Arnaud BÉCHET

Themes: Species Conservation | Management and restoration of Natural and Agricultural ecosystems

Position at the Tour du Valat: Research Scientist, PhD – HDR (post-doctorate qualifications authorising the supervision of research)

Contact: e-mail | Ph. +33 (0)4 90 97 29 73

Personal page: http://arnaudbechet.ouvaton.org

Joined our team: 2002

Research interests and expertise

I am interested in approaching biodiversity conservation from scientific, ethical, and political points of view.

I coordinate our long-term study on the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) and the Slender-billed Gull (Chroicocephalus genei). We are using an integrated approach based on tools from the fields of population dynamics, genetics, and behavioural ecology to improve our understanding of the biology of these two species.

Current & past projects carried out at the Tour du Valat

Publications

Find below the most recent publications of Arnaud Béchet, or see the full list on the Tour du Valat’s documentary web portal:

• Using Two-Stage Random Sampling and N-Mixture Models to Estimate the Breeding Population Size of a Threatened Nomadic Species in Morocco
  de Haytem Bouchri, Rhimou El Hamoumi, Raphaël Musseau, Arnaud Béchet, Jocelyn Champagnon In Animal Conservation, (en ligne) (July, 2026), 1-11 En ligne : onlinelibrary.wiley.com[...] Robust estimates of animal population size are critical for effective conservation planning, yet such studies remain scarce in the North African region, making it ... read more
• Drought-driven breeding failures of greater flamingos in an important bird area, in semi-arid southern Iran
  de Ali Gholamhosseini, Mahta Jafari, Arnaud Béchet In Ornithology Research, 34(1) (April, 2026), 20 En ligne : doi.org[...] In recent years, many wetlands in the semi-arid and arid regions of southwest Asia, particularly in southern Iran, have completely dried up, raising significant concerns regarding the reproductive success of ... read more
• Interdependencies among hydro-saline dynamics, economic activities, ecological processes, and biodiversity in a deltaic social-ecological system: insights from the Rhône delta (southern France)
  de Rose Rodier, Olivier Boutron, Arnaud Béchet, Olivier Therond In Ecology and Society, 30(3) (July, 2025) En ligne : ecologyandsociety.org[...] Deltas are complex social-ecological systems (SESs) that involve many economic activities that interconnect closely with ecological processes and biodiversity. Sustainable management of such intricate SESs requires developing an ... read more
• Un plan national de gestion en faveur des limicoles prairiaux
  de Jean-Baptiste Mouronval, Arnaud Béchet, Emmanuel Joyeux, Charlotte Francesiaz In Zones Humides Infos, 106 (Septembre, 2024), 13-14 Les plans nationaux de gestion (PNG) sont l’équivalent pour des espèces exploitées en état de conservation défavorable, des plans nationaux d’action (PNA) dédiés aux espèces réglementairement protégées et menacées. Au sein ... read more
• Cohort effect on discriminant rate: the case of greater flamingo (Phœnicopterus roseus) chicks sexed with morphological characters
  de Abdennour Boucheker, Riad Nedjah, Roger Prodon, Mark Gillingham, François-Xavier Dechaume-Moncharmont, Arnaud Béchet, Boudjema Samraoui In Web Ecology, 20(2) (2020), 153 En ligne : univ-lyon1.hal.science[...] We used a large dataset of greater flamingo chicks banded and measured at Camargue, France, to verify the applicability of discriminant function analysis ... read more
• Using literature and expert knowledge to determine changes in the bird community over a century in a Turkish wetland
  de Dilara Arslan, Lisa Ernoul, Arnaud Béchet, Ömer Döndüren, Mehmet Sıkı, Thomas Galewski, Dilara Arslan, Lisa Ernoul, Arnaud Béchet, Ömer Döndüren, et al. In Marine and Freshwater Research, Online (October, 2022) En ligne : www.publish.csiro.au[...] Bird species have been studied and documented abundantly in the past decades and ... read more
• The color of greater flamingo feathers fades when no cosmetics are applied
  de Maria Cecilia Chiale, Miguel A. Rendon, Sophie Labaude, Anne-Sophie Deville, Juan Garrido-Fernandez, Antonio Pérez-Gálvez, Araceli Garrido, Manuel Rendón-Martos, Arnaud Béchet, Juan A. Amat In Ecology and Evolution, Online (September, 2021), 7 En ligne : onlinelibrary.wiley.com[...] Greater flamingos use cosmetic coloration by spreading uropygial secretions pigmented with carotenoids ... read more
• Context in Landscape Planning: Improving Conservation Outcomes by Identifying Social Values for a Flagship Species
  de Lisa Ernoul, Angela Wardell-Johnson, Raphael Mathevet, Alain Sandoz, Olivier Boutron, Loic Willm, Stephan Arnassant, Arnaud Béchet In Sustainability, 13(12) (June 2021), 6827 En ligne : www.mdpi.com[...] Sustainable conservation planning depends on understanding local context including the way social values impact a landscape. Flamingos are used here as ... read more
• Assessing Management Perceptions Linked to a Flagship Species: A New Approach to Increase Landscape Management Legitimacy and Support
  de Lisa Ernoul, Angela Wardell-Johnson, Raphael Mathevet, Alain Sandoz, Olivier Boutron, Loic Willm, Stephan Arnassant, Arnaud Béchet In Coastal Management, 49(4) (June, 2021), 1-13 En ligne : www.tandfonline.com[...] Integrated socio-ecological decision-making is important in improving legitimacy in management decisions through effective solutions that avert conflicts. This research examined ... read more
• Demography, distribution, and threat assessment of the Spur-thighed Tortoise (Testudo graeca) in the Gediz Delta, Turkey (Reptilia: Testudines)
  de Dilara Arslan, Anthony Olivier, Lisa Ernoul, Arnaud Béchet, Kerim Cicek In Zoology in the Middle East, 67(3) (July, 2021), 1-12 En ligne : www.tandfonline.com[...] The Spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with small and fragmented populations located around the Mediterranean ... read more