Sylvie Ladet

Landscape composition influences roe deer habitat selection at both home range and landscape scales

Understanding how patterns of habitat selection vary in relation to landscape structure is essential to predict ecological responses of species to global change and inform management. We investigated behavioural plasticity in habitat selection of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in relation to variable habitat availability across a heterogeneous agricultural landscape at the home range and landscape scales. As expected, woodland was heavily selected, but we found no functional response for this habitat, i.e. no shift in habitat selection with changing habitat availability, possibly due to the presence of hedgerows which were increasingly selected as woodlands were less abundant. Hedgerows may thus function as a substitutable habitat for woodlands by providing roe deer with similar resources. We observed a functional response in the use of hedgerows, implying some degree of landscape complementation between hedgerows and open habitats, which may in part compensate for lower woodland availability. We also expected selection for woodland to be highest at the wider spatial scale, especially when this habitat was limiting. However, our results did not support this hypothesis, but rather indicated a marked influence of habitat composition, as both the availability and distribution of resources conditioned habitat selection. There was no marked between-sex difference in the pattern of habitat selection at either scale or between seasons at the landscape scale, however, within the home range, selection did differ between seasons. We conclude that landscape structure has a marked impact on roe deer habitat selection in agricultural landscapes through processes such as landscape complementation and supplementation.

How to maintain domesticity of usages in small rural forests? Lessons from forest management continuity through a french case study

The management of small private forests in the Western World has been under threat owing to rural and agricultural transformations since the Second World War. The actions put in place to preserve those forests are hard to implement because the forests are managed essentially in an unofficial way that is not clearly understood. Through multidisciplinary approaches, our aims were to understand local forest management processes, to assess the continuities and discontinuities of usages and practices in the Coteaux de Gascogne area of France, and to propose guidelines for future forest management. Forest management is shaped by a traditional but unrecognized social system called the house-centered system, which has contributed to a high degree of domesticity and diversity in forestry practices in this area. If forest management guidelines are to be effective, any guidelines put in place should take into account the roots of the traditional management system and attempt to comply with local social organizations. This is a major challenge regarding the long-term preservation of small private forests.

How to Set Up a Research Framework to Analyze Social-Ecological Interactive Processes in a Rural Landscape

Interdisciplinary research frameworks can be useful in providing answers to the environmental challenges facing rural environments, but concrete implementation of them remains empirical and requires better control. We present our practical experience of an interdisciplinary research project dealing with non-industrial private forestry in rural landscapes. The theoretical background, management, and methodological aspects, as well as results of the project, are presented in order to identify practical key factors that may influence its outcomes. Landscape ecology plays a central role in organizing the project. The efforts allocated for communication between scientists from different disciplines must be clearly stated in order to earn reciprocal trust. Sharing the same nested sampling areas, common approaches, and analytical tools (GIS) is important, but has to be balanced by autonomy for actual implementation of field work and data analysis in a modular and evolving framework. Data sets are at the heart of the collaboration and GIS is necessary to ensure their long-term management and sharing. The experience acquired from practical development of such projects should be shared more often in networks of teams to compare their behavior and identify common rules of functioning.