for the conservation of bats, the elaboration of management plans for nature reserves belonging to non-governmental organisations and a participation in a habitat rehabilitation and monitoring programme in the Hercynian ranges of Central Europe.
Scientific staff Maurice Leponce Section Head DrSc. Agronomiques Ecological patterns ans processes, entomology, soil fauna, Ingénieur agronome biodiversity assessment, habitats, protected areas Roseline C. Beudels-Jamar de Bolsée DrSc. - Biologique Senior Scientist Assistant-Manager of the Section Eco-ethology of mammals and birds, population dynamics threatened species, protected areas Marie-Odile Beudels Licenciée en Philosophies & Lettres Monument and site history, public awareness, environment education, museology, threatened species programs, Webmaster René-Marie Lafontaine Licencié en Sciences Biologiques Ornithology, entomology, threatened Species, protected areas, ecological assessment Maurice Leponce DrSc. Agronomiques Ecological patterns ans processes, entomology, soil fauna, Ingénieur agronome biodiversity assessment, habitats, protected areas Post PhD student Thibaut Delsinne DrSc en Sciences Biologiques Terrestrial insect ecology. Dry woodland. Vegetation- insect relations. Ant communities.Aridity gradients. PhD students Yaëlle Bouyer Doctorante FRIA Use of space and predation by Eurasian Lynx. Modelization of the possible return of a large carnivore in Benelux. License en Biologie des Organismes. Anges (France). 2009 Master: Zones humides. Anges (France) 2010 Fanny Brotcorne Doctorante FNRS Msc en Sciences Psychologiques. ULB. 2006 Master complémentaire: Biologie des Organismes et Ecologie. ULG. 2008 Thèse: Eco-éthologie et analyse de viabilité de populations de Macaques à longue queue (Macaca fascicularis) à Bali (Indonésie): impact du type d'habitat et du degré d'anthropisation Nicolas Granier Doctorat en cours: écologie comportementale de communautés non habituées de chimpanzés, Pan troglodytes verus . Mont Nimba. Guinée, Côte d’Ivoire et le Liberia. Licence et Maîtrise de Biologie Cellulaire et Physiologie Recherche en Primatologie (PRG). Ecologie comportementale, Chimpanzé, Utilisation de l’habitat, Saisonnalité, Phénologie des fruits, Grande Faune, Approche Transfrontalière de la Recherche et Conservation. Justine Jacquemin Doctorante FRIA Msc en Bioingénierie (Zoologie Appliquée) Neotropical ant assemblages and ecology Charles-Albert Petre Doctorant Belspo (Action 2) License en Biologie Animale. ULB. 2005 DEA en Eco-éthologie et conservation de la biodiversité. ULg. 2007 Wildlife conservation and forest management Adeline Stercks Doctorante FNRS Msc en Bioingéniérie (Zoologie Appliquée) Eco-ethology of bonobos Franck Trolliet Doctorant: thèse Lac Tumba- RDC License en Biologie des Organismes. (France) Recherche en primatologie ULG Scientific collaborators: Pierre Devillers. Ecology and conservation of plant communities, habitat characterisation and classification, plant systematics and ecology, ornithology, protected areas Jean Devillers-Terschuren: Ecology and conservation of plant communities, habitat characterisation and classification, plant systematics and ecology Jacques Verschueren: Eco-ethology of mammals and birds, threatened species, protected areas Technical staff : Isabelle Bachy: Scientific photography, image databases, animal detection methodologies Jacques Fairon: Bats Yves Lauren : Databases , animal detection methodologies Didier Vangeluwe: Ornithology, bird-ringing