Ecology, structure and organisation of shark populations in French Polynesia
Most of reef sharks are marine vertebrates that get closed to the marine mammal model with low productivity, viviparity, long gestation periods, high longevity, late maturity, small populations and large individuals. They give birth to live young, but they leave them without taking care of as marine mammals do. As they have sedentary juveniles and adults that can possibly migrate for dispersal, reef sharks differ from most coral reef fish that have sedentary adults and disperse via larvae, and form an original biological model that is not well-known yet.
Improved knowledge of the organisation of reef shark populations will help in investigation degree of vulnerability of these populations and in designing conservation strategies.
My main axes of research are the following:
Axe 2: Habitat use, home range and island or region scale movements of sharks.
Axe 3: Impact of « shark feeding » activities on shark behaviour and ecology.
KEY WORDS: Reef sharks, genetic, acoustic tracking, movements, social organisation, vulnerability, impact of shark feeding activities.
