Thomas GALEWSKI

Themes: Science-Society Interfaces | Management and restoration of Natural and Agricultural ecosystems

Contact: e-mail | +33 (0)4 90 97 29 78

Joined our team: April 2008

Personal page: Research Gate profile

Research interests and expertise

I am attempting to assess the conservation status of the biodiversity associated with Mediterranean wetlands.

Using different means – Red Lists, censuses, expert opinions, and specialised literature– I try to chart the changes that have occurred over time in communities of species. The various anthropogenic pressures, such as habitat loss, climate disorders, as well as hunting leave a signature on the communities. On the contrary, designating protected areas or forbidding the harvesting of plants and animals are supposed to have a positive impact on these same communities. Measuring changes makes it possible to prioritise the threats that have a negative impact on biodiversity, and to evaluate whether the conservation actions undertaken are effective.

Since my research targets decision-makers in the first place, the results of my studies are generally presented in the form of indicators such as the Living Planet Index, Red List Index, Community Temperature Index, and Ecosystem Resilience Index.

My evaluation work concerns all wetland-dependent species regardless of their taxonomic group; however, birds are group on which I focus the most, in particular, because it is the group whose biology and demographic trends are best known.

See Thomas Galewski’s CV

Current and past projects conducted at the Tour du Valat

Education

• Post-doctoral fellowships at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens (London) and Imperial College, (London)
• PhD Molecular Phylogeny, Institut des sciences de l’évolution, Montpellier
• MSc Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Montpellier and Montpellier SupAgro

Supervision of students

• Élie Gaget (2015-2018), PhD Ecology, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris
• Marianne Bernard (2015), Master 2 Ecology, Biodiversity, and Evolution, University of Paris 6
• Thibaud Gravez (2015), Master 2 Biology, Health, and Ecology, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris
• Hugo Touzé (2013), Master 2 Ecological Engineering and Biodiversity Management, University of Montpellier
• Camille Treilhes (2012), Master 2 Ecology, Biodiversity, and Evolution, University of Paris 6
• Nastassja Korichi (2011), Master 2 Ecology, Biodiversity, and Evolution, University of Paris 6
• Karsten Schmale (2010), Master 2 Biology, Health, and Ecology, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris

Publications

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

• Première mention française de la Gallinule africaine Paragallinula angulata
  de Jacques Artieda, Thomas Galewski, Bernard Recorbet, Frédéric Armani In Ornithos, 171 (Avril, Mai, Juin 2025), 28-35 Le 6 mars 2024, Jacques Artieda observe et photographie un petit rallidé qu'il n'identifie pas tout de suite sur la zone d'humide d'Air Corsica, au sud-est d'Ajaccio, en Corse-de-Sud. Cette observation ... read more
• Apport des études en écologie des communautés d’oiseaux à la conservation des zones humides Méditerranéennes (2024)
  de Thomas Galewski Tour du Valat, Arles : Université de Montpellier, école doctorale Gaïa, 2024, 250 L’axe de recherche, que l'auteur coordonne et qu'il présente dans les chapitres suivants, cherche à étudier la réponse de la biodiversité des zones humides méditerranéennes aux facteurs de changement. La première tâche a été d’identifier un modèle ... read more
• Past, present, and future of the Living Planet Index
  de Sophie E. H. Ledger, Jonathan Loh, Rosamunde Almond, Monika Bohm, Christopher F. Clements, Jessica Currie, Stefanie Deinet, Thomas Galewski, Monique Grooten, Martin Jenkins, et al. In npj Biodiversity, 2(1) (June, 2023), 1-13 En ligne : www.nature.com[...] As we enter the next phase of international policy commitments to ... 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
• Coupling future climate and land-use projections reveals where to strengthen the protection of Mediterranean Key Biodiversity Areas
  de Fabien Verniest, Thomas Galewski, Romain Julliard, Anis Guelmami, Isabelle Le Viol In Conservation Science and Practice, Online (October, 2022), 17 En ligne : onlinelibrary.wiley.com[...] Identifying sites that are both important for biodiversity and likely to be heavily affected by anthropogenic pressures in the future is crucial to ... read more
• Efficacy of created and restored nesting sites for the conservation of colonial Laridae in the south of France
  de Timothée Schwartz, Aurélien Besnard, Christophe Pin, Olivier Scher, Thomas Blanchon, Arnaud Béchet, Nicolas Sadoul In Conservation Biology, Online (September, 2022) En ligne : onlinelibrary.wiley.com[...] By rapidly modifying key habitat components, habitat restoration is at risk of producing attractive cues for animals without providing habitats of sufficient quality. ... read more
• Développement d’un indice en Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
  de Thomas Galewski In Courrier de la Nature (Le), NS (Juillet 2019), 51-53 ... read more
• Long-term trends in the abundance of Mediterranean wetland vertebrates: From global recovery to localized declines
  de Thomas Galewski, Ben Collen, Louise McRae, Jonathan Loh, Patrick Grillas, Michel Gauthier-Clerc, Vincent Devictor In Biological Conservation, 144(5) (MAY 2011), 1392-1399 Biodiversity loss is unevenly distributed in space and time. Species have reached critically low population sizes in some areas, and remain abundant in others. Similarly, some ... read more
• When Common Birds Became Rare: Historical Records Shed Light on Long-Term Responses of Bird Communities to Global Change in the Largest Wetland of France
  de Thomas Galewski, Vincent Devictor In PLOS ONE, 11 (Nov. 2016), 1-18 En ligne : journals.plos.org[...] Many species have suffered large population declines due to the anthropogenic influence on ecosystems. Understanding historical population trends is essential for informing best efforts to preserve species. We propose a new method ... read more
• Des marais au pays du matin calme? (2008)
  de G. Barnaud, Thomas Galewski 2008 ... read more