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:

• 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 ... read more
• Habitat management favouring hunted waterbird species prevents distribution changes in response to climate warming
  de Elie Gaget, Thomas Galewski, J. E. Brommer, Isabelle Le Viol, F. Jiguet, N. Baccetti, T. Langendoen, B. Molina, F. Moniz, C. Moussy, et al. In Animal Conservation, Online (December, 2022) En ligne : onlinelibrary.wiley.com[...] Climate warming is driving species to shift their geographical ... read more
• Anticipating the effects of climate warming and natural habitat conversion on waterbird communities to address protection gaps
  de Fabien Verniest, Isabelle Le Viol, Romain Julliard, Laura Dami, Anis Guelmami, Marie Suet, Wed Abdou, Hichem Azafzaf, Nadjiba Bendjedda, Taulant Bino, et al. In Biological Conservation, 279 (March, 2023), 10 En ligne : www.sciencedirect.com[...] Thermal adjustment of waterbird communities to climate warming is ... 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 ... 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 ... 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 ... read more
• Different components of landscape complexity are necessary to preserve multiple taxonomic groups in intensively-managed rice paddy landscapes (2022)
  de Pierre Mallet, Arnaud Béchet, Thomas Galewski, François Mesléard, Samuel Hilaire, Gaëtan Lefebvre, Brigitte Poulin, Clelia Sirami 2022, 8 En ligne : www.sciencedirect.com[...] Increase in pesticide use and landscape homogenization are two key drivers of the decline in farmland biodiversity. The effects of these two drivers are often complex, ... read more
• Geographical variation in pace-of-life in a long-distance migratory bird: implications for population management
  de Timothée Schwartz, Aurélien Besnard, Jesus M. Aviles, Teresa Catry, Andrzej Gorski, Orsolya Kiss, Deseada Parejo, Edmunds Račinskis, Laimonas Sniauksta, Milda Šniaukštienė, et al. In Oecologia, Online (August, 2021) En ligne : doi.org[...] Life-history theory predicts that animals should develop adaptive trade-offs between survival ... read more
• Gap analysis of the Ramsar site network at 50: over 150 important Mediterranean sites for wintering waterbirds omitted
  de Nadège Popoff, Elie Gaget, Arnaud Béchet, Laura Dami, Pierre Defos Du Rau, Ilse Geijzendorffer, Anis Guelmami, Jean-Yves Mondain-Monval, Christian Perennou, Marie Suet, et al. In Biodiversity and conservation, Online (July, 2021), 19 En ligne : link.springer.com[...] The Mediterranean Basin is a biodiversity hotspot. Wetlands make a key ... read more
• The future for Mediterranean wetlands: 50 key issues and 50 important conservation research questions
  de Nigel G Taylor, Patrick Grillas, Hazem Al Hreisha, Özge Balkız, Maud Borie, Olivier Boutron, Ana Catita, Jocelyn Champagnon, Semia Cherif, Kerim Cicek, et al. In Regional Environmental Change, Online (2021), 25 Wetlands are critically important for biodiversity and human wellbeing, but face a range of challenges. This ... read more