Le Stradic Soizig

Equipe Ecogere

Soizig Le Stradic

UMR Biodiversité Gènes et Communautés
INRAe
Université de Bordeaux - Bât. B2 - ave. facultés
33600 Pessac

Tel : +33 5 40 00 38 45

Courriel :soizig.le-stradic@inrae.fr

Research interests

Key words: Community ecology, restoration ecology, functional ecology, conservation, root traits, belowground organs, tropical grassland and savanna, open ecosystems, filtering processes.

My researches deal with community ecology, restoration ecology and functional ecology. My research themes concern the understanding of community assembly rules, the functioning of grasslands and open ecosystems especially the tropical ones as well as the effects of anthropogenic modifications and land use changes on the structure and functioning of plant communities. I am also interested in the assessment of plant community resilience face to anthropogenic pressures, the analysis and evaluation of ecological restoration techniques, and the understanding of ecological processes that may be limiting for the restoration of these plant communities. More recently I use a functional approach, especially belowground traits, to answer my research questions about the impact of anthropogenic activities (e.g. modification of fire regime and the presence of invasion species) on the structure and functioning of plant communities.

My research currently addresses trait-filter interactions as well as the relationships between vegetation and ecosystem functioning using a functional approach. I aim to improve and expand the use of trait-based ecology for the restoration of degraded grasslands and wetlands. I use, among other things, belowground functional traits to evaluate the variation in resource acquisition strategies and survival strategies within plant communities along environmental gradient. Experimentations will assess how plant traits (above and belowground traits) can be used to restore grasslands and wetlands.

My research has been largely done on tropical old-growth grasslands and savannas in Brazil and Democratic Republic of Congo. Part of my work is strongly applied to the conservation and restoration of degraded habitats by human actions. The results of my research aim to improve and guide public policies in terms of biodiversity management, conservation and restoration. It aim to make it possible to set up suitable, effective and durable ecological restoration projects.

Biographical sketch

I did my PhD in Ecology at both the University of Avignon and Pays du Vaucluse, France, and at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, about the composition, the phenology and restoration of campo rupestre mountain grasslands in Brazil. I worked for three years after my PhD, at the Biodiversity and Landscape Unit, at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (University of Liege) as assistant researcher and project coordinator. My research dealt with the conservation and restoration of copper-cobalt outcrops, in Katanga (Democratic Republic of Congo). The project was a collaboration between the University of Liege and the company Tenke Fungurume Mining. Since 2012, I collaborate with the Phenology Lab at Sao Paulo State University, UNESP (Rio Claro, SP, Brazil) where I did a postdoc in 2016, addressing tropical grassland phenology and how phenology can improve ecological restoration. From 2016 to 2019, I realized a postdoctoral research at the Leveg (Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology) at Sao Paulo State University, UNESP (Rio Claro, SP, Brazil). During that project, I aimed to analyze the impact of fire and invasive species on plant communities from a belowground perspective i.e. belowground biomass and root traits, as well as to understand the links between fire, root traits and carbon fluxes in tropical open ecosystems. From 2019 to 2021, I was post-doctoral researcher and teaching assistant at the Technische Universität München TUM, Chair of Restoration Ecology, Freising, Germany.

Education

2008-2012 PhD in Ecology, University of Avignon & des Pays de Vaucluse (France) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil). Congratulation of the board by unanimity

2007 - 2008 MSc (2^nd year) in Ecology, Biodiversity, & Evolution, University Paris VI, Paris-sud 11, AgroParisTech & ENS Paris, France.

2006 - 2007 MSc (1^st year) in Biology of organisms, populations and ecosystems specializing in ecology, biodiversity and landscape ecology, University Rennes 1, France.

2003 – 2006 B.Sc in Biology and geology, University Bretagne Sud, Vannes, France

Teaching experience

2019-2021 Teaching assistant. Technische Universität München TUM, Chair of Restoration Ecology, Ecology and Ecosystem Management Department, Freising, Germany (Advanced restoration Ecology, Vegetation of the Earth, Scientific seminar, Statistical analysis 90h of lecture).

2017 Teaching assistant. State University of São Paulo (Biodiversity, 1st of graduation 30h of lectures)

2014 Lecturer. University of Marseille-Aix en Provence, France (Restoration Ecology, 1st year of master. 12h: 4h course, 8h tutorials).

2009-2010 Teaching assistant. University of Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, France (Scientific expression, Ecology, Pollution, 1st or 2nd year of graduation. 54h: 3h tutorials, 51h Lab).

2008-2009 French professor in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Around 40h)

2008-2009 Teaching assistant. University of Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, France (Ecology, Plant physiology, Microbiology, Statistics, 1st or 2nd year of graduation. 84h: 24h tutorials, 60h Lab).