Regis H J Ferriere

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• Barron-Gafford, G. A., Hamerlynck, E., Pavao-Zuckerman, M. A., Troch, P. A., Van Haren, J. L., Dontsova, K. M., Juarez, S., Hansart, A., Massol, F., Chollet, S., Ferriere, R. H., Le Galliard, J., Sanchez-Canete, E. P., & Dusza, Y. (2019). Biotic soil-plant interaction processes explain most of hysteric soil CO2 efflux response to temperature in cross-factorial mesocosm experiment.. Scientific Reports.
• FERRIERE, R., & CLOBERT, J. (2016). EVOLUTIONARILY STABLE AGE AT 1ST REPRODUCTION IN A DENSITY-DEPENDENT MODEL. JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY, 157(2), 253-267.
• Carval, D., & Ferriere, R. (2015). A UNIFIED MODEL FOR THE COEVOLUTION OF RESISTANCE, TOLERANCE, AND VIRULENCE. EVOLUTION, 64(10), 2988-3009.
• Jones, E. I., Ferriere, R., & Bronstein, J. L. (2015). Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Mutualists and Exploiters. AMERICAN NATURALIST, 174(6), 780-794.
• Pangle, L. A., Pangle, L. A., Delong, S. B., Delong, S. B., Abramson, N., Abramson, N., Adams, J., Adams, J., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Breshears, D. D., Breshears, D. D., Brooks, P. D., Brooks, P. D., Chorover, J. D., Chorover, J. D., Dietrich, W. E., Dietrich, W. E., Dontsova, K. M., , Dontsova, K. M., et al. (2015). The Landscape Evolution Observatory: A large-scale controllable infrastructure to study Earth-surface processes.. Geomorphology, 244, 190-203.
• Pangle, L., DeLong, S., Abramson, N., Adams, J., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Breshears, D. D., Brooks, P. D., Chorover, J. D., Dietrich, W. E., Dontsova, K. M., Durcik, M., Espeleta, J., Ferre, P. A., Ferriere, R. H., Henderson, W., Hunt, E., Huxman, T. E., Millar, D., Murphy, B., , Niu, Y., et al. (2015). The Landscape Evolution Observatory: A large-scale controllable infrastructure to study coupled Earth-surface processes. Geomorphology, 244, 190-203.
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• Pangle, L., Pangle, L., DeLong, S., DeLong, S., Abramson, N., Abramson, N., Adams, J., Adams, J., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Breshears, D. D., Breshears, D. D., Brooks, P. D., Brooks, P. D., Chorover, J. D., Chorover, J. D., Dietrich, W. E., Dietrich, W. E., Dontsova, K. M., , Dontsova, K. M., et al. (2015). The Landscape Evolution Observatory: A large-scale controllable infrastructure to study coupled Earth-surface processes. Geomorphology.
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• Jones, E. I., Bronstein, J. L., Ferriere, R., Mousseau, T., & Fox, C. (2014). The fundamental role of competition in the ecology and evolution of mutualisms. YEAR IN EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, 1256, 66-88.
• Pangle, L., DeLong, S., Abramson, N., Adams, J., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Breshears, D. D., Brooks, P. D., Chorover, J. D., Dietrich, W. E., Dontsova, K. M., Durcik, M., Espeleta, J., Ferre, P. A., Ferriere, R. H., Henderson, W., Hunt, E., Huxman, T. E., Millar, D., Murphy, B., , Niu, Y., et al. (2015). The Landscape Evolution Observatory: A large-scale controllable infrastructure to study coupled Earth-surface processes. Geomorphology.
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• Baron, J., Galliard, J. L., Ferrière, R., & Tully, T. (2013). Intermittent breeding and the dynamics of resource allocation to reproduction, growth and survival. Functional Ecology, 27(1), 173-183.
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  Abstract: In iteroparous organisms, the timing of reproduction varies greatly and reproduction may be intermittent. Here, we investigate the proximate determinants of intermittent breeding and their evolutionary significance in a viviparous snake, the meadow viper Vipera ursinii ursinii. We used individual life-history data collected over a 28-year capture-mark-recapture field study. Among viviparous snakes, the meadow viper's almost exclusively insectivorous diet is remarkable. Breeding females maintain substantial foraging activity during gestation. The life cycle is iteroparous, and female breeding frequency is essentially biennial. Breeding status is strongly associated with a threshold on female body condition prior to vitellogenesis. Non-breeding females grow and store fat reserves needed for future reproduction. Breeding females convert reserves into eggs, the number of which is determined by maternal size and body condition prior to vitellogenesis. During pregnancy, females stop growing. Females survive breeding and non-breeding years with equal probabilities. Our results suggest that income resources during pregnancy are used to fully cover the costs of gestation. Integration of our data into a matrix population model allowed us to relate breeding pattern to fitness. According to the model, biennial breeding is strongly favoured by natural selection if consecutive breeding decreases maternal survival and/or fecundity. Growth cessation during breeding years generates weak selection pressures for intermittent breeding. © 2012 The Authors. Functional Ecology © 2012 British Ecological Society.
• Dercole, F., Ferriere, R., & Rinaldi, S. (2013). Chaotic Red Queen coevolution in three-species food chains. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 277(1692), 2321-2330.
• Ferriere, R., & Legendre, S. (2013). Eco-evolutionary feedbacks, adaptive dynamics and evolutionary rescue theory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368(1610).
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  Abstract: Adaptive dynamics theory has been devised to account for feedbacks between ecological and evolutionary processes. Doing so opens new dimensions to and raises new challenges about evolutionary rescue. Adaptive dynamics theory predicts that successive trait substitutions driven by eco-evolutionary feedbacks can gradually erode population size or growth rate, thus potentially raising the extinction risk. Even a single trait substitution can suffice to degrade population viability drastically at once and cause 'evolutionary suicide'. In a changing environment, a population may track a viable evolutionary attractor that leads to evolutionary suicide, a phenomenon called 'evolutionary trapping'. Evolutionary trapping and suicide are commonly observed in adaptive dynamics models in which the smooth variation of traits causes catastrophic changes in ecological state. In the face of trapping and suicide, evolutionary rescue requires that the population overcome evolutionary threats generated by the adaptive process itself. Evolutionary repellors play an important role in determining how variation in environmental conditions correlates with the occurrence of evolutionary trapping and suicide, and what evolutionary pathways rescue may follow. In contrast with standard predictions of evolutionary rescue theory, low genetic variation may attenuate the threat of evolutionary suicide and small population sizes may facilitate escape from evolutionary traps. © 2012 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
• Gonzalez, A., Ronce, O., Ferriere, R., & Hochberg, M. E. (2013). Evolutionary rescue: An emerging focus at the intersection between ecology and evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368(1610).
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  Abstract: There is concern that the rate of environmental change is now exceeding the capacity of many populations to adapt. Mitigation of biodiversity loss requires science that integrates both ecological and evolutionary responses of populations and communities to rapid environmental change, and can identify the conditions that allow the recovery of declining populations. This special issue focuses on evolutionary rescue (ER), the idea that evolution might occur sufficiently fast to arrest population decline and allow population recovery before extinction ensues. ER emphasizes a shift to a perspective on evolutionary dynamics that focuses on short time-scales, genetic variants of large effects and absolute rather than relative fitness. The contributions in this issue reflect the state of field; the articles address the latest conceptual developments, and report novel theoretical and experimental results. The examples in this issue demonstrate that this burgeoning area of research can inform problems of direct practical concern, such as the conservation of biodiversity, adaptation to climate change and the emergence of infectious disease. The continued development of research on ER will be necessary if we are to understand the extent to which anthropogenic global change will reduce the Earth's biodiversity. © 2012 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
• Le Galliard, J., Ferriere, R., & Clobert, J. (2013). Effect of patch occupancy on immigration in the common lizard. JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, 74(2), 241-249.
• Bassar, R. D., Ferriere, R., Lopez-Sepulcre, A., Marshall, M. C., Travis, J., Pringle, C. M., & Reznick, D. N. (2012). Direct and Indirect Ecosystem Effects of Evolutionary Adaptation in the Trinidadian Guppy (Poecilia reticulata). AMERICAN NATURALIST, 180(2), 167-185.
• Bassar, R. D., Ferriere, R., López-Sepulcre, A., Marshall, M. C., Travis, J., Pringle, C. M., & Reznick, D. N. (2012). Direct and Indirect ecosystem effects of evolutionary adaptation in the trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata). American Naturalist, 180(2), 167-185.
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  PMID: 22766929;Abstract: Ecological and evolutionary processes may interact on the same timescale, but we are just beginning to understand how. Several studies have examined the net effects of adaptive evolution on ecosystem properties. However, we do not know whether these effects are confined to direct interactions or whether they propagate further through indirect ecological pathways. Even less well understood is how the combination of direct and indirect ecological effects of the phenotype promotes or inhibits evolutionary change.We coupled mesocosm experiments and ecosystem modeling to evaluate the ecological effects of local adaptation in Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata). The experiments show that guppies adapted to life with and without predators alter the ecosystem directly through differences in diet. The ecosystem model reveals that the small total indirect effect of the phenotype observed in the experiments is likely a combination of several large indirect effects that act in opposing directions. The model further suggests that these indirect effects can reverse the direction of selection that direct effects alone exert back on phenotypic variation. We conclude that phenotypic divergence can have major effects deep in the web of indirect ecological interactions and that even small total indirect effects can radically change the dynamics of adaptation. © 2012 by The University of Chicago.
• El-Sabaawi, R. W., Zandona, E., Kohler, T. J., Marshall, M. C., Moslemi, J. M., Travis, J., Lopez-Sepulcre, A., Ferriere, R., Pringle, C. M., Thomas, S. A., Reznick, D. N., & Flecker, A. S. (2012). Widespread intraspecific organismal stoichiometry among populations of the Trinidadian guppy. FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, 26(3), 666-676.
• El-Sabaawi, R. W., Zandonà, E., Kohler, T. J., Marshall, M. C., Moslemi, J. M., Travis, J., López-Sepulcre, A., Ferriére, R., Pringle, C. M., Thomas, S. A., Reznick, D. N., & Flecker, A. S. (2012). Widespread intraspecific organismal stoichiometry among populations of the Trinidadian guppy. Functional Ecology, 26(3), 666-676.
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  Abstract: Ecological stoichiometry expresses ecological interactions as the balance between multiple elements. It relates the ecological function of organisms to their elemental composition, or their organismal stoichiometry. Organismal stoichiometry is thought to reflect elemental investments in life history and morphology acting in concert with variability in abiotic or environmental conditions, but the relative contribution of these factors to natural variability in organismal stoichiometry is poorly understood. 2.We assessed the relative contribution of stream identity, predation, body size and sex to the organismal stoichiometry of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in six streams in Trinidad. In this system, guppy life-history phenotype evolves in response to predation. Guppies adapted to high-predation (HP) pressure grow faster, mature earlier, produce fewer and smaller offspring and eat a higher-quality diet than guppies adapted to low-predation (LP) pressure. This pattern of life-history evolution is repeated in many rivers encompassing a wide range of abiotic conditions. 3.Organismal stoichiometry of guppies was widely variable, spanning up to ~70% of the range of variability reported across freshwater fish taxa. Streams from where guppies were sampled were the most important predictor of organismal stoichiometry. In many cases, guppy populations from sites within the same stream varied as much as from sites in different streams. 4.Surprisingly, predation regime was a minor predictor of % C, C:P and C:N in female guppies, despite its strong correlation with life-history phenotype and other organismal traits in this species. Body size and sex were not significant predictors of organismal stoichiometry. 5.Guppies from HP sites were more stoichiometrically balanced with their diets than guppies from LP sites. The latter appeared to be more vulnerable to phosphorus limitation than the former, suggesting that dietary specialization associated with guppy life-history phenotype may have stoichiometric consequences that can affect guppy physiology and nutrient recycling. 6.Our findings suggest that local environmental conditions are a stronger predictor of organismal stoichiometry than organismal traits. We recommend that future work should explicitly consider correlations between organismal traits and organismal stoichiometry in the context of environmental heterogeneity. © 2012 The Authors. Functional Ecology © 2012 British Ecological Society.
• FERRIERE, R., & GATTO, M. (2012). LYAPUNOV EXPONENTS AND THE MATHEMATICS OF INVASION IN OSCILLATORY OR CHAOTIC POPULATIONS. THEORETICAL POPULATION BIOLOGY, 48(2), 126-171.
• Ferriere, R., Sarrazin, F., Legendre, S., & Baron, J. (2012). Matrix population models applied to viability analysis and conservation: Theory and practice using the ULM software. ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, 17(6), 629-656.
• Le Galliard, J., Clobert, J., & Ferriere, R. (2012). Physical performance and darwinian fitness in lizards. NATURE, 432(7016), 502-505.
• Stegen, J. C., Enquist, B. J., & Ferriére, R. (2012). Eco-evolutionary community dynamics: Covariation between diversity and invasibility across temperature gradients. American Naturalist, 180(4), E110-E126.
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  PMID: 22976016;Abstract: Understanding biodiversity gradients is a long-standing challenge, and progress requires theory unifying ecology and evolution. Here, we unify concepts related to the speed of evolution, the influence of species richness on diversification, and niche-based coexistence.We focus on the dynamics, through evolutionary time, of community invasibility and species richness across a broad thermal gradient. In our framework, the evolution of body size influences the ecological structure and dynamics of a trophic network, and organismal metabolism ties temperature to eco-evolutionary processes. The framework distinguishes ecological invasibility (governed by ecological interactions) from evolutionary invasibility (governed by local ecology and constraints imposed by small phenotypic effects of mutation). The model yields four primary predictions: (1) ecological invasibility declines through time and with increasing temperature; (2) average evolutionary invasibility across communities increases and then decreases through time as the richness-temperature gradient flattens; (3) in the early stages of diversification, richness and evolutionary invasibility both increase with increasing temperature; and (4) at equilibrium, richness does not vary with temperature, yet evolutionary invasibility decreases with increasing temperature. These predictions emerge from the 'evolutionary-speed' hypothesis, which attempts to account for latitudinal species richness gradients by invoking faster biological rates in warmer, tropical regions. The model contrasts with predictions from other richness-gradient hypotheses, such as "niche conservatism" and "species energy." Empirically testing our model's predictions should help distinguish among these hypotheses. © 2012 by The University of Chicago.
• Stegen, J. C., Ferriere, R., & Enquist, B. J. (2012). Evolving ecological networks and the emergence of biodiversity patterns across temperature gradients. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1731), 1051-1060.
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  PMID: 21937497;PMCID: PMC3267150;Abstract: In ectothermic organisms, it is hypothesized that metabolic rates mediate influences of temperature on the ecological and evolutionary processes governing biodiversity. However, it is unclear how and to what extent the influence of temperature on metabolism scales up to shape large-scale diversity patterns. In order to clarify the roles of temperature and metabolism, new theory is needed. Here, we establish such theory and model eco-evolutionary dynamics of trophic networks along a broad temperature gradient. In the model temperature can influence, via metabolism, resource supply, consumers' vital rates and mutation rate. Mutation causes heritable variation in consumer body size, which diversifies and governs consumer function in the ecological network. The model predicts diversity to increase with temperature if resource supply is temperature-dependent, whereas temperature-dependent consumer vital rates cause diversity to decrease with increasing temperature. When combining both thermal dependencies, a unimodal temperature-diversity pattern evolves, which is reinforced by temperature-dependent mutation rate. Studying coexistence criteria for two consumers showed that these outcomes are owing to temperature effects on mutual invasibility and facilitation. Our theory shows how and why metabolism can influence diversity, generates predictions useful for understanding biodiversity gradients and represents an extendable framework that could include factors such as colonization history and niche conservatism. © 2011 The Royal Society.
• Ferriere, R., & Cazelles, B. (2011). Universal power laws govern intermittent rarity in communities of interacting species. ECOLOGY, 80(5), 1505-1521.
• Loeuille, N., Loreau, M., & Ferriere, R. (2011). Consequences of plant-herbivore coevolution on the dynamics and functioning of ecosystems. JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY, 217(3), 369-381.
• Baron, J., Galliard, J. L., Tully, T., & Ferriére, R. (2010). Cohort variation in offspring growth and survival: Prenatal and postnatal factors in a late-maturing viviparous snake. Journal of Animal Ecology, 79(3), 640-649.
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  PMID: 20202006;Abstract: 1. Recruitment to adulthood plays an important role in the population dynamics of late-maturing organisms as it is usually variable. Compared to birds and mammals, few studies assessing the contributions to this variation of environmental factors, offspring traits and maternal traits have been carried out for late-maturing snakes. 2. Cohort variation in recruitment through offspring growth and survival in the meadow viper (Vipera ursinii ursinii) was evaluated from 13 years of mark-recapture data collected at Mont Ventoux, France. In this species, females are mature at the age of 4-6 years and adult survival and fecundity rates are high and constant over time. 3. Offspring were difficult to catch during the first 3 years of their lives, but their mean annual probability of survival was reasonably high (0·48 ± 0·11 SE). Mass and body condition at birth (mass residuals) varied significantly between years, decreased with litter size, and increased with maternal length. 4. Cohorts of offspring in better condition at birth grew faster, but offspring growth was not affected by sex, habitat or maternal traits. 5. Survival varied considerably between birth cohorts, some cohorts having a high-survival rate and others having essentially no survivors. No difference in mass or body condition at birth was found between cohorts with 'no survival' and 'good survival'. However, offspring survival in cohorts with good survival was positively correlated with mass at birth and negatively correlated with body condition at birth. 6. Thus, variation in offspring performance was influenced by direct environmental effects on survival and indirect environmental effects on growth, mediated by body condition at birth. Effects of maternal traits were entirely channelled through offspring traits. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 British Ecological Society.
• Cadet, C., Ferriere, R., Metz, J., & van Baalen, M. (2010). The evolution of dispersal under demographic stochasticity. AMERICAN NATURALIST, 162(4), 427-441.
• Carval, D., & Ferriere, R. (2010). A unified model for the coevolution of resistance, tolerance, and virulence. Evolution, 64(10), 2988-3009.
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  PMID: 20497218;Abstract: We present a general host-parasite model that unifies previous theory by investigating the coevolution of virulence, resistance, and tolerance,with respect to multiple physiological, epidemiological, and environmental parameters. Four sets of new predictions emerge. First, compared to virulence coevolving with resistance or tolerance, three-trait coevolution promotes more virulence and less tolerance, and broadens conditions under which pure defenses evolve. Second, the cost and efficiency of virulence and the epidemiological rates are the key factors of virulence coevolving with resistance and tolerance. Maximum virulence evolves for intermediate infection rate, at which coevolved levels of resistance and tolerance are both high. The influence of host and parasite background mortalities is strong on the evolution of defenses and weak on the coevolution of virulence. Third, evolutionary correlations between defenses can switch sign along single-parameter gradients. The evolutionary trade-off between resistance and tolerance may coevolve with virulence that either increases or decreases monotonically, depending on the underlying parameter gradient. Fourth, despite global attractiveness and stability of coevolutionary equilibria, not-so-rare and not-so-small mutations can beget large variation in virulence and defenses around equilibrium, in the form of transient "evolutionary spikes." Implications for evolutionary management of infections are discussed and directions for future research are outlined. © 2010 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2010 The Society for the Study of Evolution.
• Dercole, F., Ferriere, R., & Rinaldi, S. (2010). Chaotic Red Queen coevolution in three-species food chains. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277(1692), 2321-2330.
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  PMID: 20356888;PMCID: PMC2894904;Abstract: Coevolution between two antagonistic species follows the so-called 'Red Queen dynamics' when reciprocal selection results in an endless series of adaptation by one species and counteradaptation by the other. Red Queen dynamics are 'genetically driven' when selective sweeps involving new beneficial mutations result in perpetual oscillations of the coevolving traits on the slow evolutionary time scale. Mathematical models have shown that a prey and a predator can coevolve along a genetically driven Red Queen cycle. We found that embedding the prey-predator interaction into a three-species food chain that includes a coevolving superpredator often turns the genetically driven Red Queen cycle into chaos. A key condition is that the prey evolves fast enough. Red Queen chaos implies that the direction and strength of selection are intrinsically unpredictable beyond a short evolutionary time, with greatest evolutionary unpredictability in the superpredator. We hypothesize that genetically driven Red Queen chaos could explain why many natural populations are poised at the edge of ecological chaos. Over space, genetically driven chaos is expected to cause the evolutionary divergence of local populations, even under homogenizing environmental fluctuations, and thus to promote genetic diversity among ecological communities over long evolutionary time. © 2010 The Royal Society.
• Ferriere, R., Guionnet, A., & Kurkova, . (2010). Timescales of population rarity and commonness in random environments. THEORETICAL POPULATION BIOLOGY, 69(4), 351-366.
• Le Galliard, J., Ferriere, R., & Dieckmann, U. (2010). The adaptive dynamics of altruism in spatially heterogeneous populations. EVOLUTION, 57(1), 1-17.
• Tully, T., Cassey, P., & Ferriere, R. (2010). Functional response: rigorous estimation and sensitivity to genetic variation in prey. OIKOS, 111(3), 479-487.
• Dercole, F., Ferriere, R., & Rinaldi, S. (2009). Ecological bistability and evolutionary reversals under asymmetrical competition. EVOLUTION, 56(6), 1081-1090.
• Ferriere, R., Stegen, J. C., Enquist, B. J., & Ferriere, R. H. (2009). Advancing the metabolic theory of biodiversity. Ecology letters, 12(10).
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  A component of metabolic scaling theory has worked towards understanding the influence of metabolism over the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. Specific models within this 'metabolic theory of biodiversity' (MTB) have addressed temperature gradients in speciation rate and species richness, but the scope of MTB has been questioned because of empirical departures from model predictions. In this study, we first show that a generalized MTB is not inconsistent with empirical patterns and subsequently implement an eco-evolutionary MTB which has thus far only been discussed qualitatively. More specifically, we combine a functional trait (body mass) approach and an environmental gradient (temperature) with a dynamic eco-evolutionary model that builds on the current MTB. Our approach uniquely accounts for feedbacks between ecological interactions (size-dependent competition and predation) and evolutionary rates (speciation and extinction). We investigate a simple example in which temperature influences mutation rate, and show that this single effect leads to dynamic temperature gradients in macroevolutionary rates and community structure. Early in community evolution, temperature strongly influences speciation and both speciation and extinction strongly influence species richness. Through time, niche structure evolves, speciation and extinction rates fall, and species richness becomes increasingly independent of temperature. However, significant temperature-richness gradients may persist within emergent functional (trophic) groups, especially when niche breadths are wide. Thus, there is a strong signal of both history and ecological interactions on patterns of species richness across temperature gradients. More generally, the successful implementation of an eco-evolutionary MTB opens the perspective that a process-based MTB can continue to emerge through further development of metabolic models that are explicit in terms of functional traits and environmental gradients.
• Stegen, J. C., Enquist, B. J., & Ferriere, R. (2009). Advancing the metabolic theory of biodiversity. ECOLOGY LETTERS, 12(10), 1001-1015.
• Stegen, J. C., Enquist, B. J., & Ferriere, R. (2009). Advancing the metabolic theory of biodiversity. Ecology Letters, 12(10), 1001-1015.
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  PMID: 19747180;Abstract: A component of metabolic scaling theory has worked towards understanding the influence of metabolism over the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. Specific models within this 'metabolic theory of biodiversity' (MTB) have addressed temperature gradients in speciation rate and species richness, but the scope of MTB has been questioned because of empirical departures from model predictions. In this study, we first show that a generalized MTB is not inconsistent with empirical patterns and subsequently implement an eco-evolutionary MTB which has thus far only been discussed qualitatively. More specifically, we combine a functional trait (body mass) approach and an environmental gradient (temperature) with a dynamic eco-evolutionary model that builds on the current MTB. Our approach uniquely accounts for feedbacks between ecological interactions (size-dependent competition and predation) and evolutionary rates (speciation and extinction). We investigate a simple example in which temperature influences mutation rate, and show that this single effect leads to dynamic temperature gradients in macroevolutionary rates and community structure. Early in community evolution, temperature strongly influences speciation and both speciation and extinction strongly influence species richness. Through time, niche structure evolves, speciation and extinction rates fall, and species richness becomes increasingly independent of temperature. However, significant temperature-richness gradients may persist within emergent functional (trophic) groups, especially when niche breadths are wide. Thus, there is a strong signal of both history and ecological interactions on patterns of species richness across temperature gradients. More generally, the successful implementation of an eco-evolutionary MTB opens the perspective that a process-based MTB can continue to emerge through further development of metabolic models that are explicit in terms of functional traits and environmental gradients. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.
• Billiard, S., Ferriere, R., Meleard, S., & Viet Chi Tran, . (2008). Stochastic dynamics of adaptive trait and neutral marker driven by eco-evolutionary feedbacks. JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY, 71(5), 1211-1242.
• Champagnat, N., Ferriere, R., & Meleard, S. (2008). FROM INDIVIDUAL STOCHASTIC PROCESSES TO MACROSCOPIC MODELS IN ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION. STOCHASTIC MODELS, 24, 2-44.
• Champagnat, N., Ferriere, R., & Meleard, S. (2008). From individual stochastic processes to macroscopic models in adaptive evolution. Stochastic Models, 24(SUPPL. 1), 2-44.
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  Abstract: We are interested in modelling Darwinian evolution, resulting from the interplay of phenotypic variation and natural selection through ecological interactions. Our models are rooted in the microscopic, stochastic description of a population of discrete individuals characterized by one or several adaptive traits. The population is modelled as a stochastic point process whose generator captures the probabilistic dynamics over continuous time of birth, mutation, and death, as influenced by each individual's trait values, and interactions between individuals. An offspring usually inherits the trait values of her progenitor, except when a mutation causes the offspring to take an instantaneous mutation step at birth to new trait values. We look for tractable large population approximations. By combining various scalings on population size, birth and death rates, mutation rate, mutation step, or time, a single microscopic model is shown to lead to contrasting macroscopic limits of a different nature: deterministic, in the form of ordinary, integro-, or partial differential equations, or probabilistic, like stochastic partial differential equations or superprocesses. In the limit of rare mutations, we show that a possible approximation is a jump process, justifying rigorously the so-called trait substitution sequence. We thus unify different points of view concerning mutation-selection evolutionary models.
• Chapron, G., Legendre, S., Ferriere, R., Clobert, J., & Haight, R. (2008). Conservation and control strategies for the wolf (Canis lupus) in western Europe based on demographic models. COMPTES RENDUS BIOLOGIES, 326(6), 575-587.
• Evans, M. E., Ferriere, R., Kane, M. J., & Venable, D. L. (2008). Bet hedging via seed banking in desert evening primroses (Oenothera, Onagraceae): Demographic evidence from natural populations. AMERICAN NATURALIST, 169(2), 184-194.
• Galliard, J. L., & Ferrière, R. (2008). Evolution of maximal endurance capacity: Natural and sexual selection across age classes in a lizard. Evolutionary Ecology Research, 10(2), 157-176.
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  Abstract: Hypothesis: One of the basic tenets of evolutionary physiology is that physical performances and fitness are tightly linked. Question: Are phenotypes with exceptional locomotor capacity strongly favoured by natural and sexual selection? Organism: A ground-dwelling, actively foraging and non-territorial lizard species, Lacerta vivipara. Methods: We analysed the relationship between morphology (body size and condition) and maximal endurance capacity in three age classes (juveniles, yearlings, and adult males). We then tested whether morphology and endurance capacity predicted variation in annual body growth, annual survival, and reproductive success. Results: The large variation in maximal endurance capacity observed at hatching has a genetic basis. Endurance capacity increased with body size in juveniles and with body condition in juveniles and yearlings. Endurance capacity was not correlated with annual body growth at any age class. Positive, directional viability selection on endurance capacity was detected for juveniles and yearlings, but not for adult males. Endurance capacity was weakly, positively correlated with male reproductive success. Natural selection in juveniles and sexual selection in adult males was non-linear and the strength of selection decelerated with endurance capacity. Conclusion: In the common lizard, selection on maximal performances is non-linear and varies between age classes. This pattern of weak and inconsistent selection could explain the maintenance of considerable genetic variation of locomotor performance within populations. © 2008 Jean-François Le Galliard.
• Massot, M., Clobert, J., & Ferrière, R. (2008). Climate warming, dispersal inhibition and extinction risk. Global Change Biology, 14(3), 461-469.
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  Abstract: Global warming impels species to track their shifting habitats or adapt to new conditions. Both processes are critically influenced by individual dispersal. In many animals, dispersal behaviour is plastic, but how organisms with plastic dispersal respond to climate change is basically unknown. Here, we report the analysis of interannual dispersal change from 16 years of monitoring a wild population of the common lizard, and a 12-year manipulation of lizards' diet intended to disentangle the direct effect of temperature rise on dispersal from its effects on resource availability. We show that juvenile dispersal has declined dramatically over the last 16 years, paralleling the rise of spring temperatures during embryogenesis. A mesoscale model of metapopulation dynamics predicts that in general dispersal inhibition will elevate the extinction risk of metapopulations exposed to contrasting effects of climate warming. © 2008 The Authors Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Tully, T., & Ferrière, R. (2008). Reproductive flexibility: Genetic variation, genetic costs and long-term evolution in a collembola. PLoS ONE, 3(9).
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  PMID: 18791644;PMCID: PMC2527682;Abstract: In a variable yet predictable world, organisms may use environmental cues to make adaptive adjustments to their phenotype. Such phenotypic flexibility is expected commonly to evolve in life history traits, which are closely tied to Darwinian fitness. Yet adaptive life history flexibility remains poorly documented. Here we introduce the collembolan Folsomia candida, a soil-dweller, parthenogenetic (all-female) microarthropod, as a model organism to study the phenotypic expression, genetic variation, fitness consequences and long-term evolution of life history flexibility. We demonstrate that collembola have a remarkable adaptive ability for adjusting their reproductive phenotype: when transferred from harsh to good conditions (in terms of food ration and crowding), a mother can fine-tune the number and the size of her eggs from one clutch to the next. The comparative analysis of eleven clonal populations of worldwide origins reveals (i) genetic variation in mean egg size under both good and bad conditions; (ii) no genetic variation in egg size flexibility, consistent with convergent evolution to a common physiological limit; (iii) genetic variation of both mean reproductive investment and reproductive investment flexibility, associated with a reversal of the genetic correlation between egg size and clutch size between environmental conditions ; (iv) a negative genetic correlation between reproductive investment flexibility and adult lifespan. Phylogenetic reconstruction shows that two life history strategies, called HIFLEX and LOFLEX, evolved early in evolutionary history. HIFLEX includes six of our 11 clones, and is characterized by large mean egg size and reproductive investment, high reproductive investment flexibility, and low adult survival. LOFLEX (the other five clones) has small mean egg size and low reproductive investment, low reproductive investment flexibility, and high adult survival. The divergence of HIFLEX and LOFLEX could represent different adaptations to environments differing in mean quality and variability, or indicate that a genetic polymorphism of reproductive investment reaction norms has evolved under a physiological tradeoff between reproductive investment flexibility and adult lifespan. © 2008 Tully et al.
• Wielgus, R., Sarrazin, F., Ferriere, R., & Clobert, J. (2008). Estimating effects of adult male mortality on grizzly bear population growth and persistence using matrix models. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION, 98(3), 293-303.
• Van Dooren, T., Tully, T., & Ferriere, R. (2007). The analysis of reaction norms for age and size at maturity using maturation rate models. EVOLUTION, 59(3), 500-506.
• Champagnat, N., Ferrière, R., & Méléard, S. (2006). Unifying evolutionary dynamics: From individual stochastic processes to macroscopic models. Theoretical Population Biology, 69(3), 297-321.
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  PMID: 16460772;Abstract: A distinctive signature of living systems is Darwinian evolution, that is, a propensity to generate as well as self-select individual diversity. To capture this essential feature of life while describing the dynamics of populations, mathematical models must be rooted in the microscopic, stochastic description of discrete individuals characterized by one or several adaptive traits and interacting with each other. The simplest models assume asexual reproduction and haploid genetics: an offspring usually inherits the trait values of her progenitor, except when a mutation causes the offspring to take a mutation step to new trait values; selection follows from ecological interactions among individuals. Here we present a rigorous construction of the microscopic population process that captures the probabilistic dynamics over continuous time of birth, mutation, and death, as influenced by the trait values of each individual, and interactions between individuals. A by-product of this formal construction is a general algorithm for efficient numerical simulation of the individual-level model. Once the microscopic process is in place, we derive different macroscopic models of adaptive evolution. These models differ in the renormalization they assume, i.e. in the limits taken, in specific orders, on population size, mutation rate, mutation step, while rescaling time accordingly. The macroscopic models also differ in their mathematical nature: deterministic, in the form of ordinary, integro-, or partial differential equations, or probabilistic, like stochastic partial differential equations or superprocesses. These models include extensions of Kimura's equation (and of its approximation for small mutation effects) to frequency- and density-dependent selection. A novel class of macroscopic models obtains when assuming that individual birth and death occur on a short timescale compared with the timescale of typical population growth. On a timescale of very rare mutations, we establish rigorously the models of "trait substitution sequences" and their approximation known as the "canonical equation of adaptive dynamics". We extend these models to account for mutation bias and random drift between multiple evolutionary attractors. The renormalization approach used in this study also opens promising avenues to study and predict patterns of life-history allometries, thereby bridging individual physiology, genetic variation, and ecological interactions in a common evolutionary framework. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
• De Feo, O., & Ferriere, R. (2006). Bifurcation analysis of population invasion: On-off intermittency and basin riddling. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIFURCATION AND CHAOS, 10(2), 443-452.
• Dercole, F., Ferrière, R., Gragnani, A., & Rinaldi, S. (2006). Coevolution of slow-fast populations: Evolutionary sliding, evolutionary pseudo-equilibria and complex Red Queen dynamics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 273(1589), 983-990.
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  PMID: 16627284;Abstract: We study the interplay of ecological and evolutionary dynamics in communities composed of populations with contrasting time-scales. In such communities, genetic variation of individual traits can cause population transitions between stationary and cyclic ecological regimes, hence abrupt variations in fitness. Such abrupt variations raise ridges in the adaptive landscape, where the populations are poised between equilibrium and cyclic coexistence and along which evolutionary trajectories can remain sliding for long times or halt at special points called evolutionary pseudo-equilibria. These novel phenomena should be generic to all systems in which ecological interactions cause fitness to vary discontinuously. They are demonstrated by the analysis of a predator-prey community, with one adaptive trait for each population. The eco-evolutionary dynamics of the system show a number of other distinctive features, including evolutionary extinction and two forms of Red Queen dynamics. One of them is characterized by intermittent bouts of cyclic oscillations of the two populations. © 2006 The Royal Society.
• FERRIERE, R., & CLOBERT, J. (2006). CHAOS AS AN EVOLUTIONARILY STABLE DYNAMIC. ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, 12(5), 697-700.
• Ferriere, R., Gauduchon, M., & Bronstein, J. L. (2006). Evolution and persistence of obligate mutualists and exploiters: competition for partners and evolutionary immunization. ECOLOGY LETTERS, 10(2), 115-126.
• Ferriere, R., Guionnet, A., & Kurkova, I. (2006). Timescales of population rarity and commonness in random environments. Theoretical Population Biology, 69(4), 351-366.
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  PMID: 16527320;Abstract: This is a mathematical study of the interactions between non-linear feedback (density dependence) and uncorrelated random noise in the dynamics of unstructured populations. The stochastic non-linear dynamics are generally complex, even when the deterministic skeleton possesses a stable equilibrium. There are three critical factors of the stochastic non-linear dynamics; whether the intrinsic population growth rate ( λ ) is smaller than, equal to, or greater than 1; the pattern of density dependence at very low and very high densities; and whether the noise distribution has exponential moments or not. If λ < 1, the population process is generally transient with escape towards extinction. When λ {greater than or slanted equal to} 1, our quantitative analysis of stochastic non-linear dynamics focuses on characterizing the time spent by the population at very low density (rarity), or at high abundance (commonness), or in extreme states (rarity or commonness). When λ > 1 and density dependence is strong at high density, the population process is recurrent: any range of density is reached (almost surely) in finite time. The law of time to escape from extremes has a heavy, polynomial tail that we compute precisely, which contrasts with the thin tail of the laws of rarity and commonness. Thus, even when λ is close to one, the population will persistently experience wide fluctuations between states of rarity and commonness. When λ = 1 and density dependence is weak at low density, rarity follows a universal power law with exponent - frac(3, 2). We provide some mathematical support for the numerical conjecture [Ferriere, R., Cazelles, B., 1999. Universal power laws govern intermittent rarity in communities of interacting species. Ecology 80, 1505-1521.] that the - frac(3, 2) power law generally approximates the law of rarity of 'weakly invading' species with λ values close to one. Some preliminary results for the dynamics of multispecific systems are presented. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
• Le Galliard, J., Ferriere, R., & Dieckmann, U. (2006). Adaptive evolution of social traits: Origin, trajectories, and correlations of altruism and mobility. AMERICAN NATURALIST, 165(2), 206-224.
• Tully, T., D'Haese, C. A., Richard, M., & Ferrière, R. (2006). Two major evolutionary lineages revealed by molecular phylogeny in the parthenogenetic collembola species Folsomia candida. Pedobiologia, 50(2), 95-104.
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  Abstract: In order to measure the genetic variability and determine the evolutionary relationships among strains of the parthenogenetic "standard" springtail Folsomia candida, we used Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD-PCR) markers and determined the nucleotide sequence of the 18S and 28S rDNA genes. Both types of molecular characters were found to be polymorphic. We obtained phylogenetic trees using Direct Optimization in the dynamic homology paradigm. The trees were polarized with Isotoma viridis as an outgroup. All the trees based on one or the other type of molecular characters or based on all characters pooled together, support the hypothesis of an early divergence of two distinct lineages among the 11 strains of F. candida under study. Our results also suggest that these lineages differ in their rate of evolution and mode of diversification. The geographical origin of the studied strains was examined but we found no clear relation between the phylogenetic relationships and probable geographical origins. The early divergence of several lineages in this species should be taken into account when comparing studies on genetically different strains of this model organism. RAPD-PCR typing is an easy and efficient tool for doing such a task. © 2005 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
• BARON, J., FERRIERE, R., & SAINTGIRONS, H. (2005). THE MORPHOLOGICAL-DIFFERENTIATION OF 4 FRENCH POPULATIONS OF VIPERA-URSINII-URSINII BONAPARTE, 1835. REVUE SUISSE DE ZOOLOGIE, 100(1), 187-196.
• Galliard, J. L., Ferrière, R., & Clobert, J. (2005). Effect of patch occupancy on immigration in the common lizard. Journal of Animal Ecology, 74(2), 241-249.
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  Abstract: 1. Colonization is critical to invasion propensity and the viability of fragmented populations. This study evaluates the behavioural and demographic effects of patch occupancy on immigration in the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara). 2. We manipulated connected two-patch systems during one year. Two treatments were contrasted: both patches initially occupied vs. one occupied patch connected to one empty patch. Effects of manipulation were measured on emigration from occupied patches, on settlement in arrival patches and on demographic parameters in residents and immigrants. 3. Settlement probability was not influenced by the presence of conspecifics, but unsettled lizards stayed longer in initially empty than in occupied patches. The relationship between yearlings' body condition and emigration probability was affected by the manipulation, indicating that different yearlings disperse depending upon metapopulation structure. 4. Growth and maturation rate were influenced positively in juveniles colonizing empty patches, whereas there was no difference between immigrants to occupied patches and residents. Faster growth allowed female juvenile immigrants to reproduce earlier during colonization. No effect on growth or reproduction was detected in yearlings and adults. Selective benefits of colonization at the juvenile stage may provide an ultimate explanation for why natal dispersal prevails over breeding dispersal in this species. 5. At the population level, immigration and increased reproductive recruitment led to higher population growth in colonized patches. This may contribute to the species' capacity to develop and maintain a wide geographical distribution. © 2005 British Ecological Society.
• Galliard, J. L., Ferrière, R., & Clobert, J. (2005). Juvenile growth and survival under dietary restriction: Are males and females equal?. Oikos, 111(2), 368-376.
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  Abstract: The effects of food availability on life-history traits may be direct or delayed and may vary between the sexes. We evaluated the effects of dietary restriction early in life on growth and survival of male and female juveniles in the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) and surveyed the literature on sex-specific sensitivity to the environment in vertebrates. Juvenile lizards were reared in the laboratory during one month following birth under full feeding or under dietary restriction. They were then released in two outdoor enclosures, where we compared growth and survival between treatments during one year. Low food availability early in life led to lower body growth in a direct, but not delayed, manner. The absence of compensatory growth in juveniles that experienced dietary restriction might be explained by their reduced competitiveness. Dietary restriction had a strongly negative, delayed effect on survival up to the age of one year that was mediated by selection against smaller individuals. Effects of dietary restriction were not sex-specific, as expected from the similar energetic requirements of male and female juveniles. Hence, food availability has long-lasting consequences on life-history traits that might influence population dynamics in this species. Copyright © Oikos 2005.
• Galliard, J. L., Ferrière, R., & Dieckmann, U. (2005). Adaptive evolution of social traits: Origin, trajectories, and correlations of altruism and mobility. American Naturalist, 165(2), 206-224.
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  PMID: 15729651;Abstract: Social behavior involves "staying and helping," two individual attributes that vary considerably among organisms. Investigating the ultimate causes of such variation, this study integrates previously separate lines of research by analyzing the joint evolution of altruism and mobility. We unfold the network of selective pressures and derive how these depend on physiological costs, eco-evolutionary feedbacks, and a complex interaction between the evolving traits. Our analysis highlights habitat saturation, both around individuals (local aggregation) and around unoccupied space (local contention), as the key mediator of altruism and mobility evolution. Once altruism and mobility are allowed to evolve jointly, three general insights emerge. First, the cost of mobility affects the origin of altruism, determining whether and how quickly selfishness is overcome. Second, the cost of altruism determines which of two qualitatively different routes to sociality are taken: an evolutionary reduction of mobility, resulting in higher habitat saturation, is either preceded or followed by the adaptive rise of altruism. Third, contrary to conventional expectations, a positive correlation between evolutionarily stable levels of altruism and mobility can arise; this is expected when comparing populations that evolved under different constraints on mobility or that differ in other life-history traits.
• Galliard, J. L., Fitze, P. S., Ferrière, R., & Clobert, J. (2005). Sex ratio bias, male aggression, and population collapse in lizards. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(50), 18231-18236.
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  PMID: 16322105;PMCID: PMC1312374;Abstract: The adult sex ratio (ASR) is a key parameter of the demography of human and other animal populations, yet the causes of variation in ASR, how individuals respond to this variation, and how their response feeds back into population dynamics remain poorly understood. A prevalent hypothesis is that ASR is regulated by intrasexual competition, which would cause more mortality or emigration in the sex of increasing frequency. Our experimental manipulation of populations of the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) shows the opposite effect. Male mortality and emigration are not higher under male-biased ASR. Rather, an excess of adult males begets aggression toward adult females, whose survival and fecundity drop, along with their emigration rate. The ensuing prediction that adult male skew should be amplified and total population size should decline is supported by long-term data. Numerical projections show that this amplifying effect causes a major risk of population extinction. In general, such an "evolutionary trap" toward extinction threatens populations in which there is a substantial mating cost for females, and environmental changes or management practices skew the ASR toward males. © 2005 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA.
• Gascuel, F., Ferriere, R., Aguilee, R., & Lambert, A. (2005). How Ecology and Landscape Dynamics Shape Phylogenetic Trees. SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY, 64(4), 590-607.
• J., T., Tully, T., & Ferrière, R. (2005). The analysis of reaction norms for age and size at maturity using maturation rate models. Evolution, 59(3), 500-506.
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  PMID: 15856693;Abstract: Reaction norms for age and size at maturity are being analyzed to answer important questions about the evolution of life histories. A new statistical method is developed in the framework of time-to-event data analysis, which circumvents shortcomings in currently available approaches. The method emphasizes the estimation of age-and size-dependent maturation rates. Individual probabilities of maturation during any given time interval follow by integrating maturation rate along the growth curve. The integration may be performed in different ways, over ages or sizes or both, corresponding to different assumptions on how individuals store the operational history of the maturation process. Data analysis amounts to fitting generalized nonlinear regression models to a maturation status variable. This technique has three main advantages over existing methods: (1) treating maturation as a stochastic process enables one to specify a rate of maturation; (2) age and size at which maturation occurs do not have to be observed exactly, and bias arising from approximations and interpolations is avoided; (3) ages at which sizes are measured and maturation status are observed can differ between individuals. An application to data on the springtail Folsomia candida is presented. Models with age-dependent integration of maturation rates were preferred. The analysis demonstrates a significant size dependence of the maturation rate but no age dependence. © 2005 The Society for the Study of Evolution. All rights reserved.
• Massot, M., Clobert, J., & Ferriere, R. (2005). Climate warming, dispersal inhibition and extinction risk. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 14(3), 461-469.
• Stegen, J. C., Enquist, B. J., & Ferriere, R. (2005). Eco-Evolutionary Community Dynamics: Covariation between Diversity and Invasibility across Temperature Gradients. AMERICAN NATURALIST, 180(4), E110-E126.
• Tully, T., Cassey, P., & Ferrière, R. (2005). Functional response: Rigorous estimation and sensitivity to genetic variation in prey. Oikos, 111(3), 479-487.
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  Abstract: Holling's type II functional response is a cornerstone of community ecology and coevolutionary theory. The so-called disc equation is the most widely used model of the type II response, yet thus far no robust experimental assessment has been achieved in any single system. Fundamental issues that remain to be assessed include whether the assumptions of the disc equation are fulfilled, whether the disc equation yields accurate estimates of predation-related individual traits, and whether differences in disc equation parameters can capture genetic variation in prey behaviour. This paper provides a rigorous approach to all of these questions. The functional response of the predatory mite Pergamasus crassipes on three genetically distinct clones of the springtail Folsomia candida was measured at six levels of prey density in controlled conditions where prey number and arena size were concomitantly manipulated. A crucial assumption of Holling's disc equation was fulfilled by maintaining a constant prey density for the entire experimental period of predation. The timing of each attack and capture, as well as the duration of the handling time, were recorded by constant observation. We contrasted three different methods to calculate functional response curves: (1) indirect estimation of the disc equation's parameters from the number of prey killed by the end of each experimental run; (2) direct estimation of the parameters via a unique protocol of constant observation; and (3) independently deriving a function based on direct measurements of encounter rate and attack success. The basic assumptions of the disk equation were globally fulfilled. Estimations of the functional response's parameters (type II) were remarkably congruent across approach (1) and (2). A single genetic effect was detected - the relationship between the encounter rate and prey density differed significantly between clones - whereas a direct comparison of functional response across clones failed to reveal genetic variation. Copyright © Oikos 2005.
• Baron, J., Ferriere, R., Clobert, J., & StGirons, H. (2004). Life history of Vipera ursinii ursinii at Mont-Ventoux (France). COMPTES RENDUS DE L ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES SERIE III-SCIENCES DE LA VIE-LIFE SCIENCES, 319(1), 57-69.
• Galllard, J. L., Clobert, J., & Ferrière, R. (2004). Physical performance and darwinian fitness in lizards. Nature, 432(7016), 502-505.
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  PMID: 15565154;Abstract: Strong evidence for a genetic basis of variation in physical performance has accumulated. Considering one of the basic tenets of evolutionary physiology-that physical performance and darwinian fitness are tightly linked-one may expect phenotypes with exceptional physiological capacities to be promoted by natural selection. Why then does physical performance remain considerably variable in human and other animal populations? Our analysis of locomotor performance in the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) demonstrates that initial endurance (running time to exhaustion measured at birth) is indeed highly heritable, but natural selection in favour of this trait can be unexpectedly weak. A manipulation of dietary conditions unravels a proximate mechanism explaining this pattern. Fully fed individuals experience a marked reversal of performance within only one month after birth: juveniles with low endurance catch up, whereas individuals with high endurance lose their advantage. In contrast, dietary restriction allows highly endurant neonates to retain their locomotor superiority as they age. Thus, the expression of a genetic predisposition to high physical performance strongly depends on the environment experienced early in life.
• Pike, N., Tully, T., Haccou, P., & Ferrière, R. (2004). The effect of autocorrelation in environmental variability on the persistence of populations: An experimental test. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 271(1553), 2143-2148.
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  PMID: 15475334;PMCID: PMC1691845;Abstract: Despite its significance regarding the conservation and management of biological resources, the body of theory predicting that the correlation between successive environmental states can profoundly influence extinction has not been empirically validated. Identical clonal populations from a model experimental system based on the collembolan Folsomia candida were used in the present study to investigate the effect of environmental autocorrelation on time to extinction. Environmental variation was imposed by variable implementation (present/absent) of a culling procedure according to treatments that represented six patterns of environmental autocorrelation. The average number of culling events was held constant across treatments but, as environmental autocorrelation increased, longer runs of both favourable and unfavourable culling tended to occur. While no difference was found among the survival functions for the various treatments, the time taken for 50% of the component populations to become extinct decreased significantly with increasing environmental autocorrelation. Similarly, analysis of all extinct populations demonstrated that time to extinction was shortened as environmental autocorrelation increased. However, this acceleration of extinction can be fully offset if sequential introduction is used in place of simultaneous introduction when founding the populations. © 2004 The Royal Society.
• Verdier, B., Jouanneau, I., Simonnet, B., Rabin, C., Van Dooren, T. J., Delpierre, N., Clobert, J., Abbadie, L., Ferriere, R., & Le Galliard, J. (2004). Climate and Atmosphere Simulator for Experiments on Ecological Systems in Changing Environments. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, 48(15), 8744-8753.
• Baron, J., Le Galliard, J., Ferriere, R., & Tully, T. (2003). Intermittent breeding and the dynamics of resource allocation to reproduction, growth and survival. FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, 27(1), 173-183.
• Cadet, C., Ferrière, R., A., J., & Baalen, M. V. (2003). The Evolution of Dispersal under Demographic Stochasticity. American Naturalist, 162(4), 427-441.
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  PMID: 14582006;Abstract: Temporal and spatial variations of the environment are important factors favoring the evolution of dispersal. With few exceptions, these variations have been considered to be exclusively fluctuations of habitat quality. However, since the presence of conspecifics forms part of an individual's environment, demographic stochasticity may be a component of this variability as well, in particular when local populations are small. To study this effect, we analyzed the evolution of juvenile dispersal in a metapopulation model in which habitat quality is constant in space and time but occupancy fluctuates because of demographic stochasticity. Our analysis extends previous studies in that it includes competition of resources and competition for space. Also, juvenile dispersal is not given by a fixed probability but is made conditional on the presence of free territories in a patch, whereas individuals born in full patches will always disperse. Using a combination of analytical and numerical approaches, we show that demographic stochasticity in itself may provide enough variability to favor dispersal even from patches that are not fully occupied. However, there is no simple relationship between the evolution of dispersal and various indicators of demographic stochasticity. Selected dispersal depends on all aspects of the life-history profile, including kin selection.
• Chapron, G., Legendre, S., Ferrière, R., Clobert, J., & Haight, R. G. (2003). Conservation and control strategies for the wolf (Canis lupus) in western Europe based on demographic models. Comptes Rendus - Biologies, 326(6), 575-587.
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  PMID: 14558477;Abstract: Securing the long-term acceptance of large carnivores such as the wolf (Canis lupus) in Europe and North America raises a difficult challenge to conservation biologists: planning removals to reduce depredations on livestock while ensuring population viability. We use stochastic-stage-structured population models to investigate wolf population dynamics and to assess alternative management strategies. Among the various management strategies advocated by agencies, zoning that involves eliminating wolves outside a restricted area should be designed with caution, because probabilities of extinction are extremely sensitive to the maximum number of packs that a zone can support and to slight changes in stage specific survival probabilities. In a zoned population, viability is enhanced more by decreasing mortality rates in all classes than by increasing wolf zone size. An alternative to zoning is adaptive management, where there is no limit on pack number but population control can be operated whenever some predefined demographic conditions are met. It turns out that an adaptive management strategy that removes a moderate percentage (10%) of the population following each year of more than 5% of total population growth would provide visible actions addressing public concerns while keeping extinction probability low. © 2003 Académie des sciences. Published by Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.
• Ferriere, R., Cazelles, B., Cezilly, F., & Desportes, J. (2003). Predictability and chaos in bird vigilant behaviour. ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, 52, 457-472.
• Galliard, J. L., Ferrière, R., & Clobert, J. (2003). Mother-offspring interactions affect natal dispersal in a lizard. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 270(1520), 1163-1169.
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  PMID: 12816655;PMCID: PMC1691359;Abstract: Interactions between relatives operate strong selective pressures on dispersal. Recently, a correlative study in the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) suggested that natal dispersal might respond plastically to mother-offspring interactions. Here, we describe a factorial experiment supporting this observation. Two crossed treatments were applied to experimental patches of the common lizard: (i) presence versus absence of the mother, inducing a difference of kinship in offspring neighbourhoods; and (ii) high versus low patch density, resulting in two levels of conspecific abundance and modulating the effect of mother presence on the average kinship within a patch. Dispersal of the same cohort of offspring was observed at the juvenile and yearling stages. We found a sex-dependent response of offspring dispersal to the removal of the mother at the two stages. During the juvenile stage, higher dispersal was found in females in the presence of the mother, with males unaffected. During the yearling stage, the responses of both sexes to the presence of the mother opposed each other. In addition, we found a negative relationship between dispersal and patch density at the juvenile stage. No interaction between density and the presence of the mother was detected, which suggests that behavioural responses to kinship and density are disconnected and that kinship is assessed at a small social scale. We discuss the role of competition and inbreeding avoidance to explain the observed pattern.
• Galliard, J. L., Ferrière, R., & Dieckmann, U. (2003). The adaptive dynamics of altruism in spatially heterogeneous populations. Evolution, 57(1), 1-17.
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  PMID: 12643563;Abstract: We study the spatial adaptive dynamics of a continuous trait that measures individual investment in altruism. Our study is based on an ecological model of a spatially heterogeneous population from which we derive an appropriate measure of fitness. The analysis of this fitness measure uncovers three different selective processes controlling the evolution of altruism: the direct physiological cost, the indirect genetic benefits of cooperative interactions, and the indirect genetic costs of competition for space. In our model, habitat structure and a continuous life cycle makes the cost of competing for space with relatives negligible. Our study yields a classification of adaptive patterns of altruism according to the shape of the costs of altruism (with decelerating, linear, or accelerating dependence on the investment in altruism). The invasion of altruism occurs readily in species with accelerating costs, but large mutations are critical for altruism to evolve in selfish species with decelerating costs. Strict selfishness is maintained by natural selection only under very restricted conditions. In species with rapidly accelerating costs, adaptation leads to an evolutionarily stable rate of investment in altruism that decreases smoothly with the level of mobility. A rather different adaptive pattern emerges in species with slowly accelerating costs: high altruism evolves at low mobility, whereas a quasi-selfish state is promoted in more mobile species. The high adaptive level of altruism can be predicted solely from habitat connectedness and physiological parameters that characterize the pattern of cost. We also show that environmental changes that cause increased mobility in those highly altruistic species can beget selection-driven self-extinction, which may contribute to the rarity of social species.
• Stegen, J. C., Ferriere, R., & Enquist, B. J. (2003). Evolving ecological networks and the emergence of biodiversity patterns across temperature gradients. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 279(1731), 1051-1060.
• Dercole, F., Ferriere, R., & Rinaldi, S. (2002). Ecological bistability and evolutionary reversals under asymmetrical competition. Evolution, 56(6), 1081-1090.
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  PMID: 12144010;Abstract: How does the process of life-history evolution interplay with population dynamics? Almost all models that have addressed this question assume that any combination of phenotypic traits uniquely determine the ecological population state. Here we show that if multiple ecological equilibria can exist, the evolution of a trait that relates to competitive performance can undergo adaptive reversals that drive cyclic alternation between population equilibria. The occurrence of evolutionary reversals requires neither environmentally driven changes in selective forces nor the coevolution of interactions with other species. The mechanism inducing evolutionary reversals is twofold. First, there exist phenotypes near which mutants can invade and yet fail to become fixed; although these mutants are eventually eliminated, their transitory growth causes the resident population to switch to an alternative ecological equilibrium. Second, asymmetrical competition causes the direction of selection to revert between high and low density. When ecological conditions for evolutionary reversals are not satisfied, the population evolves toward a steady state of either low or high abundance, depending on the degree of competitive asymmetry and environmental parameters. A sharp evolutionary transition between evolutionary stasis and evolutionary reversals and cycling can occur in response to a smooth change in ecological parameters, and this may have implications for our understanding of size-abundance patterns.
• FERRIERE, R., & GATTO, M. (2002). CHAOTIC POPULATION-DYNAMICS CAN RESULT FROM NATURAL-SELECTION. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 251(1330), 33-38.
• Le Galliard, J., & Ferriere, R. (2002). Evolution of maximal endurance capacity: natural and sexual selection across age classes in a lizard. EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY RESEARCH, 10(2), 157-176.
• Loeuille, N., Loreau, M., & Ferrière, R. (2002). Consequences of plant-herbivore coevolution on the dynamics and functioning of ecosystems. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 217(3), 369-381.
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  PMID: 12270280;Abstract: The potential consequences of plant-herbivore coevolution for ecosystem functioning are investigated using a simple nutrient-limited ecosystem model in which plant and herbivore traits are subject to adaptive dynamics. Although the ecological model is very simple and always reaches a stable equilibrium in the absence of evolution, coevolution can generate a great diversity of dynamical behaviors. The evolutionary dynamics can lead to a stable equilibrium. If the evolution of plants is fast enough, certain values of the trade-off parameters lead to complex evolutionary cycles bounded by physiological constraints. The dynamical behavior of the model is very different when the dynamics of inorganic nutrient is ignored and plant competition is modeled by a logistic growth function. This emphasizes the importance of including explicit nutrient dynamics in studies of plant-herbivore coevolution. © 2002 Elsevier Sciece Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Law, R., Bronstein, J. L., & Ferriere, R. G. (2001). On mutualists and exploiters: Plant-insect coevolution in pollinating seed-parasite systems. JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY, 212(3), 373-389.
• Tully, T., D'Haese, C., Richard, M., & Ferriere, R. (2001). Two major evolutionary lineages revealed by molecular phylogeny in the parthenogenetic collembola species Folsomia candida. PEDOBIOLOGIA, 50(2), 95-104.
• Wielgus, R. B., Sarrazin, F., Ferriere, R., & Clobert, J. (2001). Estimating effects of adult male mortality on grizzly bear population growth and persistence using matrix models. Biological Conservation, 98(3), 293-303.
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  Abstract: We radio monitored a hunted, sexually segregated grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) population and an unhunted, unsegregated population for demographics and constructed a stage- and age-classified matrix model to test for the effects of adult male mortality and resulting sexual segregation on population growth and persistence. Population parameters in the model were adult female survival, subadult female survival, offspring survival, probability of litter sizes, and probability of unsuccessful pregnancy. The last three parameters were affected by adult male mortality and segregation, the others were not. We compared population growth with and without effects of hunting by holding adult female and subadult female survival constant and by using hunted and unhunted values for offspring survival, litter size, and pregnancy. Population growth (Lambda) showed the greatest elasticity for adult survival, subadult survival, offspring survival, litter size, and unsuccessful pregnancy, in that order. This corresponds with observed anti-infanticide tactics (sexual segregation) by adult females to maximize their fitness. The hunted population decreased at a rate of 0.99 whereas the simulated, unhunted population increased at a rate of 1.05. The hunted population was much more susceptible to population extinction. Under demographic stochasticity mean time to extinction was 32 years in the hunted population and 110 years in the unhunted population. Under environmental stochasicity mean time to extinction was 21 years in the hunted population and 43 years in the unhunted population. We suggest that sexual segregation caused by hunting resident adult males can result in population decline and can even contribute to rapid population extinctions when numbers are small. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.
• Baron, J., Le Galliard, J., Tully, T., & Ferriere, R. (2000). Cohort variation in offspring growth and survival: prenatal and postnatal factors in a late-maturing viviparous snake. JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, 79(3), 640-649.
• Ferriere, R. (2000). Spatial structure and viability of small populations. REVUE D ECOLOGIE-LA TERRE ET LA VIE, 135-135.
• Ferriere, R., Belthoff, J. R., Olivieri, I., & Krackow, S. (2000). Evolving dispersal: Where to go next?. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 15(1), 5-7.
• Ferriere, R., Bronstein, J., Rinaldi, S., Law, R., & Gauduchon, M. (2000). Cheating and the evolutionary stability of mutualisms. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 269(1493), 773-780.
• Ferrière, R. (2000). Spatial structure and viability of small population. Revue d'Ecologie (La Terre et la Vie), 135-.
• Oscar, F. D., & Ferriere, R. (2000). Bifurcation analysis of population invasion: On-off intermittency and basin riddling. International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos in Applied Sciences and Engineering, 10(2), 443-452.
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  Abstract: We investigate the local bifurcations experienced by a time-discrete dynamical system from population biology when there is an attractor in an invariant subspace that loses stability. The system describes competition between two species in a constant environment; invariant subspaces contain single-species attractors; the loss of stability of the attractor in one invariant subspace means that the corresponding species (i.e. the "resident" species) becomes invadable by its competitor. The global dynamics may be understood by examining the sign structure of Lyapunov exponents transverse to the invariant subspace. When the transverse Lyapunov exponent (computed for the natural measure) changes from negative to positive on varying a parameter, the system experiences a so-called blowout bifurcation. We unfold two generic scenarios associated with blowout bifurcations: (1) a codimension-2 bifurcation involving heteroclinic chaos and on-off intermittency and (2) a sequence of riddling bifurcations that cause asymptotic indeterminacy. An ingredient that both scenarios have in common is the fact that the "resident" species subspace contains multiple invariant sets with transverse Lyapunov exponents that do not change sign simultaneously. This simple model adds on a short list of archetypical systems that are needed to investigate the structure of blowout bifurcations. From a biological viewpoint, the results imply that mutual invasibility in a constant environment is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for coexistence.
• Champagnat, N., Ferriere, R., & Meleard, S. (1999). Unifying evolutionary dynamics: From individual stochastic processes to macroscopic models. THEORETICAL POPULATION BIOLOGY, 69(3), 297-321.
• Ferriere, R., & Cazelles, B. (1999). Universal power laws govern intermittent rarity in communities of interacting species. Ecology, 80(5), 1505-1521.
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  Abstract: The temporal dynamics of many natural populations involve intermittent rarity, that is, the alternation over variable periods of time of phases of extremely low abundance and short outbreaks. In this paper, we show that intermittent rarity can arise in simple community models as a result of competitive interactions within and between species. Intermittently rare species are typified as weak invaders in fluctuating communities. Although the dynamics of intermittent rarity are highly irregular, the distribution of time spent in phases of rarity ('rarity times') involves strong regularity. Specifically, intermittent rarity is governed by a well-defined power law. The scaling exponent (-3/2) is a universal feature of intermittent rarity: it does not depend on species demographic parameters; it is insensitive to environmental stochasticity; and the same exponent is found in very different models of nonstructured populations. The distribution of rarity times implies that the dynamics of rarity have no characteristic time scale. Yet, in practice, the universal scaling law offers a general form of prediction, in which one can calculate the frequency of occurrence of rarity phases of any given duration. Data on marine fish communities support the prediction of a -3/2 power law underlying the dynamics of intermittently rare species. The scale-free dynamics reported here place intermittent rarity in the same class as the critical states of other nonlinear dynamical systems in the physical sciences. At a critical state, general laws govern the systems' dynamics, irrespective to the specific details of the interactions between constituents.
• Ferrière, R., Cazelles, B., Cézilly, F., & Desportes, J. (1999). Predictability, chaos and coordination in bird vigilant behaviour. Animal Behaviour, 57(2), 497-500.
• Pike, N., Tully, T., Haccou, P., & Ferriere, R. (1999). The effect of autocorrelation in environmental variability on the persistence of populations: an experimental test. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 271(1553), 2143-2148.
• Ferriere, R. (1998). Evolutionary biology: Help and you shall be helped. Nature, 393(6685), 517-519.
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  PMID: 9634226;
• Le Galliard, J., Ferriere, R., & Clobert, J. (1998). Juvenile growth and survival under dietary restriction: are males and females equal?. OIKOS, 111(2), 368-376.
• Le Galliard, J., Ferriere, R., & Clobert, J. (1998). Mother-offspring interactions affect natal dispersal in a lizard. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 270(1520), 1163-1169.
• Baron, J. -., Ferriere, R., Clobert, J., & Girons, H. S. (1996). Life history of Vipera ursinii ursinii at Mont-Ventoux (France). Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences - Serie III, 319(1), 57-69.
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  Abstract: The life history of Vipera ursinii ursinii at Mont-Ventoux (France) is documented on the basis of mark-recapture data collected on a long-term field study (1979-1991). Traits under consideration relate to the individual growth, survival and reproduction of the snakes. Demographic variations (i.e., among individuals), temporal variations (across years) and spatial variations (between 2 distinct patches of habitat) in the traits are analyzed, as well as phenotypic correlations. In doing so, we get insights into the phenotypic plasticity of V. ursinii and the determinants of reproductive effort in this species. Plasticity is demonstrated in individual growth (spatially variable), parturition date and litter size (temporal variations), and offspring mass (temporal and demographic variations). Spatial variations in individual growth and temporal fluctuations in parturition date might be driven by exogenous factors (local humidity and duration of sunny conditions in summer, respectively). Litter size (corrected for maternal body size) and neonate mass vary across years. Controlling for this time effect, litter size and neonate mass appear to be negatively correlated. We suggest that neonate mass might be subject to endogenous factors, e.g. female mating success if sperm competition occurs-with yearly fluctuations in litter size that would result as a by-product of a physiological trade-off with neonate mass. Litter size varies less amongst individuals than throughout a female's lifespan, whereas offspring mass vary more among litters than within a given litter. Finally, survival probabilities (that depend on age), reproductive frequency (dominated by a biennial cycle), relative clutch mass (that usually increases with maternal size) and litter sex ratio seem to be strongly canalized. Reproductive effort is assessed by the relative clutch mass, which tightly correlates with post-partum body condition. Except in one year, relative clutch mass increases with body size. In fact, this relationship might differ among broods that are laid after a non-reproductive year versus those laid on the second of 2 consecutive breeding. Reproductive effort per offspring is independent of maternal size and neonate gender, while litter sex ratio is biased (in favor of males). There is no significant survival cost of reproduction: there is no reduction in survival probability when maturity is reached, neither in males nor in females; the adult female survival rate is independent of the reproductive status; offspring mass, as a possible indicator of juvenile survival is not influenced by maternal reproductive effort. In contrast, a major cost of reproduction impacts on potential fecundity through the usual alternation of reproductive and non-reproductive years, although consecutive breeding are feasible. Determinants of reproductive frequency may involve the effect of current reproductive effort on subsequent reproductive status, and that of body size. Finally, males might undergo a similar cost in potential fecundity, as they also seem to alternate years of high and low sexual activity. In conclusion, we discuss the constraint exerted by the peculiar foraging ecology of the Orsini's viper (whose diet is almost entirely insectivorous) upon the evolution of its life history.
• Ferriere, R., & Michod, R. E. (1996). The evolution of cooperation in spatially heterogeneous populations. AMERICAN NATURALIST, 147(5), 692-717.
• Ferriere, R., Cazelles, B., Cezilly, F., & Desportes, J. -. (1996). Predictability and chaos in bird vigilant behaviour. Animal Behaviour, 52(3), 457-472.
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  Abstract: While foraging, many animals alternate between feeding and scanning. Spectral analyses of sequences of successive scan and inter-scan durations suggest the existence of a significant non-random, periodic component in the scanning dynamics of some birds. Evidence for cyclic vigilance remains controversial, however. Here data obtained from a purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima, two Barbary doves, Streptopelia risoria, and two choughs, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax were re-analysed by making use of statistical methods from non-linear dynamics. Predictability portraits obtained by subjecting the data to non-linear forecasting support the view that the vigilant behaviour of the two choughs is periodic with superimposed noise. By contrast, the hypothesis of periodic scanning is rejected for the sandpiper and doves, as well as that of pure randomness. Instead, the vigilant behaviour of the sandpiper and doves bears the signature of deterministic chaos: high, short- term, decaying predictability of scan and inter-scan durations. The sequential structure of the data sets makes them well suited for reliable computation of the rate at which predictability declines; results support the conclusion of chaotic patterns. Finally, a mathematical model is developed to investigate some possible functional benefits of periodicity and chaos in vigilant behaviour, compared with random scanning, in terms of the optimization of corporate vigilance of birds foraging in flocks. If individual vigilance is chaotic, then even loose coordination, based on predictions only one foraging bout ahead, can dramatically reduce individual predictability and enhance the level of group surveillance.
• Ferriere, R., Sarrazin, F., Legendre, S., & Baron, J. -. (1996). Matrix population models applied to viability analysis and conservation: Theory and practice using the ULM software. Acta Oecologica, 17(6), 629-656.
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  Abstract: We outline a general method to carry out population viability analyses (PVA) by making we of matrix population models. We consider a structured population (by age, sex, reproductive status space, etc.) whose demographic parameters are known from field study. To assess the extinction risk and definite a management program, we advocate a three-step PVA: (1) Setting up a constant matrix model that includes the mean values of demographic rates. The sizes of each population class are linked from one year to the next by a transition matrix that contains all vital rates. When these parameters are taken to be constant (fixed to their mean), the matrix analysis yields the determine population growth rate, population structure, stage-specific reproductive values and the sensitivities of the growth rate to variations in demographic rate. (2) Assessing the extinction risk due to stochastic factors: demographic stochasticity, environmental stochasticity and catastrophes. We show how to compute the stochastic growth rate, extinction probabilities and the distribution of time to extinction, from computations based on the constant matrix model (step 1) together with Monte-Carlo simulations. (3) Determining action on demographic parameters and amelioration of monitoring programs. The extinction risk can be reduced by increasing the population growth rate, decreasing its temporal variability or boosting current population size. Which parameters should be fine-tuned in order to cause the largest increase in population growth can be found out by computing the growth rate elasticities to demographic rates. Furthermore, variance in population growth can be decomposed into the produced by mean parameter values, and that produced by fluctuations in parameters. Finally, reproductive values and their sensitivities indicate which classes should be reinforced to obtain a long-lasting raise of population size. The ULM software allows one to apply this agenda automatically to any particular case study. The software can be conveniently used to model populations with an kind of life cycle. The user will enter the model by making use of a friendly, simplified programming language that leaves him or her entirely free to decide of the matrix structure, parameter values and factors of parameter variations (stochastic factors, density-dependence...). All PVA-related parameters mentioned above (growth rate, sensitivities, elasticities, extinction probabilities, distribution of extinction time, etc.) are computed by the software. Here this is illustrated with an overview of two case studies, that of a natural, declining population of snakes (Vipera ursinii ursinii) and that of a reintroduced, growing population of raptors (Gyps fulvus fulvus).
• Dercole, F., Ferriere, R., Gragnani, A., & Rinaldi, S. (1995). Coevolution of slow-fast populations: evolutionary sliding, evolutionary pseudo-equilibria and complex Red Queen dynamics. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 273(1589), 983-990.
• FERRIERE, R., & MICHOD, R. E. (1995). INVADING WAVE OF COOPERATION IN A SPATIAL ITERATED PRISONERS-DILEMMA. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 259(1354), 77-83.
• Ferriere, R., & Gatto, M. (1995). Lyapunov Exponents and the Mathematics of Invasion in Oscillatory or Chaotic Populations. Theoretical Population Biology, 48(2), 126-171.
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  Abstract: This paper concisely reviews the mathematical properties of the dominant Lyapunov exponent of a matrix sequence in the context of population biology. The concept of Lyapunov exponent provides a valuable tool for investigating processes of invasion in ecology or genetics, which are crucial in shaping community diversity, determining the spread of epidemics or the fixation of a new mutation. The appeal of the invasibility criterion based on the dominant Lyapunov exponent lies in the opportunity it offers to deal with population structure, complex life cycles, and complex population dynamics resulting from the model nonlinearities (oscillations, chaos), as well as random fluctuations arising from a stochastic environment. We put emphasis on the issues of the existence, numerical approximation, and regularity of the dominant Lyapunov exponent. Our presentation is aimed at showing that, despite our inability to compute the exponent analytically, which adds to its high intrinsic instability, important biological insights can nevertheless be achieved at the cost of fairly mild assumptions on the features of the models considered. © 1995 Academic Press. All rights reserved.
• Ferrière, R., & Fox, G. A. (1995). Chaos and evolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 10(12), 480-485.
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  Abstract: There is growing interest in applying nonlinear methods to evolutionary biology. With good reason: the living world is full of nonlinearities, responsible for steady states, regular oscillations, and chaos in biological systems. Evolutionists may find nonlinear dynamics important in studying short-term dynamics of changes in genotype frequency, and in understanding selection and its constraints. More speculatively, dynamical systems theory may be important because nonlinear fluctuations in some traits may sometimes be favored by selection, and because some long-run patterns of evolutionary change could be described using these methods.
• Pangle, L. A., DeLong, S. B., Abramson, N., Adams, J., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Breshears, D. D., Brooks, P. D., Chorover, J., Dietrich, W. E., Dontsova, K., Durcik, M., Espeleta, J., Ferre, T. P., Ferriere, R., Henderson, W., Hunt, E. A., Huxman, T. E., Millar, D., Murphy, B., , Niu, G., et al. (1995). The Landscape Evolution Observatory: A large-scale controllable infrastructure to study coupled Earth-surface processes. GEOMORPHOLOGY, 244, 190-203.
• Ferriere, R., & Gatto, M. (1993). Chaotic population dynamics can result from natural selection. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 251(1330), 33-38.
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  PMID: 8094563;Abstract: The question of whether animal populations display chaotic dynamics has motivated a thriving body of research for two decades. Yet unambiguous evidence for chaos in the wild remains scarce. Accordingly, it has been proposed that evolutionary forces act to preserve populations from chaos as well as oscillations. We have tested for this hypothesis by considering the dynamics associated with evolutionarily stable life histories (including age of maturity, adult survivorship and recruitment to adulthood) in a simple, but general, demographic model. Contrary to expectation, individual selection operating on demographic traits should often lead to oscillatory or chaotic dynamics for species with late feasible ages of maturity and many age classes. Also, the optimality of chaos is more likely whenever trade-offs constrain recruitment to rapidly decrease with increasing adult survival or decreasing age of maturity. Our results bring evolutionary support to the possibility that chaotic population dynamics might be much more widespread than inferred until now from data analyses. Furthermore, these findings provide novel support for the view that chaos could be an optimal regime for several biological systems.
• Cazelles, B., & Ferriere, R. H. (1992). How predictable is chaos?. Nature, 355(6355), 25-26.
• Ferrière, R., & Clobert, J. (1992). Evolutionarily stable age at first reproduction in a density-dependent model. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 157(2), 253-267.
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  PMID: 1434675;Abstract: We develop a new model of life history evolution to investigate the evolution of age at first reproduction. Density dependence is taken into account. For a given "species", age of maturity, offspring survival, immature survival, adult survival, fecundity, immature age-classes entering in competition with adults and immature competitive ability are traits adjustable by natural selection, and constitute a particular strategy. On the contrary, the type of intraspecific competition (scramble or contest), strength of competition and inherent net reproductive rate Rinh0 are fixed (specific) characteristics. As a consequence of fixing Rinh0, the evolution of any trait will affect trade-offs between others. Evolutionarily stable strategies are determined numerically by using the mathematical concept of Lyapunov exponents. Altogether, we consider 960 different hypothetical "species" (i.e. different combinations of fixed traits). Corresponding ESSs are analyzed with respect to their age at first reproduction, adult survival and immature competitive ability components. They appear to be gathered in three groups. One is intuitive and characterized by a reduction of immature competitive ability and a correlation of age of maturity with adult survival; populations reach mainly equilibria. The two other groups respectively include "species" with low age of maturity but high adult survival, and "species" close to semelparity with delayed maturity; immature competitive ability may not be minimized, and populations possibly exhibit complex dynamics. In conclusion, the hypothesis that the evolution of a demographic parameter modifies trade-offs between others turns out to have important consequences. We argue that life history theory cannot ignore the source and mode-of-operation of density dependence and must regard potential short-term instability as essential. © 1992 Academic Press Limited.
• Le Galliard, J., Fitze, P., Ferriere, R., & Clobert, J. (1992). Sex ratio bias, male aggression, and population collapse in lizards. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 102(50), 18231-18236.
• Tully, T., & Ferriere, R. (1991). Reproductive Flexibility: Genetic Variation, Genetic Costs and Long-Term Evolution in a Collembola. PLOS ONE, 3(9).

Proceedings Publications

• Champagnat, N., Ferriere, R., Meleard, S., Dalang, R., Dozzi, M., & Russo, F. (2013, 2008). Individual-based probabilistic models of adaptive evolution and various scaling approximations. In SEMINAR ON STOCHASTIC ANALYSIS, RANDOM FIELDS AND APPLICATIONS V, 59, 75-113.

Presentations

• Ferriere, R. H., Troch, P. A., Van Haren, J. L., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Gelabert, A., Daval, D., Barre, P., Hunt, E., Massol, F., Llavata, M., Chollet, S., Le Galliard, J., Villasenor, E., Juarez, S., & Dontsova, K. M. (2019, January). Influence of Climate on Plant-Rock Interactions during Early Soil Development.. Science Society of America (SSSA) International Soils Meeting “Soils Across Latitudes”. San Diego, CA: Science Society of America.
• Villasenor, E., Dontsova, K. M., Juarez, S., Le Galliard, J., Chollet, S., Llavata, M., Massol, F., Barré, P., Gelabert, A., Daval, D., Troch, P. A., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Van Haren, J. L., & Ferriere, R. H. (2017, December 2017). The effect of elevated CO2 and temperature on nutrient uptake by plants grown in basaltic soil. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. San Francisco, CA: American Geophysical Union.
• Ferriere, R. H., Ferriere, R. H., Van Haren, J. L., Van Haren, J. L., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Troch, P. A., Troch, P. A., Daval, D., Daval, D., Gelabert, A., Gelabert, A., Massol, F., Massol, F., Barre, P., Barre, P., Llavata, M., Llavata, M., Cros, A., , Cros, A., et al. (2016, April 2016). Effect of elevated CO2 and temperature on abiotic and biologically-driven basalt weathering and C sequestration. 2016 EGU General Assembly. Vienna, Austria: European Geosciences Union.
• Ferriere, R. H., Ferriere, R. H., Van Haren, J. L., Van Haren, J. L., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Troch, P. A., Troch, P. A., Daval, D., Daval, D., Gelabert, A., Gelabert, A., Massol, F., Massol, F., Barre, P., Barre, P., Llavata, M., Llavata, M., Cros, A., , Cros, A., et al. (2016, October 2016). Effect of CO2 and temperature on basalt weathering and microbial activity.. International Conference on Ecological Sciences sfecologie2016. Marseille, France.

Poster Presentations

• Ferriere, R. H., Van Haren, J. L., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Troch, P. A., Daval, D., Gelabert, A., Massol, F., Barre, P., Llavata, M., Cros, A., Chollet, S., Le Galliard, J., Hunt, E., Juarez, S., Dontsova, K. M., & Hingley, R. (2016, December 2016). Effects of Climate Change and Vegetation Type on Carbon and Nitrogen Accumulation during Incipient Soil Formation. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. San Francisco, CA: American Geophysical Union.
• Ferriere, R. H., Van Haren, J. L., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Troch, P. A., Daval, D., Gelabert, A., Massol, F., Barre, P., Llavata, M., Cros, A., Chollet, S., Le Galliard, J., Juarez, S., Dontsova, K. M., Ferriere, R. H., Van Haren, J. L., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Troch, P. A., Daval, D., , Gelabert, A., et al. (2016, June 2016). Basalt Weathering under Controlled Conditions as Influenced by Biota, Temperature, and CO2. The 26th Goldschmidt Conference. Yokohama, Japan: The European Association for Geochemistry and Geochemical Society.
• Juarez, S., Dontsova, K. M., Le Galliard, J., Chollet, S., Cros, A., Llavata, M., Barre, P., Massol, F., Gelabert, A., Daval, D., Troch, P. A., Barron-Gafford, G. A., Van Haren, J. L., Ferriere, R. H., Juarez, S., Dontsova, K. M., Le Galliard, J., Chollet, S., Cros, A., , Llavata, M., et al. (2015, 20-24 Sep 2015). Abiotic and biologically-­‐driven basalt weathering and carbon sequestration under changing climate. 5th International Symposium on Soil Organic Matter. Göttingen (DE).

Reviews

• FERRIERE, R., & FOX, G. (2007. CHAOS AND EVOLUTION(pp 480-485).
• Driscoll, W. W., Hackett, J. D., & Ferriere, R. (1996. Eco-evolutionary feedbacks between private and public goods: evidence from toxic algal blooms(pp 81-97).
• Ferriere, R., & Legendre, S. (1996. Eco-evolutionary feedbacks, adaptive dynamics and evolutionary rescue theory.
• Travis, J., Reznick, D., Bassar, R. D., Lopez-Sepulcre, A., Ferriere, R., Coulson, T., MoyaLarano, J., Rowntree, J., & Woodward, G. (1993. Do Eco-Evo Feedbacks Help Us Understand Nature? Answers From Studies of the Trinidadian Guppy(pp 1-40).

Others

• Ferriere, R., Belthoff, ., Olivieri, ., & Krackow, S. (2015, JAN). Evolving dispersal: where to go next?. TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION.
• Le Galliard, J., & Ferriere, R. (2014, DEC). Physical performance and fitness in lizards. JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY.
• Ferriere, R. (2007, JUN 11). Game theory and the prisoner's dilemma. NATURE.
• Ferriere, R., & Michod, R. E. (2005, MAR 24). Inclusive fitness in evolution. NATURE.
• Stegen, J. C., Enquist, B. J., & Ferriere, R. (2005, JAN). Advancing the metabolic theory of biodiversity (vol 12, pg 1001, 2009). ECOLOGY LETTERS.
• Ferriere, R., Cazelles, B., Cezilly, F., & Desportes, J. (2003, FEB). Predictability, chaos and coordination in bird vigilant behaviour. ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR.
• Abbot, P., Abe, J., Alcock, J., Alizon, S., Alpedrinha, J. A., Andersson, M., Andre, J., van Baalen, M., Balloux, F., Balshine, S., Barton, N., Beukeboom, L. W., Biernaskie, J. M., Bilde, T., Borgia, G., Breed, M., Brown, S., Bshary, R., Buckling, A., , Burley, N. T., et al. (2002, MAR 24). Inclusive fitness theory and eusociality. NATURE.
• Gonzalez, A., Ronce, O., Ferriere, R., & Hochberg, M. E. (1996, JAN 19). Evolutionary rescue: an emerging focus at the intersection between ecology and evolution. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES.
• Ferriere, R. (1993, JUN 11). Evolutionary biology - Help and you shall be helped. NATURE.