Ledoux, Jean Baptiste

I am a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR) in Porto (Portugal) since 2018.

My research is focused on the eco-evolution of habitat forming octocorals in the context of global warming.

Global warming is drastically modifying the networks of interactions among the different levels of biodiversity, from genes to ecosystems, impacting ecosystems functioning and related socio-economic services. Besides extinction, the response of biodiversity to warming relies on two non-exclusive strategies: i) migration to track optimal conditions, resulting in shifts in species distribution ranges; ii) adaptation, through genetic adaptation, or acclimatization, through phenotypic plasticity, to the new conditions.

I aim to characterize the feedbacks among ecological and evolutionary processes underlying these two strategies, in order to build effective conservation and restoration policies.

I develop a multidisciplinary and integrative approach combining population genomics and experimental ecology (common garden and reciprocal transplants).

I am also lucky enough to be involved in long term field monitoring programs focused on the demography of habitat forming octocorals and temperature surveys.

My main models are Paramuricea clavata and Corallium rubrum, two Mediterranean octocorals impacted by warming-induced mass mortality events. I recently opened new research lines on Eunicella spp. and Alcyonium spp..

This research is possible thanks to the long-term and stimulating collaborations with inspiring field ecologists and population geneticists from Spain, France and Portugal.

Selected articles:

• Ledoux J.-B., Cruz F., Gomez-Garrido J., Antoni R., Blanc J., Gómez-Gras D., López-Sendino P., Antunes A., Linares C., Gut M., Alioto T., Garrabou J. The genome sequence of the octocoral Paramuricea clavata – a key resource to study the impact of climate change in the Mediterranean. DOI: 10.1101/849158
• Ledoux, J.‐B., Frias-Vidal, S, Montero‐Serra, I, et al. (2020) Assessing the impact of population decline on mating system in the overexploited Mediterranean red coral. Aquatic Conserv: Mar Freshw Ecosyst. 1– 11. DOI: 10.1002/aqc.3327
• Ledoux J.-B., Frleta-Valic M., Kipson S., Antunes A., Cebrian E., Linares C., Sánchez P., Leblois R., Garrabou J. Postglacial range expansion shaped the spatial pattern of genetic diversity in a marine habitat forming species along the Eastern Adriatic coast: implications for conservation. Journal of Biogeography 45, 2645-2657. DOI: 10.1111/jbi.13461
• Ledoux J.-B., Antunes A. (2018) Beyond the beaten path: improving natural products bioprospecting using an eco-evolutionary framework - the case of the octocorals. Critical Review in Biotechnology 38,184-198 DOI: 10.1080/07388551.2017.1331335
• Crisci C., Ledoux J.-B., Mokhtar-Jamaï K., Bally M., Bensoussan N., Aurelle D., Cebrian E., Coma R., Feral J.P., La Rivière M., Linares C., López-Sendino P., Marschal C., Ribes M., Teixidó N., Zuberer F., Garrabou J. (2017) Regional and local environmental conditions do not shape the response to warming of a marine habitat-forming species. Scientific Reports, 7:5069 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-05220-4
• Arizmendi-Mejía R., Linares C., Garrabou J., Antunes A., Ballesteros E., Cebrian E., Díaz D., Ledoux J.-B. (2015) Combining genetic and demographic data for the conservation of a Mediterranean marine habitat-forming species. Plos One. e0119585.
• Arizmendi-Mejía R., Ledoux J.-B., Civit S., Antunes A., Thanopoulou Z., Garrabou J., Linares C. (2015) Demographic responses to warming: reproductive maturity and sex influence vulnerability in an octocoral. Coral Reefs 34,1207-1216.
• Ledoux J.-B., Aurelle D., Féral J.-P., Garrabou J., (2013) Molecular forensics in the precious Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubrum: testing DNA extraction and microsatellite genotyping using dried colonies. Conservation Genetics Resources 5, 327-330.
• Ledoux J.-B., Garrabou J., Bianchimani O., Drap P., Féral J.P., Aurelle D., (2010) Fine-scale genetic structure and inferences on population biology in the threatened Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubrum. Molecular Ecology 19, 4204-4216.
• Ledoux J.-B., Mokhtar-Jamaï K., Roby C., Féral J.-P., Garrabou J., Aurelle D., (2010) Genetic survey of shallow populations of the Mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum (Linnaeus, 1758)): new insights into evolutionary processes shaping nuclear diversity and implications for conservation. Molecular Ecology 19, 675-690.

Contact: jbaptiste.ledoux@gmail.com
Twitter: @jbaptisteledoux