Karine Berthier


Ph.D. University of Franche-Comte and INRA-CBGP, France, 2005

Contact details

School of Biological Sciences
University of Sydney
The Macleay Building A12
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

Email: kberthier[at]usyd.edu.au
Phone: +61 02 9036 7590


Research Interests

My research is focused on evolutionary ecology of non-equilibrium populations, of either endangered or outbreaking species, with the goal to contribute to the development of conservation and management strategies. I am especially interested in combining population genetics and dynamics approaches to assess movement patterns, including dispersal process, accounting for a realistic landscape framework.

I use methods especially dedicated to the analyses of i) the spatial and temporal population genetic structures, ii) the spatial and temporal patterns of density (i.e. spatial autocorrelation, synchrony, traveling wave analysis) and iii) the landscape structure using G.I.S. and remote sensing data.

I mainly applied this approach on the cyclic populations of the fossorial water voles, Arvicola terrestris. In the Jura Montains (France) these vole populations exhibit periodic outbreaks that spread in space as a wave over large areas, leading to important agricultural and economic loss. In this context, I was interested to estimate the role of vole dispersal in the spatial dynamics and the long-term maintenance of these populations.

Current Research Project

I have now joined the Molecular Ecology Lab at the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Sydney to work on the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera. My research focuses on the spatio-temporal dynamics of this species and its link with the landscape features, using density and remote sensing data. This project involves close collaborations with the Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC), Dr. Ji Rong (Xinjiang Normal University, China), Dr Michael J. Watts, Dr. Greg Sword and Prof. Steve Simpson (University of Sydney). I also investigate molecular biology and population genetics questions on various grasshopper species with, as main collaborators, Prof. Raphael Arlettaz (University of Bern), Dr. Greg Sword and Dr. Marie-Pierre Chapuis (University of Sydney).


Publications

Berthier K., Loiseau A., Streiff R. and Arlettaz R. (2008) Eleven polymorphic microsatellites markers for Oedaleus decorus (Orthoptera, Acrididae), an endangered grasshopper in Central Europe. Molecular Ecology Resources, in press.

Tollenaere C., Bryja J., Galan M., Cadet P., Deter J., Chaval Y., Berthier K., Ribas Salvador A., Voutilainen L., Laakkonen J., Henttonen H., Cosson JF., Charbonnel N. (2008) Multiple parasites mediate balancing selection at two MHC class II genes in the fossorial water vole: insights from multivariate analyses and population genetics. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, in press.

Berthier, K., Chaval Y., Galan M., Bryja J., Charbonnel N., and Cosson J-F. (2008) Book Chapter 2: Dispersion individuelle in: “La lutte raisonnée contre le campagnol terrestre : Enjeux et perspectives”. INRA Publication, in press.

Foltête J-C., Berthier K., Cosson J-F. (2008) Cost-distance defined by a topological function of landscape. Ecological Modelling, 210, 104-114.

Bryja J., Charbonnel N., Berthier K., Galan M. and Cosson J-F. (2007) Density-related changes in selection pattern on MHC complex genes in fluctuating populations of voles. Molecular Ecology, 16, 5084-5097.

Charbonnel N., Chaval Y., Berthier K., Deter J., Morand S., Palme R. and Cosson J-F. (2007) Stress and Demographic Decline: A Potential Effect Mediated by Impairment of Reproduction and Immune Function in Cyclic Vole Populations. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 81(1), 63-73.

Deter J., Chaval Y., Galan M., Berthier K., Ribas Salvador A., Casanova Garcia J.C., Morand S., Cosson J-F. and Charbonnel N. (2007) Linking demography and host dispersal to Trichuris arvicolae distribution in a cyclic vole species. International Journal of Parasitology, 37(7), 813-824.

Besnard A., Piry S., Berthier K., Lebreton J-D. and Streiff R. (2007) Modeling survival and mark loss in molting animals using recapture, dead recoveries and exuvia recoveries. Ecology 88: 289-295.

Berthier K., Charbonnel N., Galan M., Chaval N. and Cosson J-F. (2006) Migration and recovery of the genetic diversity during the increasing density phase in cyclic vole populations. Molecular Ecology, 15, 2665-2676.

Deter J., Berthier K., Chaval Y., Cosson J-F., Morand S. and Charbonnel N. (2006) Influence of geographic scale on the detection of density-dependence in a host-parasite system Arvicola terrestris and Taenia taeniaeformis. Parasitology, 132, 595-605.

Berthier K., Galan M., Foltête J-C., Charbonnel N. and Cosson J-F. (2005) Genetic structure of the cyclic fossorial water vole (Arvicola terrestris): landscape and demographic influences. Molecular Ecology 14: 2861–2871.

Foltête J-C., Berthier K., Cosson J-F. (2005) Landscape and animal outbreaks: the role of landscape features on the fossarial water vole travelling wave spreading. Cybergeo : Revue européenne de géographie, N° 306.

Berthier K., Galan M., Weber A., Loiseau A. and Cosson J-F. (2004) A multiplex panel of dinucleotide microsatellite markers for the water vole, Arvicola terrestris. Molecular Ecology Notes 4(4), 620-622.

Galan M., Van Hooft W.F., Legrand D., Berthier K., Loiseau A., Granjon L. and Cosson J-F. (2004) A multiplex panel of microsatellite markers for widespread subsaharan rodents of the genus Mastomys. Molecular Ecology Notes 4: 321-323.

Berthier K. , Foltête J-C., Prieur B., Cosson J-F. (2003) Using radial analysis to quantify the local scale of landscape: application to the spatio-temporal dynamics of the water vole”. 6èmes Rencontres Théo Quant. LINK

Blok V.C., Wishart J., Fargette M., Berthier K., Philips MS. (2002) Mitochondrial DNA differences distinguishing Meloidogyne mayaguensis from the major species of tropical root-knot nematodes. Nematology 4, 773-781.