My general interest is to understand how organisms interact with their biotic and abiotic environments at a spatial scale relevant to the organism. Organisms experience abiotic fluctuations (e.g. temperature) within their microhabitat, but most of the time these fluctuations are not the ones we measure with weather stations at the regional scale. A comprehensive description of the biophysical mechanisms that characterize the microclimate of species is needed, especially if we are to forecast the ecological effects of the climate change to come. Moreover, microclimatic conditions are heterogeneous in space, especially at local scale. Little is known, however, on the impact of such heterogeneous conditions on the population dynamics of organisms and biotic interactions, two key components in community structure and ecosystem functioning. My general aim is to characterize the microclimate of interacting species to estimate its impact on biotic interactions and population dynamics. Further, biophysical modelling of microclimatic conditions can be used to forecast the direction and amplitude of the microclimatic change as induced by global change. Such a perspective obviously appeals to a highly integrated and multidisciplinary approach. I am an ecologist with knowledge in physiological ecology of invertebrates and plants as well as in environmental biophysics.

My current project aims at characterizing the microclimate temperature heterogeneity at leaf and tree canopy scale for spider mites: the red spider mite (Panonychus ulmi), feeding on leaves of the apple tree, and a phytoseiid predatory spider mite (Typhlodromus pyri). This project started very recently. The first step will be to study the influence of leaf surface temperature heterogeneity on the distribution and behaviour of the red spider mite, in presence or not of the predator, and on the population dynamics of the spider mites. Then, a biophysical modelling approach (computing heat budget of spider mites) will be developed to predict body temperature of spider mites from their position on a leaf surface and leaf microclimatic conditions. This model will be used to quantify precisely the non-linear relationship between climate and spider mite body temperature.

My past activities are divers but they all involved the use of physical tools (heat transfer computation, thermal inertia, and physics of light ...) to answer an ecological question.

My postdoctoral project at the University of South Carolina (USA) looked at the impact of temporal pattern of thermal exposure on biotic interactions in the intertidal ecosystem, which is thought to be especially susceptible to climate change. The intertidal keystone predator, the ochre sea star Pisaster ochraceus (Echinodermata: Asteriidae), experiences frequent but short periods of exposure to high aerial body temperature (acute exposure) but avoids microhabitats where such exposure is chronic. Lab experiments showed otherwise that acute exposure leads to higher feeding rate and tends to increase growth rate. Under certain circumstances, environmental stress can have positive effects over organismal physiology and reinforces the strength of biotic interactions. Moreover, cold waters (when immersed at high tide) help the predator to recover relatively quickly from aerial thermal stress. The worst scenario for this top predator is when both aerial and water temperature warm up…

My PhD dealt with the thermal ecology of an intimate herbivore insect-plant interaction. The larva of the leaf mining moth Phyllonorycter blancardella (Lepidotera: Gracillariidae) is about 5 mm in length at the end of its development. This picture shows what one can see when opening a mine. The thermal environment of the leaf miner was explicitly modelled in great details to reveal the biophysical mechanisms that set the temperature inside a mine. Micro-measurements indicated that the larva alters the

During my master degree, I studied the impact of ambient light heterogeneity in a tropical rain forest on the efficiency of visual (colour) communication in some dung beetles of French Guiana (Nouragues station, CNRS), South America, including the largest dung/carrion beetle of South America, Coprophanaeus lancifer (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). The study shows how ambient light spectra, background reflectance, and dung beetle photoreceptor sensitivities determine the conspicuousness of body coloration to conspecifics: the signal efficiency is maximal in the light environment actually used while searching for food or mate.

Publication List:

Pincebourde S., Sanford E. and Helmuth B. (2013). Survival and arm abscission are linked to regional heterothermy in an intertidal sea star. The Journal of Experimental Biology, in press.

Saudreau M., Pincebourde S., Dassot M., Adam B., Loxdale H. D. and Biron D. G. (2013). On the canopy structure manipulation to buffer climate change effects on insect herbivore development. Trees - Structure and Function 27, 239-248.

Fly E. K., Monaco C. J., Pincebourde S. and Tullis A. (2012). The influence of intertidal location and temperature on the metabolic cost of emersion in Pisaster ochraceus. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 422-423, 20-28.

Pincebourde S., Sanford E., Casas J. and Helmuth B. (2012). Temporal coincidence of environmental stress events modulates predation rates. Ecology Letters 15, 680-688.

Pincebourde S. and Woods A. H. (2012). Climate uncertainty on leaf surfaces: the biophysics of leaf microclimates and their consequences for leaf-dwelling organisms. Functional Ecology 26, 844-853.

Pincebourde S., Sanford E. & Helmuth B. (2009). An intertidal sea star adjusts thermal inertia to avoid extreme body temperatures. The American Naturalist 174, 890-897. This paper was highlighted by Nature, Science and BBC Earth News.

Sinoquet, H., S. Pincebourde, B. Adam, N. Donès, J. Phattaralerphong, D. Combes, S. Ploquin, K. Sangsing, P. Kasemsap, S. Thanisawanyangkura, G. Groussier-Bout & J. Casas (2009). 3D maps of tree canopy geometries at leaf scale. Ecology (DataPaper) 90, 283 (archive E090-019).

Pincebourde S., Sanford E. & Helmuth B. (2008). Body temperature during low tide alters the feeding performance of a top intertidal predator. Limnology & Oceanography 53, 1562-1573.

Théry M., Pincebourde S. & Feer F. (2008). Dusk light environment optimizes visual perception of conspecifics in a crepuscular horned beetle. Behavioral Ecology 19, 627-634.

Pincebourde S., Sinoquet H., Combes D. & Casas J. (2007). Regional climate modulates the canopy mosaic of favourable and risky microclimate for insects. Journal of Animal Ecology 76, 424-438. This article has received the youth author award 2007 (Elton prize) from the British Ecological Society (BES) and the editors of the Journal of Animal Ecology.

Pincebourde S. & Casas J. (2006). Multitrophic biophysical budgets: Thermal ecology of an intimate herbivore insect plant interaction. Ecological Monographs 76, 175-194.

Pincebourde S., Frak E., Sinoquet H., Regnard J.L. & Casas J. (2006). Herbivory mitigation through increased water use efficiency in a leaf mining moth-apple tree relationship. Plant Cell and Environment 29, 2238-2247.

Pincebourde S. & Casas J. (2006). Leaf miner-induced changes in leaf transmittance cause variations in insect respiration rates. Journal of Insect Physiology 52, 194-201.

Casas J., Pincebourde S., Mandon N., Vannier F., Poujol R. & Giron D. (2005). Lifetime nutrient dynamics reveal simultaneous capital and income breeding in a parasitoid. Ecology 86, 545-554.

Loon J.J.A.v., Casas J. & Pincebourde S. (2005). Nutritional ecology of insect-plant interactions: persistent handicaps and the need for innovative approaches. Oikos 108, 194-201.

Feer F. & Pincebourde S. (2005). Diel flight activity and ecological segregation within an assemblage of tropical forest dung and carrion beetles. Journal of Tropical Ecology 21, 1-10.

Giron D., Pincebourde S. & Casas J. (2004). Lifetime gains of host-feeding in a synovigenic parasitic wasp. Physiological Entomology 29, 436-442.

2009-present. CNRS Research Scientist (CR2), IRBI (France).
2008- 2009. Postdoctoral position, IRBI (France).
2006-2007. Postdoctoral position, University South Carolina (USA).
2002-2005. PhD, IRBI (France).
2001-2002. Master, University François Rabelais (France).

Keywords:
Biotic interactions; Climate change; Environmental biophysics.

Physical ecology of trophic interactions

properties of plant tissues, leading to a large temperature excess within the mine. The second trophic level manages and partially controls the first one, even to the point of one trophic partner co-opting the physiology of the other. The biophysical model of a mine was then connected to a physical model of radiative transfer in plant canopies to quantify precisely the spatial heterogeneity in mine temperature and insect performance at the canopy scale. This approach revealed the spatial dynamics of the canopy mosaic of favourable and risky microhabitats for the leaf miner as function of regional climate: location of the most favourable microhabitat for insect development is totally reversed during heat wave events compared to periods with more typical ambient temperatures.

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