Mathieu Basille

Contact

Research

Experiences

Publications

PhD

Contact information

Chaire de recherche industrielle CRSNG-Université Laval en sylviculture et faune
Département de biologie
Université Laval
1045 Av. de la Médecine, pavillon Alexandre Vachon
Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada

Phone: +1-418-656-2131 (# 12 004)
E-mail:

Research profile

I am currently leading a post-doc project at Laval University, in the lab of Daniel Fortin. The ultimate aim of this project is to evaluate the viability of woodland caribou populations in Québec, through spatially explicit simulations, according to different forest management plans. In order to achieve this, we will have to synthethize everything that we already know about spatial interactions between caribou, moose, wolf and bear, and to fill the gaps to gather the required parameterization of the system.

More generally, my work focus on habitat ecology of large mammals, with a special interest in predator-prey interactions (see also my PhD thesis below). In parallel, I am heavily interested in habitat selection and ecological niche theory. In particular, I am trying to define a robust and consistent approach of the habitat concept, and to relate it to animal performance. There have been recently different studies that looked at the relations between habitat selection and fitness components, which are opening new opportunities to understand the relationship between demography and space use.

Professional experiences

Statistical programming

Involvement in the programming of functions included in a statistical package for R called adehabitat (led by Clément Calenge). Development of habitat selection methods centered around the ENFA (Ecological-Niche Factor Analysis).

Consulting

• Expertise for the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA). Setting up a sampling design for a density estimation and monitoring of moose and roe deer populations from feces collection in three different areas of Norway.
• Expertise for the Office national de la chasse et de la faune sauvage (ONCFS). Feasibility assessment of a photodetection monitoring study of lynx in the Alps.

Reviewing

I have been referee for Basic and Applied Ecology, the Canadian Journal of Zoology, Oecologia, Oikos, the Journal of Animal Ecology, the Journal of Applied Ecology, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (B.), Wildlife Biology, as well as for the Encyclopedia of Inland Waters (Elsevier).

Teaching experience and supervision

Statistics and data analysis (360h): functions, derivative calculus, random variable, probability laws, descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, mean comparisons, frequency comparisons, one-way and two-ways ANOVA.
Habitat selection (16h): habitat selection theory, explorative analyses, R and adehabitat.

Bachelor students (4) supervised for their first professional experience in applied statistics. I was the principle supervisor of one student for 2 years employed at the statistics department of the pharmaceutic lab "Merial", and of another student for 1 year at the statistics department of a French register of cancers.

I am currently co-supervising with Daniel Fortin a MSc student at Laval University, Marie-Claude Labbé. Her aim is to study caribou movement at a fine scale, in relation to predation and forestry. As such, she is part of the post-doc project, and will provide a rigorous basis to evaluate space use of caribou.

Publication list

Peer-reviewed articles

8. Martin, J., Basille M., Kindberg J., Van Moorter B., Allainé D., Swenson J.E., 2010. Coping with human disturbance: Spatial and temporal tactics of brown bear. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 88: 875-883. [manuscript]
7. Gaillard J.-M., Hebblewhite M., Loison A., Fuller M., Powell R., Basille M., Van Moorter B., 2010. Habitat-Performance Relationships: Finding the right metric at a given spatial scale. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B., 365: 2255-2265. [manuscript]
6. Melis C., Basille M., Herfindal I., Linnell J.D.C., Odden J., Gaillard J.-M., Høgda K. & Andersen R., 2010. Roe deer population growth and lynx predation along a gradient of environmental productivity and climate in Norway. Ecoscience, 17: 166-174. [manuscript]
5. Basille M., Herfindal I., Santin-Janin H., Linnell J.D.C., Odden J., Andersen R., Høgda K. A., & Gaillard J.-M., 2009. What shapes Eurasian lynx distribution in human dominated landscapes: selecting prey or avoiding people? Ecography, 32: 683-691. [manuscript]
4. Saint-Andrieux C., Bonenfant C., Toïgo C., Basille M. & Klein F. Factors affecting beech bark stripping by red deer (Cervus elaphus) in a mixed forest. Wildlife Biology, 15: 187-196. [manuscript]
3. Calenge C. & Basille M., 2008. A general framework for the statistical exploration of the ecological niche. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 252: 674-685. [manuscript]
2. Calenge C., Darmon G., Basille M., Loison A. & Jullien J.-M., 2008. The factorial decomposition of the Mahalanobis distances in niche analysis. Ecology, 89: 555-566. [manuscript]
1. Basille M., Calenge C., Marboutin É., Andersen R. & Gaillard J.-M., 2008. Assessing habitat selection using multivariate statistics: Some refinements of the Ecological-Niche Factor Analysis. Ecological Modelling, 211: 233-240. [manuscript]

Book chapters

1. Martin J., Tolon V., Van Moorter B., Basille M. & Calenge C., 2009. On the use of telemetry in habitat selection studies. In Telemetry: Research, Technology and Applications, Editors Barculo D. & Daniels J. Nova Science Publishers Inc. [manuscript]

Popularizing articles & reports

5. Basille M., Courtois R., Bastille-Rousseau G., Courbin N., Faille G., Dussault C., Ouellet J.-P. & Fortin D., 2010. Effets directs et indirects de l'aménagement de la forêt boréale sur le caribou forestier au Québec. Le Naturaliste Canadien, in press.
4. Melis C., Holmern T., Basille M., Herfindal I., Odden J. & Linnell J.D.C., 2009. Fra fjord til fjell: Hvordan påvirker Nordens tiger rådyrbestandene? Hjorteviltet, 2009: 20-22. [manuscript]
3. Basille M., Calenge C., Marboutin É., Andersen R. & Gaillard J.-M. Caractérisation de l'habitat à partir de données de présence : le cas du lynx dans les Vosges (in French with English summary: Characterization of habitat from presence data: the case of lynx in the Vosges). ONCFS, Rapport scientifique, 2007: 20-24. [manuscript]
2. Bunnefeld N., Börger L., Nilsen E. B., Basille M., Hall R., Ezard T.H., Trierweiler C., Minderman J., Mangel M., Gaillard J.-M., Milner-Gulland E.J. & attendees of the Populations Under Pressure symposium, 2007. Coming out of the ivory tower: how to ensure that ecological modelling research remains practical and applied. Bulletin of the British Ecological Society, 38: 64-66. [manuscript]
1. Marboutin É., Laurent A., Regazzi C., Léger F., Moisson P., Lambrech M., Balestra L., Henri J., Basille M., Touzain L. & Michallet D., 2004. Tests de nouvelles méthodes pour le suivi des populations de lynx en France : le piégeage photographique en coulées et les pièges à poils (in French with English summary: Some insight into the new tools to monitor the French lynx population). ONCFS, Rapport scientifique, 2004: 18–21. [manuscript]

Oral communications

12. Basille M., Fortin D., Dussault C., Ouellet J.-P., & Courtois R. "Space use seasonality in a multi-predator and multi-prey system" / July 2010 / Society for Conservation Biology: 2010 Congress, Edmonton (Alberta, Canada). [presentation]
11. Basille M., Fortin D., Dussault C., Ouellet J.-P., & Courtois R. "Space use seasonality in a multi-predator and multi-prey system" / May 2010 / Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution: 2010 Congress, Québéc (Québec, Canada). [presentation]
10. Basille M. "Saisonnalité de l’utilisation de l’espace dans un système complexe prédateurs-proies" / April 2010 / Colloque 2010 de la Chaire de recherche industrielle CRSNG-Université Laval en sylviculture et faune, Baie-Comeau (Québec, Canada). [presentation]
9. Basille M. "Habitat selection by lynx (Lynx lynx) in a human-dominated landscape -- From theory to application" / July 2008 / PhD Defense at the University of Lyon (France). [presentation]
8. Basille M. et al.. "Characterization of the habitat of the lynx in southern Norway - Theory, Methodology & Application" / November 2007 / Seminary at the Institute of Zoology, London (United Kingdom). [presentation]
7. Basille M., Herfindal I., Linnell J.D.C., Andersen R., Høgda K. A., & Gaillard J.-M. "Eurasian lynx distribution in human dominated landscapes: selecting prey or avoiding people?" / September 2007 / 5th European Congress of Mammalogy, Sienna (Italy). [presentation]
6. Basille M., Calenge C., Herfindal I., Linnell J.D.C., Andersen R. & Gaillard J.-M. "Lynx and people: a possible coexistence?" / June 2007 / 8th Roe deer meeting, Velenje (Slovenia). [presentation]
5. Basille M., Calenge C., Herfindal I., Linnell J.D.C., Andersen R. & Gaillard J.-M. "The Niche of the Lynx in Norway" / March 2007 / Symposium Populations under pressure, London (United Kingdom). [presentation]
4. Basille M., Linnell J.D.C., Andersen R. & Gaillard J.-M. "Habitat Selection by the roe deer in Norway" / October 2006 / Workshop France–Norway–United Kingdom, Doucy en Bauges (France). [presentation]
3. Basille M., Marboutin E. & Gaillard J.-M. "Habitat Selection by the Lynx in the Vosges Massif – A comparative study" / January 2006 / Symposium Fragmentation of habitats and lynx populations in Europe, Fischbach (Germany). [presentation]
2. Basille M. & Calenge C. "Multi-variate analyses of the ecological niche" / December 2004 / Statistical seminary at the ONCFS, Cléry Saint André (France). [presentation]
1. Gaillard J.-M., Loison A., & Basille M. "Understanding population dynamics of ungulates: What do we know and what should we do?" / December 2004 / Workshop Ungulates and large predators in Europe, Białowieża (Poland). [presentation]

PhD thesis

I completed my PhD degree at the University of Lyon (Lab Biometry and Evolutionary Biology, France), under the direction of Dr. Jean-Michel Gaillard and Prof. Reidar Andersen, in July 2008. My thesis, entitled "Habitat selection by lynx (Lynx lynx) in a human-dominated landscape -- From theory to application", took place in the context of a cotutelle exchange with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. The thesis is available here, and the presentation for the defense here.

In this thesis, I have studied the predator-prey system lynx-roe deer in Norway, with the addition of human as a kind of "super-predator", hunting both species. This is a particularly interesting study case since lynx are the main predator of roe deer, and roe deer the main prey of lynx. In addition, human is the main cause of death for lynx (poaching and hunting) and, together with lynx, the main cause of death for roe deer. During my PhD, I tried to investigate how the three species were spatially inter-connected, and especially how roe deer and lynx habitat selection occurred with respect to the other species.

Part of my work was theoretical and methodological, and the other part was the application to the study of interest in Norway. I illustrate it here with two published papers which cover this range. In the first one (Basille et al., Ecological Modelling, 2008) we focused on one method of exploration of the habitat characteristics based on the ecological-niche model. We tried to improve it in order to make the results easier to interpret. In the second one (Basille et al., Ecography, 2009), we applied the method to the study case of lynx in Norway, where we were able to demonstrate a trade-off in lynx space use at a large scale, between food (roe deer) on the one hand, and safety (distance from human infrastructures -- mainly roads) on the other hand.