Missions

Angiosperms play a central role in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Functional diversity is an important measure of the complexity of ecosystems, but the functional traits currently used generally ignore certain aspects of plant diversity, in particular the very great floral and reproductive diversity (sexual systems, reproduction systems, pollination methods). This diversity of reproductive modes has mainly been studied from the perspective of evolutionary biology, taking little account of the functioning of ecological communities. Through their effects on the adaptation and colonisation capacities of species and interactions with pollinators, modes of reproduction should therefore play a central role in the way in which species and ecosystems react to global change.
The role of the person recruited will be to study the complementarity of information derived from vegetative and reproductive traits in understanding the effects of global change on plant communities and changes in reproduction patterns. Specifically, the aim will be to analyse several datasets that are already available concerning, on the one hand, vegetation surveys along an urbanisation gradient (300 surveys) and, on the other hand, surveys derived from the resampling of several natural habitats at 50-year intervals (moors, meadows, forests in the Massif Armoricain, over 1000 surveys) in order to understand : i) the consequences of major factors in the current global changes (urbanisation, climate change, agricultural intensification, atmospheric nitrogen deposition) on the assembly of plant communities and ii) the respective roles of vegetative and reproductive traits in the evolution of these communities.

Activities

- Complete the compilation of a database on floral traits and reproductive systems for the species present in the different datasets
- Analysing the data (testing assembly rules, null models, functional diversity patterns, functional beta diversity, etc.)
- Disseminate results in the form of articles and presentations at conferences

Skills

- PhD in ecology
- Good command of concepts and methods in community ecology
- Knowledge of evolutionary biology, in particular the evolution of reproductive systems would be a plus
- Good command of R and a strong interest in data analysis
- Knowledge of good practice in scientific reproducibility (Git, script documentation, etc.)
- Autonomy, initiative, scientific curiosity
- Good writing skills
- Ability to communicate and work as part of a team
- English level B2 to C1

Work Context

La personne recrutée travaillera dans le cadre de l'ANR FlowerRS (Porteur : Sylvain Glémin) impliquant trois laboratoires ECOBIO (Rennes), ISEM (Montpellier) et LBBE (Lyon). Le projet vise à mieux comprendre le rôle des stratégies reproductives dans le succès écologique et évolutif des plantes à fleurs en combinant des approches de biologie évolutive et d'écologie des communautés et en s'appuyant sur le développement d'une base de données de traits reproducteurs chez les plantes à fleurs.
La personne recrutée travaillera au sein du laboratoire ECOBIO en collaboration avec Vincent Jung et Simon Chollet au sein du thème Paysabio et avec Sylvain Glémin au sein du thème Evo-Adapt. Elle interagira également avec les autres membres du projet ANR et elle sera amenée à se déplacer à Montpellier et Lyon pour des réunions avec les partenaires du projet, ainsi qu'en France ou à l'international pour des conférences scientifiques.

Constraints and risks

The person recruited will be working as part of the ANR FlowerRS project (Leader: Sylvain Glémin) involving three laboratories: ECOBIO (Rennes), ISEM (Montpellier) and LBBE (Lyon). The project aims to gain a better understanding of the role of reproductive strategies in the ecological and evolutionary success of flowering plants by combining evolutionary biology and community ecology approaches and by developing a database of reproductive traits in flowering plants.
The person recruited will work within the ECOBIO laboratory in collaboration with Vincent Jung and Simon Chollet within the Paysabio theme and with Sylvain Glémin within the Evo-Adapt theme. He/she will also interact with the other members of the ANR project and will be required to travel to Montpellier and Lyon for meetings with the project partners, as well as to France and abroad for scientific conferences.

Additional Information

Risks associated with screen work.