At the current warming rate, many organisms should go extinct if they are not able to disperse or adapt locally, which often involves plastic responses. In ectotherms, warming influences plastic life history traits with an acceleration of early life production at the expense of longevity and senescence. This may be due to trade-offs involving warming-induced oxidative stress and telomere shortening. Although pace-of-life acceleration may provide short-term benefits, it also increases sensitivity to limited resources, extreme climate events and unusual nighttime thermal conditions. Thus, in an increasingly warmer climate, ectotherms could reach critical physiological thresholds that would precipitate their decline. To date, physiological mechanisms and ecological consequences of this pace-of-life acceleration are poorly characterized. Here, we will combine experimental, observational and analytical approaches to unlock critical gaps in our understanding of thermal plasticity of life history. We will focus on a bimodal reproductive lizard (Zootoca vivipara), which offers a unique context to analyze how evolutionary transition between oviparity and viviparity influenced pace-of-life acceleration. Using long-term data sets and surveys across climatic gradients, we will document patterns of pace-of-life acceleration in response to climate warming in the two reproductive modes, focusing on vulnerable populations of the warm margin. In addition, we will perform outdoor and laboratory experiments to identify physiological tipping points in the context of day-night asymmetry of warming and extreme climate events. Given their major potential role in this thermal plasticity, non-energetic trade-offs will be quantified using longitudinal and cross-sectional assays of oxidative stress and telomere length dynamics. Altogether, this project will highlight patterns, mechanisms, and consequences on population viability of pace-of-life acceleration in response to climate warming.

Albeit by no means new, collaboration in science has recently gained unprecedented momentum and visibility. Commonly presented as “a good thing”, it has become an imperative. This holds especially true for sustainability science, a recent and expanding problem-driven science that focuses on the dynamic interactions between nature and society and aims to create and apply knowledge in support of decision making for sustainable development. Researchers in this field are strongly encouraged to work with colleagues from other disciplines and actors from outside academia. Yet, little is currently known about how collaborations transform the work practices and identities of researchers and contribute to the shift towards more sustainability. COLLAB² will offer both a broad and in-depth view of inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations in sustainability science. It will pursue the four following goals: 1) elaborate a typology of these collaborations, based on a thorough investigation of their characteristics; 2) describe and analyse their dynamics: how they unfold over time, what stimulates or on the contrary hinders them, at various levels; 3) explore their effects on the practices, roles, identities and trajectories of researchers and their collaborators, and their capacity to contribute to the shift towards more sustainability. A fourth cross-cutting goal is to conduct this research and disseminate its results in close association with sustainability scientists and their partners, so that this project about collaboration will itself be highly collaborative (hence the acronym COLLAB²). COLLAB² will explore the full scope of collaborations in sustainability science in three institutional settings aiming to foster them: CNRS’s Zones Ateliers and Observatoires Hommes-Milieux, and biosphere reserves. It will produce a balanced and multi-level analysis of collaborations, and address their different dimensions (material, cognitive, relational and affective) in the long run. A common research framework will be adopted to allow a cross analysis of the data. It will rely on a mixed method, combining bibliometric tools, a national questionnaire that will be disseminated simultaneously in the three institutions, and an ethnographic survey of a sample of diversified collaborative projects. COLLAB² will devote paramount attention to the perspectives of participants in collaborations, which is crucial given the importance of their human factors but has seldom been addressed so far. COLLAB² will bring together six social and life scientists with strong personal experience of collaborations in sustainability science and wanting to explore them together and with other partners. A dyad of collaborators from each institution investigated will be closely associated to the work of the consortium throughout the project. This will enable us to experiment with a process of participative and iterative reflection through the sharing of experiences and ideas beyond the consortium, leading to new knowledge and mutual learning. COLLAB² will thus make an invaluable contribution to the emerging scientific field of collaboration studies. Its results will be disseminated to a large and diversified audience, using well-adapted language and through a wide array of communication channels (articles in academic and technical journals; conferences and seminars; presentations to the institutions investigated; short videos; interactive website). It will help sustainability scientists and their collaborators to identify the factors and effects of collaborations, overcome their inherent difficulties and form a community of practice. It will provide science policymakers and relevant ministries with concrete recommendations to improve collaborations in sustainability science and craft sound research policies in the Anthropocene.

Under the combined effects of climate change and anthropogenic activities, the Arctic is threatened by rising risks of pollution. These pollutants could have major impacts on Arctic biodiversity and ecosystems as a whole and therefore raise high environmental concerns. In this context, the present research project (ILETOP) proposes to use inputs from different disciplines (ecotoxicology, environmental and analytical chemistry, spatial ecology, endocrinology, demography) and state-of-the-art technologies (biotelemetry, trace analyses of emerging pollutants, stable isotope and hormone analyses, telomere measurements) to perform an original and comprehensive study of the Arctic exposome (both organic and metal contaminants) and its subsequent effects on Arctic marine top predators. More specifically, ILETOP will investigate long-term changes of seabird contamination, seasonal exposure to pollutants, physiological and ecological impacts of pollutants and spatial differences by comparing two major Arctic regions: Greenland and Svalbard. Focusing on these two regions is of particular interest because they represent two of the main breeding regions for seabirds and because they are expected to be influenced by contrasting environmental pollution risks: Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) levels being higher in Svalbard than in Greenland, with the reverse pattern for mercury (Hg). Indeed, proposed investigations will include both legacy and emerging POPs (e.g. chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated bisphenyls (PCBs), polybrominateddiphenylethers (PBDEs), novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) and polyfluoroalkyl (PFASs)), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as well as mercury (Hg). While levels of legacy POPs have decreased over the last decades, yet they are still found in concentrations that can affect the Arctic biota, emerging POPs, PAHs and Hg are to date increasing in the Arctic simultaneously to the development of human industries and raise particular environmental concern. Studying seabirds in this context is essential as they represent a major component of Arctic marine ecosystems but are also extremely sensitive to pollution risks. Moreover, seabirds potentially function as powerful ecological indicators of marine food webs, there study thus providing information for the entire system. ILETOP will focus on three major Arctic seabird species breeding both in Svalbard and Greenland: the little auk (Alle alle), the black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) and the long-tailed skua (Stercorarius longicaudus). Importantly, these species present different trophic ecologies (diet and feeding habitat) as well as contrasting migratory patterns. They will therefore provide new knowledge for different compartments of their ecosystem and for different breeding and non-breeding regions. ILETOP will be articulated around 5 tasks: (1) examine spatial variations of pollutant levels in arctic marine top predators. (2) Study long-term trends of pollutants levels in arctic marine top predators. (3) Determine hormonal and ecological effects of pollutants, at individual and population levels. This task will specifically investigate relationships between pollutants and seabird hormone levels, reproductive success, rate of ageing (telomere shortening) and survival. (4) Investigate seasonal contamination changes to understand how large-scale migration patterns and contrasting breeding and non-breeding distributions affect arctic marine top predators. To reach these objectives, ILETOP is designed as a collaborative project gathering five French institutes with complementary expertise (LIENSs, CEFE, CEBC, BIOGEOSCIENCES, EPOC) and their collaborative network from northern countries (e.g., NPI and NINA in Norway, Aarhus University in Denmark).

PAMPAS focuses on the future of the coastal marshes of Charente-Maritime and their management against the marine submersion hazard. This project chooses to tackle this issue through a focus on the heritage identity of those marshes to go beyond the classical approaches of conservation ecology, standard economy and conservation of cultural heritage, all considered insufficient to apprehend the heritage, understood as the particular articulation between the components of a marsh that contribute to build its collective identity. PAMPAS therefore aims to lift this lock by an interdisciplinary approach applied to three study areas (the marshes of Fier d'Ars, Tasdon, and Brouage), contrasting both in terms of natural, cultural, landscape heritage and management (dikes, in project of reopening to the sea, in debate of laissez-faire or diking, respectively). PAMPAS is built on a collective approach (co-coordinated by four researchers) and uses participatory methods to foster interdisciplinary between Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth Sciences (48 people from 13 units, 9 disciplines) as well as with managers of marsh areas. It focuses on three major objectives: 1) to characterize the natural functions (biodiversity, biogeochemical functioning and ecosystem functions), cultural (heritage trajectory of property) and landscape (recognition landscape elements by the users and development) of the marshes and integrate these different components into a spatial representation of the heritage identity; 2) define from the socio-ecosystem point of view, the response of these components to the marine submersion hazard: after having characterized physically the submersion hazard, the study of the short-term effects on the heritage components will help to develop a global representation of the socio-ecosystem both in terms of functionalities, services, but also in terms of resilience or ability to adapt to the hazard. The effects at the 100-year scale will also be addressed through the past evolution of territories characterized by contrasting hydrodynamic contexts. Finally, 3) these results will be confronted with the different management practices on the selected sites in order to define evolution scenarios of their heritage identity and evaluate their adaptive potential. This axis includes (i) an analysis of the management methods determining the possible evolutions of the patrimonial identity, following the submersion, (ii) a discussion of the results with managers and the locally elected representatives, using an interactive tool of cartography and focus groups, to discuss the transition of these territories and adaptive management modalities of marshes, and (iii) dissemination of results towards users and the general public to feed an ecosystem vision of marshes exposed to marine submersions. Finally, and based on a revised definition of patrimonial identity adapted to marsh areas, PAMPAS will bring new solutions for sustainable management, by transmitting economic, cultural and ecological knowledge. The stakes and the project issues therefore go far beyond the local level and concern wetlands at the global level for which it is now necessary to review the analysis and management frameworks by integrating the heritage into its various social and ecosystem dimensions. Thus, the project fits naturally into the "Dynamics of ecosystems and their components for sustainable management" stakes of the ANR.

Ecological intensification relies on ecosystem services to substitute external inputs in agriculture and has been proposed as a way to achieve high yielding, stable and sustainable crop production, while allowing us to reach other societal targets such as nature conservation or human health. Pollination and natural pest control are key ecosystem services that can lower pesticide use and increase crop yield quantity and quality. Organisms delivering these services depend to a large extent on non-crop habitats, or "green infrastructure" in the landscape, as cropland is not well suited as a habitat all year round. ECODEAL is a European research project assessing the impacts of green infrastructure on the delivery of ecosystem services and consequences for individual farmers and the whole society. How much green infrastructure do we need to maintain stable communities of ecosystem service providers, and a high flow and stability of the services to the crop? Since establishing non-crop habitat comes at a cost, which densities of green infrastructure will enhance crop yield and populations of conservation relevant species while providing net increases in crop productivity as well as net economic benefits to the farmer? ECODEAL will answer these questions. A sound scientific basis now links increased densities of different elements of green infrastructure in the landscape to increased local biodiversity. Further work is needed to understand how increases in green infrastructure at different scales can be translated to benefits in terms of enhanced crop production, in particular in a context in which variability in climate and agricultural prices will differentially affect crop growth, the populations of pests and beneficial organisms, and the costs of converting productive land to green infrastructure. ECODEAL will (1) disentangle the linkages between density of green infrastructure and the structure and stability of the interaction networks linking the crop and the non-crop habitats communities over multiple years, (2) quantify increases in crop productivity mediated by pollination and natural pest control under different densities of agricultural non-crop habitats at different scales, as an essential step towards assessing costs and benefits, and (3) assess costs and benefits for the farmer and the wider society of enhancing the density of green infrastructure, and quantify possible trade-offs between enhancing green infrastructure for ecological intensification of agriculture as opposed to supporting conservation-relevant species. ECODEAL synthesizes large existing databases to model the relationship between density of green infrastructure and the distributions of functional traits and the structure of the ecological interaction networks that underlie pollination and natural pest control. Cases studies from established study areas covering economically important field crops will be used to fill the gaps in the existing data, and will be used to validate and update the ecosystem service models derived from the synthesis work. Cooperation with land owners and managers, institutions and organisations designing and implementing agri-environment schemes, advising farmers, managing protected areas, and developing agricultural and environmental policy, ensures that the ECODEAL assessment of the question "how much green infrastructure do we need for enhanced, stable ecosystem services in crops?" finds ownership among key stakeholders.