Biology subjects

Mourier, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Mourier, J..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Both environmental conditions and intra- and interspecific interactions influence the movements of a marine predator

Animal movements are typically influenced by multiple environmental factors simultaneously and individuals vary in their response to this environmental heterogeneity. Therefore, understanding how environmental aspects, including biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic factors, influence the movements of wild animals is an important focus of wildlife research and conservation. We apply Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) to analyse movement networks of a bull shark population in a network of acoustic receivers and identify the effects of environmental, social or other types of covariates on their movements. We found that intra- and interspecific factors often had stronger effects on movements than environmental variables. ERGMs proved to be a potentially useful tool for studying animal movement network data especially in the context of spatial attribute heterogeneity.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

Kinship does not predict the structure of a shark social network

Genetic relatedness in animal societies is often a factor that drives the structure of social groups. In the marine world, most studies which have investigated this question have focused on marine mammals such as whales and dolphins. For sharks, recent studies have demonstrated preferential associations among individuals from which social communities emerge. Assortment patterns have been found according to phenotypic or behavioural traits but the role of genetic relatedness in shaping the social structure of adult shark populations has, to the best our knowledge, never been investigated. Here, we used a social network analysis crossed with DNA microsatellite genotyping to investigate the role of the genetic relatedness in the social structure of a blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) population. Based on data from 156 groups of sharks, we used generalized affiliation indices to isolate social preferences from non-social associations, controlling for the contribution of sex, size, gregariousness, spatial and temporal overlap on social associations, to test for the influence of genetic relatedness on social structure. A double permutation procedure was employed to confirm our results and account for issues arising from potentially elevated type I and type II error rates. Kinship was not a predictor of associations and affiliations among sharks at the dyad or community levels as individuals tended to associate independently of the genetic relatedness among them. The lack of parental care in this species may contribute to the breakdown of family links in the population early in life, thereby preventing the formation of kin-based social networks.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2019

A multilayer perspective for inferring spatial and social functioning in animal movement networks

O_LIAnimal movement patterns are increasingly analysed as spatial networks. Currently, structures of complex movements are typically represented as a single-layer (or monoplex) network. However, aggregating individual movements, to generate population-level inferences, considerably reduces information on how individual or species variability influences spatial connectivity and thus identifying the mechanisms driving network structure remains difficult.\nC_LIO_LIHere, we propose incorporating the recent conceptual advances in multilayer network analyses with the existing movement network approach to improve our understanding of the complex interaction between spatial and/or social drivers of animal movement patterns.\nC_LIO_LISpecifically, we explore the application and interpretation of this framework using an empirical example of shark movement data gathered using passive remote sensors in a coral reef ecosystem. We first show how aggregating individual movement networks can lead to the loss of information, potentially misleading our interpretation of movement patterns. We then apply multilayer network analyses linking individual movement networks (i.e. layers) to the probabilities of social contact between individuals (i.e. interlayer edges) in order to explore the functional significance of different locations to an animals ecology.\nC_LIO_LIThis approach provides a novel and holistic framework incorporating individual variability in behaviour and inter-individual interactions. We discuss how this approach can be used in applied ecology and conservation to better assess the ecological significance of variable space use by mobile animals within a population. Further, we argue that the uptake of multilayer networks will significantly broaden our understanding of long-term ecological and evolutionary processes, particularly in the context of information or disease transfer between individuals.\nC_LI

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2019

A DNA barcode reference library of the French Polynesian shore fishes

The emergence of DNA barcoding and metabarcoding opened new ways to study biological diversity, however, the completion of DNA barcode libraries is fundamental for such approaches to succeed. This dataset is a DNA barcode reference library (fragment of Cytochrome Oxydase I gene) for 2,190 specimens representing at least 540 species of shore fishes collected over 10 years at 154 sites across the four volcanic archipelagos of French Polynesia; the Austral, Gambier, Marquesas and Society Islands, a 5,000,000 km2 area. At present, 65% of the known shore fish species of these archipelagoes possess a DNA barcode associated with preserved, photographed, tissue sampled and cataloged specimens, and extensive collection locality data. This dataset represents one of the most comprehensive DNA barcoding efforts for a vertebrate fauna to date. Considering the challenges associated with the conservation of coral reef fishes and the difficulties of accurately identifying species using morphological characters, this publicly available library is expected to be helpful for both authorities and academics in various fields.

zoology↗