Prof. David Renault
University of Rennes 1
David is assistant professor at the University of Rennes 1 (France). David develops physiological ecology studies by marrying cellular physiology to insect ecology to explain distributional limits of species and their variations of abundance within their geographic range. He is investigating the effects of climate changes on insects’ performance in order to further predict possible shifts in their geographic range, particularly for invasive species. He developed metabolomic approaches to delineate metabolic shifts in insects facing varying abiotic conditions, also revealing potential biomarkers of stress response. His involvement in Polar Ecology started in 2006, with three stays at the Kerguelen Islands in the period 2006-2011. He led the ANR Grant ‘Vulnerability of native communities to invasive insect and climate change in sub-Antarctic islands’ (Evince, 2008-2012), and more recently took the lead of the research programme IPEV 136 ‘Subantarctic biodiversity, effects of climate change and biological invasions on terrestrial biota’ (Subanteco) for the period 2014-2017. Within this programme, supported by the French Polar Institute Paul-Emile Victor since 1974, a database containing fauna and flora records from the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands was intensively developed. Finally, David also leads the national network on biological invasions (GdR CNRS 3647, ca. 220 scientists).
Key publications
Colinet H, Sinclair BJ, Vernon P, and Renault D (2015) Insects in fluctuating thermal environments. Annual Review of Entomology, 60: 123–140. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-010814-021017
Renault D, Lombard M, Vingère J, and Laparie M (2014) Comparative salinity tolerance in native flies from the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands: a metabolomic approach. Polar Biology, 39: 47-56. DOI: 10.1007/s00300-014-1605-8.
Colinet H, Larvor V, Laparie M, and Renault D (2012) Exploring the plastic response to cold acclimation through metabolomics. Functional Ecology, 26: 711-722. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.01985.x
Teets NM, Peyton JT, Colinet H, Renault D, Kelley J, Kawarasaki Y, Lee RE, and Denlinger DL (2012) Gene expression changes governing extreme dehydration tolerance in an Antarctic insect. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 109: 20744-20749. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1218661109
Lebouvier M, Laparie M, Hullé M, Marais A, Cozic Y, Lalouette L, Vernon P, Candresse T, Frenot Y, and Renault D (2011). The significance of the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Islands for the assessment of the vulnerability of native communities to climate change, alien insect invasions and plant viruses. Biological Invasions, 13: 1195-1208. DOI: 10.1007/s10530-011-9946-5