Demography With Evolution in Long-Lived Seabirds ANR project

The project Demography With Evolution in Long-Lived Seabirds (DWELLS) from 2025 to 2028. On this page I briefly present the project and will post updates on results and scientific contributions.

The project is funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, takes place at CEBC, with logistical support from the French polar institute IPEV and the French Antarctic and sub-antarctic territories (TAAFs).

Project context and goals

The project aims to quantify the importance of natural selection and genetic change for the current demographic trajectories of three albatross populations subject to rapid environmental change.

Apart from me, the project involves Christophe Barbraud, Karine Delord, Cécile Ribout, Céline Bocquet and a post-doc still to be hired. Although not funded by the project, Pauline Richard’s PhD project contributes to WP2 and WP3.

Progress and results

Update on October 13th, 2025

WP1 has progressed well for Crozet’s wandering albatross, with around 700 individuals sequenced (thanks Cécile and Céline for the extraction and management!). Sampling in the black-browed albatross population has been difficult because of the avian flu epizootic, leaving us with around 400 samples. Céline and I will be on Kerguelen in a few weeks, also with the help of Samuel Peroteau and two wintering “VSCs”. I am hoping we will be able collect a few hundred black-browed samples more during the 2025-2026 field season. In the meantime, there has been almost no access to the Amsterdam albatross population following a major bush fire on Amsterdam island. I am not sure I will be able to collect more than the 50ish samples available for this population. That will not be su

WP2 and WP3 are progressing as part of Pauline’s PhD project.

WP4 has seen a major progress, with the publication of our new method for population matrix model including quantitative genetic evolution (van de Walle J, Garnier J, Bonnet T, Jenouvrier S Methods in Ecology and Evolution 16:1644–1657 https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.70075).

Publications and talks

• Pauline Richard presented a poster at the European Ornithologist’s Union, in Bangor, UK, in August 2025. The work presented focuses on natural selection during early life, and evolvability of morphological traits, in Crozet’s wandering albatrosses.

Outreach

We hope to produce a video to present the project outcomes. But let’s get some results first!