3-6 rue Raphaël Dubois, Bât. Forel, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France
Christopher Carcaillet enseigne l'écologie (bases de l'écologie, écologie des perturbations, écologie du paysage, biodiversité, fonctionnement des écosystèmes, services écosystémiques, aménagement écosystémique, etc.) à l'EPHE , à l'Université PSL, à l'Université de Lyon et en école d'ingénieurs de l'Institut national polytechnique de Bordeaux. Il a également enseigné à l'Université de Montpellier pendant dix ans.
Chris Carcaillet est titulaire d'un Master en aménagement écologique des territoires (1992) obtenu à l'Université de Rennes (France), d'un Master (DEA, 1993) et d'un doctorat (1996) en écologie de l'Université d'Aix-Marseille (France), ainsi que d'une Habilitation à diriger des recherches (2001) de l'Université Paul Sabatier (Toulouse, France). Il a été chercheur postdoctoral au Département de géographie de l'Université de Montréal (Canada, 1997-1998) et à l'Université du Québec à Montréal (1999). Il a également été chercheur à l'Université d'agronomie de Suède (SLU, 1999-2001). Il est devenu professeur à l'École pratique des hautes études (EPHE, Paris) en 2001 en Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre, et professeur honoraire à l'université PSL en 2014. En 2022, il a été élu membre associé étranger au Churchill College de l'université de Cambridge, au Royaume-Uni.
Il est membre du comité de rédaction d'Ecosphere (depuis 2024), d'Ecosciences (depuis 2008), de Plant Ecology (depuis 2019) et de Forest Ecology and Management (depuis 2020). Il a été rédacteur associé du Canadian Journal of Forest Research [2002-2024], de Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [2013-2023] et de PLoS ONE [2014-2018].
Prof. Christopher Carcaillet is a disturbance ecologist. He studies the influences of climate and social processes on the patterns of biodiversity or socio-ecosystems in space and time. His main research focuses on the chronoecology of fire in relation to climatic changes and plant community dynamics in boreal, mountain, Mediterranean and tropical areas. He is also concerned by global studies, notably by the function of fire on carbon budget through the release of carbon to the atmosphere, and the long-term sequestration of black carbon in soil.
Chris Carcaillet teaches ecology (the bases, landscape ecology, disturbance ecology, biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, ecological management, etc.) at the EPHE , the PSL University, at the University of Lyon and in an Engineering School of the University of Bordeaux. He has also taught at the University of Montpellier for 10 years.
Chris Carcaillet graduated in Master of Technology in Ecological land management (1992) from the University of Rennes (France), a M.Sc (1993) and a PhD (1996) in Ecology from the Aix-Marseille University (France), and a Habilitation in 2001 from the Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse, France). He was post-doctoral fellow at the Dept of Geography of the Univ. of Montréal, Canada (1997-98), at the Univ. of Québec at Montréal (1999) and, research fellow at the Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå (SLU, 1999-2001). He became Professor at Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE, Paris) in 2001 at the Dept of Life and Earth sciences, and honorary Professor at PSL University in 2014. In 2022, he was elected Overseas By-Fellow at Churchill College, University of Cambridge, UK.
Chris Carcaillet is editorial board member of Ecosphere (since 2024), Ecosciences (since 2008), Plant Ecology (since 2019), and Forest Ecology and Management (since 2020). He has been associated editor of the Canadian Journal of Forest Research [2002-2024], Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [2013-2023], and PLoS ONE [2014-2018].
I am pleased to present the new article by Justin Badeau (doctoral student) on wildfire regimes in Corsica over the past 350 years (1659-2024). Published in the Journal of Environmental Management <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127671>, this article highlights variations in the average intervals between fires, burned areas, and the fire season in black pine forest. The study focuses on four montane forests located from north to south of Corsica, comprising 22 plots and 270 sampled trees. Dendrochronology (ring-ring analysis) allows for the reconstruction of fire dates and seasons, as well as burned areas, using a spatial model applied to the geolocated sampled trees. The article shows that the wildfire frequency and burned areas have varied several times over the past 350 years, but not the fire season. Currently, the regime is characterized by longer intervals between wildfires than in the past, which contradicts the idea that climate change would lead to more frequent fires. Finally, the study shows that public fire suppression policies are creating an unprecedented situation, because, as far back as history goes, Corsican forests have regularly experienced wildfires. These results call into question the coherence of public fire suppression policies when wildfires provide ecosystem services.
I am pleased to announce the start of a new doctoral thesis by Serge Ungar. The title of his thesis project is:
Fire pattern, landscape and tree cover: application to the Esterel Massif, Provence (Patterns de feux, paysage physique et couvert végétal : application au Massif de l’Esterel)
The thesis aims to test the effect of the physical landscape on fire patterns, which, in turn, would explain vegetation cover. The determinants of fire regime change will be tested by hypothesising that land use and public policies are variables that interact with "natural" variables (landscape structure, climate). We will rely on the development of a terrain model, LiDAR (remote sensing) analyses, and the analysis of forest and climate archives to assess these phenomena (relief, cover, fires, land use, climate) in order to test this hypothesis.
Good luck to Serge, and welcome to LEHNA