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I am an hydro-ecologist, specialized in mountain freshwater ecosystems. My general interest is to identify the physical and ecological processes involved in structuring the spatio-temporal dynamics of aquatic communities to predict the response of aquatic ecosystems to multiple environmental alterations linked to both climate change and anthropogenic pressures.
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Especially, I am studying 1) the impact of glacier retreat on mountain ecosystems and 2) the effects of flow alteration on aquatic communities
Cauvy-Fraunié Sophie
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Researcher in hydro-ecology at IRSTEA (Riverly Lab, Lyon, France)
Team: Dynam and Models in Eco-Hydrology
@ sophie.cauvy-fraunié at irstea.fr
ResearchGate
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Impact of glacier retreat on mountain ecosystems
I am interested in the effect of glacier retreat on the overall mountain biodiversity. For this, I examine: (1) the microbial communities on the cryoconite holes on the surface of glaciers, (2) the mechanisms of the primary succession of both terrestrial and aquatic organisms on glacier foreland. In addition, to assess the impact of the glacial meltwater flow alteration linked to glacier shrinkage on aquatic communities, I am following (3) the evolution of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in five glacier-fed streams below monitored glaciers (Glacioclim); some in French national parks (Ecrins, Vanoise).
Effects of flow alteration on aquatic communities
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Alpine stream ecosystems are threatened by multiple hydrological alterations due to both the reduction in snow cover and the acceleration of glacier shrinkage linked to the ongoing climate change but also to anthropogenic pressures on water resource (e.g., hydropower, artificial snow). The main objective is to combine hydraulic models (link between discharge and hydraulic habitat distribution within stream reaches) and hydraulic preferences (relationship between hydraulic habitats and organisms) to estimate the impacts of flow alteration on aquatic invertebrate communities.
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