Anne-Sophie LE GAL
Individual and demographic responses of the Mediterranean Pond Turtle (Mauremys leprosa) to environmental disturbances
PhD Candidate in Ecology - Biology (she/her)
CEFREM, UMR 5110 CNRS-UPVD
52 avenue Paul Alduy, bâtiment U, 66000 Perpignan
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Expertise
Ecology, ecotoxicology, herpetology, population dynamics, accelerometry, quantitative analyses, field work
My research
Anthropogenic factors such as land development, overexploitation, exotic species introduction, and pollution contribute to the poor general state of continental hydrosystems. The Mediterranean Pond Turtle Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger, 1812) is an endemic freshwater turtle of the Mediterranean basin, where it inhabits wetlands. In France, the populations are scarced and the species is considered as threatened by the IUCN. M. leprosa has an opportunistic diet that mostly consists in aquatic invertebrates, and is known to bioaccumulate pollutants. Due to its longevity and tolerance to xenobiotics, M. leprosa has been proposed as a suitable bio-probe for monitoring the wetland degradation and the long-term effects on vertebrates.
The objective of my thesis entitled "pollemyde” is to better understand the adaptationsof M. leprosa to habitat degradation, at the individual and population levels. I study three distinct populations located in the Pyrénées-Orientales county, two of which are located in highly polluted rivers in peri-urban areas and one in mountainous areas.Ecotoxicologicalanalyses carried out in 2021 revealed an increasing pollutiongradient along these three habitats, with contrasting effects on the turtle populations.At the individual scale, the largest and fastest growing turtles concentrate in the most degraded habitats.At the population scale, turtles transit and concentrate in the most degraded habitats, where reproduction appears to be adversely affected by the pollution.I am currently working with bio-loggers data deployed in 2019 and 2021 to establish the time budget of M. leprosa, which will allow for tailoring protection measures for the species.
The Mediterranean Pond Turtle Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger, 1812)
Papers
- Le Gal AS, Tremblay, Y, Verneau O, Georges JY, 2023. Seasonal and daily time budget of the Mediterranean Pond Turtle at its northern range limit, Proceedings B, In prep.
- Priol P, Le Gal AS, Verneau O, Georges JY, Santalucia A, Courmont L, 2023. Resilience to extreme flood events in a Mediterranean Pond Turtle population, Global Ecology and Conservation, Under Review.
- Le Gal AS, Georges JY, Sotin C, Charrière B, Verneau O, 2023. Phenotypic and demographic responses of the Mediterranean pond turtle Mauremys leprosa face to heterogeneous aquatic habitat qualities, Chemosphere, Under Review.
- Le Gal AS, Priol P, Georges JY, Verneau O (2023) Population structure and dynamics in the Mediterranean Turtle Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger, 1812) in contrasted polluted aquatic environments, Environmental Pollution, 121746, ISSN 0269-7491, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121746
- Marchand T, Le Gal AS, Georges JY (2021) Fine scale behaviour and time-budget in the cryptic ectotherm European pond turtle Emys orbicularis. PLOS ONE 16(10): e0256549. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256549
- Le Gal AS, Theissinger K, Francesconi C, Quintard B, Georges JY (2023) Mating system is influenced by phenotype in the European pond turtle Emys orbicularis: Skin colour pattern as reliable predictor for males' reproductive success, Conservation Biology, In prep.
Oral communications and awards
- Le Gal AS, 2023. Six years of monitoring: investigating the impacts of wastewater treatment plant effluents on the Mediterranean Pond Turtle (Mauremys leprosa). 21th symposium on the conservation and biology of tortoises and freshwater turtles, Charleston (USA). Best student presentation award: runner-up - best paper.
- Le Gal AS, 2022. Population structure and dynamics of the Spanish terrapin (Mauremys leprosa) in a polluted river of southern France. Ecology & Behaviour international meeting, Strasbourg.
- Le Gal AS, 2022. Comportement et dynamique des populations d'un Vertébré ectotherme dans des environnements contrastés en région Méditerranéenne. MT180 (My Thesis in 180 seconds). Regional finalist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMy0MDLUTjY.
- Le Gal AS, 2021. How and to what extent can a species survive in ever-changing environments? UPVDoc doctoral candidates’ congress, Perpignan. First prize in the oral communication and photography categories.
Supervision
- 2023 - Rapporteur for a MSc internship report : Characterization of ponds in the Goulet watershed (northwest France) and amphibian inventory. UPVD, France. #ecotoxicology
- 2022 - Rapporteur for a MSc internship report : Monitoring of the Great noctule in a wind farm project. UPVD, France. #bioacoustic
- 2022 - Mauro Nicola. Two weeks. Report. BSc. UC-Louvain, Belgium.
- 2022 - Coste Diego. Two weeks. Poster. BSc. UPVD, France.
- 2022 - Ramky Idriss. Two weeks. BSc. UPVD, France.
- 2022 - Santalucia Alexis. Six months. MSc. Toulouse III University, France.
- 2022 - Picot Ines. Two weeks. BSc. Cergy Paris University, France.
- 2022 - Teaching: BSc.-MSc. Climatology, trophic webs, spatial ecology (38h). UPVD, France.
- 2021 - Roch Guillaume. Six months. Report. MSc. UPVD, France.
Research funding
- 2023 - International symposium: Travel grant application: Turtle Survival Alliance Online form- accepted
- 2023 - International symposium: CEFREM (internal call) + ED305 Written and oral presentation - rejected + accepted
- 2023 - Formation ExpeFSNH (MNHN): CEFREM (internal call) Written and oral presentation - accepted
- 2022 - Placement at the UB-IRBio: ED 305 + CEFREM (internal call) Written and oral presentation -rejected + accepted
- 2022 - Field activities: UPVD-CNRS (internal call) Written presentation -accepted
- 2020 - PhD fellowship: MESRI (Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation) Oral presentation -accepted
Mini CV
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2020-2023
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Ph.D. Candidate : Behaviour and population dynamics of an ectothermic vertebrate in contrasting environments in the Mediterranean region. Supervisors: Pr. Verneau (UPVD-CNRS) and Dr. Georges (IPHC-CNRS).
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2022
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Intern (3 weeks) : Delta Llobregat project. Dr. Maceda-Veiga and Dr. Ribas-Salvador. UB Barcelona, Spain.
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2020
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Intern (6 months) : Access to the reproduction of the European pond turtle. Supervisors : Dr. Georges (IPHC-CNRS) and Dr. Theissinger (Institute of Environmental Science, University of Koblenz-Landau). Saint-Louis, France.
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2018-2019
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Intern (6 months) : Using stable isotopes d13C and d15N to measure the impact of fences in feral animals impacted wetlands. Supervisor : Dr. Waltham (TropWATER, James Cook University). Townsville, Australia.
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Education
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2017-2020
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Engineering diploma (A+ MSc. Degree). Aquatic resources and ecosystems. Agrocampus Ouest Rennes. |
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2015-2017
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BSc. Degree: cellular biology and physiology of the organisms. University of Strasbourg.
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