Delphine Nicolas - Tour du Valat

Themes: Species Conservation | Sustainable ecosystem management : Natural and Agricultural habitats

Contact: e-mail | Ph. +33 (0)4 90 97 29 80

Joined our team: December 2015

Research interests and expertise

My research aims to improve our understanding of:

The spatial and temporal distribution of fish species, based on macro-ecological approaches (long spatial and/or temporal series);
Population dynamics through a long-term capture-mark-recapture monitoring programme.

My work aims to improve the conservation and management of endemic species in the Mediterranean Basin in times of global change.

I am currently focusing on two threatened species in two different study areas: the European Eel in the Camargue and the Marble Trout at the head of the Soča basin in Slovenia. I am particularly interested in the impact of extreme events (floods, droughts, and landslides), as well as in the arrival of introduced species, such as Wels Catfish and Topmouth Gudgeon in the Camargue, and Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout in Slovenia.

Projects

In the Camargue, from freshwater canals to salt marshes:

1993 – present: Monthly monitoring of fish populations and fish cancer in the Fumemorte Canal (see project). Monitoring of the different phases of the eel at La Capelière in the Vaccarès Lagoon and in the Fumemorte Canal. Capture-mark-recapture monitoring of eel in the Fumemorte Canal since 2001 (see project).
2016 – 2020: Monitoring of the biological connectivity in the ponds and marshes on the former Camargue saltworks site. Monitoring of the recruitment of species coming from the sea (glass eel phase for the European Eel, migratory marine fish species such as sole, bass, and bream, and decapod crustaceans such as green crab and grey shrimp). Monitoring of the downstream migration of European Eel (see project).

In Slovenia, at the head of the Soča basin:

1993 – present: Marble Trout project conducted in collaboration with the Tolmin fishing association in Slovenia. Monitoring the population dynamics of genetically pure marble trout, and naturalised allopatric or sympatric populations of brown trout and rainbow trout (see project).

Supervision of students

Parent, Maude. 2019. “Assessment of the hydro-biological connectivity between the marine environment and the Vaccarès lagoon complex via the ponds and marshes on the former Camargue saltworks site.” Master 2 internship, Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse (School of Agricultural and Life Sciences)
Mutel, Stéphane. 2018. “Temporal variability of the trophic ecology of the Wels Catfish and European Eel in a drainage canal in the Camargue.” Master 2 internship, Polytech Tours, Urban and Territorial Planning and Environment, University of Tours
Chericoni, Nicolas. 2017. “Comparison of two temporal monitoring campaigns on wild fish in the Vaccarès Lagoon.” Master 2 internship, Statistics for Life and Healthcare Sciences
Chevallier, Adrien. 2016. “Transfer of ichthyofauna from the Rhone to the Camargue through irrigation pumping.” End of studies internship, Polytech Montpellier.

Education

2006-2010: PhD in Estuary Ecology, Irstea Bordeaux / University of Bordeaux 1
2004-2006: MSc in Oceanography with a concentration in Marine Biology and Ecology, Oceanology Centre, University of the Mediterranean, Aix-Marseille University II
2003-2004: BSc Biology of Living Organisms, ERASMUS programme, University of St Andrews
2001-2003: two-year degree in Life Sciences, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis

Publications

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

Presence of the introduced ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi A. Agassiz, 1865 in a lagoon system within the River Rhône delta (southeast France)
de Guillaume Marchessaux, Delphine Nicolas, Alain Crivelli, Silke Befeld, Pascal Contournet, Delphine Thibault In BioInvasions Records, 9(3) (2020), 471-481 En ligne : www.reabic.net[...] The introduced ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi A. Agassiz, 1865 was observed in the Vaccarès Lagoon (River Rhône delta, southeast France) for the first time in 2016. ... read more
Morphological and physiological traits of Mediterranean sticklebacks living in the Camargue wetland (Rhone river delta)
de Khalid Rind, Quentin Rodriguez‐Barucg, Delphine Nicolas, Patricia Cucchi, Jehan-Hervé Lignot In Journal of Fish Biology, On line (12/03/2020), 13 En ligne : onlinelibrary.wiley.com[...] Three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) living at the southern limit of the species distribution range could possess specific morphological and physiological traits that enable ... read more
Estimating biodiversity changes in the Camargue wetlands: An expert knowledge approach
de Sara Fraixedas, Thomas Galewski, Sofia Ribeiro-Lopes, Jonathan Loh, Jacques Blondel, Hugo Fontes, Patrick Grillas, Philippe Lambret, Delphine Nicolas, Anthony Olivier, et al. In PLOS ONE, 14:10 (24 oct. 2019), e0224235 En ligne : journals.plos.org[...] Mediterranean wetlands are critical strongholds for biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem functions ... read more
Dietary niche expansion and niche shift in native marble trout (Salmo marmoratus) living in sympatry with introduced rainbow trout(Oncorhynchus mykiss)
de C. Musseau, S. Vincenzi, D. Jesensek, S. Boulêtreau, F. Santoul, Delphine Nicolas, Alain Jean Crivelli In Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 27:3 (2018) The non-native rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) has been introduced worldwide for angling purposes and has established self-reproducing populations in many parts of the world. Introduced ... read more
Physico-chemical thresholds in the distribution of fish species among French lakes
de Vincent Roubeix, Martin Daufresne, Christine Argillier, Julien Dublon, Anthony Maire, Delphine Nicolas, Jean-Claude Raymond, Pierre-Alain Danis In Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems, 418 (2017), 14 En ligne : www.kmae-journal.org[...] The management of lakes requires the definition of physico-chemical thresholds to be used for ecosystem preservation or ... read more