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Erithacus rubecula (European robin) is a common songbird from Europe and found in North Africa and Western Asia. Easily recognizable with its typical orange throat and melodious song, its winter ecological niche is not fully understood yet. Moreover, the European robin is what we call a "facultative non-breeding partial migrant", meaning that in one population, some individuals will show a migratory behavior whereas others will not. In addition, that status can vary from one year to another for a certain proportion of the population. Across this master thesis, the goal was to determine which abiotic and, less importantly, biotic factors are driving the winter habitat suitability of the European robin and what impact those factors could potentially have on its migratory behavior. I worked with the ecological niche modeling tool in R studio and Maxent/ GLM as algorithms to achieve this goal. The occurrences data were downloaded from the eBird Observation Dataset loaded on GBIF; the abiotic variables were downloaded from the WorldClim website and the biotic variables from the land-cover MOD44B. Once the variables and the algorithm settings were selected, models were fitted, assessed, statistically evaluated, and the habitat suitability maps were plotted. The results showed that even though the abiotic factors were the primary concern of this study, they explain 57% of the winter habitat suitability of the robin, which is less than was expected. Land-cover was thus also greatly contributing to characterize the ecological niche of the robin.
Moreover, the temperature seasonality, the mean temperature of the coldest quarter, and the absence of land-cover had the most significant impact on the habitat suitability. Studies led in Belgium, Spain, and Portugal found that females and juveniles had greater chances to express a migratory behavior. Nevertheless, we can suggest that a high seasonality over the year, temperatures below 0.5°C and above 16.53°C, and a lack of vegetation superior to 40% could highly contribute to greater chances of witnessing migratory behavior of an individual. However, whether those variables im- pact the robin directly or indirectly requires further investigations which were not realized in the context of this master thesis.

rouge-gorge --- ecological niche modeling --- migratory behavior --- Sciences du vivant > Sciences de l'environnement & écologie

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The common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) is an invasive alien species native to North America that has conquered Europe since the turn of the 20th century. Despite various observations in Belgium, the species has few presence data and is not very well-known in the Walloon region. The species causes extensive health and economic damage, as it is highly allergenic cultivated weed. Spatial modelling of areas favourable to the installation would allow better sensitization, as well as targeting of samples and management of the species.
This study brings together different modeling methods used in the literature in order to better understand the issues encountered by modeling invasive species. Using the presence points and the Worldclim bioclimatic rasters of the native area, a first modeling was carried out by extrapolation over the Walloon territory. A temporal extrapolation was also performed on the model, to point the impact of climate change on the potential distribution of common ragweed. A second modeling was carried out using environmental data from ‘Lifewatch Ecotope’ and the Walloon presence data, despite their poor robustness. The model was validated with the AUC index, and the results of the two models showed favorable areas over a large part of the Walloon territory in the provinces of Hainaut, Namur, Brabant Wallon and Liège.
The variables constraining the extrapolated model the most are summer temperatures and precipitation as well as the variation in precipitation. The variables constraining the independent model the most are the minimum winter temperatures, the distance to the railways and the presence of soils with average drainage. The temporal extrapolation has shown that almost all of the Walloon territory will be favorable to the colonization of the common ragweed, with the exception of the east of the province of Luxembourg and the east of the province of Liège. The independent model performed less well than the extrapolated model, mainly because of the weakness of the data set used.
It is important to remain attentive to the proliferation of common ragweed in the Walloon region. While it is not yet very harmful in the region, the potential damage it can cause is enough to raise as much awareness as possible among those involved in the introduction of the species and its management. It is essential to increase the number of observation points in the Walloon region in order to better understand the distribution of the species and to better fight against it in the future.

ragweed --- ambrosia artemisiifolia --- Species distribution model --- invasive species --- Maxent --- walloon region --- ecological niche model --- Sciences du vivant > Sciences de l'environnement & écologie

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Microbial ecology --- Basic Sciences. Microbiology --- Congresses. --- Microbiology (General) --- Microbiology (General). --- INDUSTRY --- UTILIZATION --- METALS --- BIOCONVERSIONS --- BIODEGRADATION --- RESPONSES --- ECOSYSTEMS --- PERTURBATION (PHYSIQUE) --- ACTIVITY --- MEASUREMENT --- BIOMASS --- BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES --- BIOLOGICAL CONTROL --- PREDATION --- COMPETITION --- GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM --- MICROFLORA --- PLANT DISEASES --- ECOLOGICAL NICHE --- ADHESION (PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY) --- ADAPTATION (PHYSIOLOGY) --- THEORY --- MICROBIAL ECOLOGY --- PERTURBATION

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Physics --- Ecosystem management --- Conservation biology --- Ecosystèmes --- Biologie de la conservation --- Periodicals. --- Gestion --- Périodiques --- Conservation biology. --- Ecosystem management. --- Life Sciences --- Biology --- 57 --- 574 --- Biological sciences in general --- General ecology. Biocoenology. Hydrobiology. Biogeography --- Periodicals --- 574 General ecology. Biocoenology. Hydrobiology. Biogeography --- Ecosystem --- Ecosystem. --- Biology. --- Biotic communities --- Ecosystems management --- Biome --- Ecologic System --- Ecologic Systems --- Ecological System --- Habitat --- System, Ecological --- Systems, Ecological --- Biomes --- Ecological Systems --- Ecosystems --- Habitats --- System, Ecologic --- Systems, Ecologic --- Management --- Applied ecology --- Environmental management --- Nature conservation --- Biodiversity conservation --- Ecology --- Environment --- Niche, Ecological --- Ecological Niche

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The field of geobiology explores the relationship between life and the Earth's physical and chemical environment. At its heart, geobiological research merges disciplines in the earth and biological sciences including, but not restricted to, microbiology, microbial ecology, plant physiology, molecular biology, paleontology, early evolutionary ecology mineralogy, geochemistry, sedimentology, oceanography, and astrobiology.

Geobiology --- Biological Sciences --- Geology --- Ecosystem --- Geobiology. --- Biological Science Disciplines. --- Ecosystem. --- Geology. --- Biome --- Ecologic System --- Ecologic Systems --- Ecological System --- Habitat --- System, Ecological --- Systems, Ecological --- Biomes --- Ecological Systems --- Ecosystems --- Habitats --- System, Ecologic --- Systems, Ecologic --- Biologic Sciences --- Biological Science --- Science, Biological --- Sciences, Biological --- Life Sciences --- Biologic Science --- Biological Science Discipline --- Discipline, Biological Science --- Disciplines, Biological Science --- Life Science --- Science Discipline, Biological --- Science Disciplines, Biological --- Science, Biologic --- Science, Life --- Sciences, Biologic --- Sciences, Life --- Biology --- Earth sciences --- Biosphere --- Ecology --- Environment --- Niche, Ecological --- Ecological Niche --- Biology - General