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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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