TOUR DU VALAT

A research centre for the conservation of Mediterranean wetlands




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Ecology of health and conservation

Project leader: Michel GAUTHIER-CLERC (See the CV)

CONTEXT

The two current crises - loss of biodiversity and the emergence of pathogens - are linked by their partly shared origins: the increase in environmental disturbances due to human activities. Three-quarters of emergent infectious human diseases originate from animals, mostly wild animals. The managers of natural areas as well as medical practitioners are confronted during their activities with the resurgence of health problems deriving from the environment. Faced with the emerging challenges posed by these two crises, the ecology of health and conservation ("Conservation Medicine") seeks to understand the interactions between the health of humans, animals and plants, the health of ecosystems, and environmental perturbations.

Certain parasites or the use of certain molecules (treatments against parasites, industrial pollutants) can considerably influence the population dynamics of host or target species, as well as the potential for economic activities in wetlands (horse riding, aviculture, tourism, etc.) and human health. They therefore contribute to a negative image of wetlands and are used to justify management that is unfavourable to biodiversity (in particular, drainage and the destruction of wetlands). However they rarely form the subject of investigations in conservation biology. Current global change will without doubt further the emergence and spread of diseases, whether directly via epizootics and epidemics, or by the development of resistance to treatments.

MAIN OBJECTIV

To reconcile the conservation of wetlands with the associated risks to humans
On the field :
- To conserve species with unfavourable status during epizootics or pollution incidents
- To understand the effect of global changes on the interactions between wild species, their health, and the health of the public and domestic animals


Contents:


Activities:

  • Zoonoses and the role of Mediterranean wetland species in their epidemiology

Studies will mainly focus on Influenza A viruses and the West Nile virus and its vectors. Other diseases will be tackled depending on the availability of funding, in particular the potential danger of the Chikungunya virus in the Camargue with the arrival of the Aedes albopictus mosquito.

  • Effect of treatments (antiparasitics, antibiotics, antivectors, etc.) on the wildlife of Mediterranean wetlands.

These studies will focus on the impact of PCBs on eels and the impact of mosquito control on the various avian malaria parasites.

  • Impact of pathogens on the dynamics of Mediterranean wetlands species

The aim will be to develop a project to restore rabbit populations, which have crashed along the Mediterranean coastline due to the conjunction of two introduced diseases: VHD and myxomatosis.


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