Reptile biology and ecology in the service of their conservation
With more than 10,000 known species, reptiles exhibit wide ranges of variation in life history traits and occupy a wide range of habitats. I am interested in different facets of their biology (e.g. reproduction, physiology, behaviour, eco-toxicology) through field monitoring. With the help of numerous collaborations, I have set up studies of terrestrial or marine snake populations in France, Australia, New Caledonia or the Balkans. In the same way, terrestrial or aquatic turtles are monitored in France, Morocco and the Balkans. Some of these surveys have been ongoing for more than 20 years and provide essential data for understanding the adaptive and demographic responses of organisms to global changes. The results guide conservation actions that have been successfully undertaken. Typical examples of unloved animals, reptiles also serve as a starting point for research on the relationship between man and nature. This work focuses on field experiments and the power of the internet to conduct investigations. Most of my activities seek to explore the links between biology and basic ecology in order to understand evolutionary mechanisms. But a major objective is to contribute concretely to the protection of species and their habitats, directly and indirectly through environmental education, training and scientific popularisation.
Research Director CNRS – ECOPHY Team
xanier.bonnet(at)cebc.cnrs.fr
Tel +33 (0)5 49 09 78 79
