Elodie Wielgus

Publications

Elodie Wielgus, Daniel Cornélis, Michel de Garine-Wichatitsky, Bradley Cain, Hervé Fritz, Eve Miguel, Hugo Valls-Fox, Alexandre Caron, Simon Chamaillé-Jammes. Are fission-fusion dynamics consistent among populations? A large-scale study with Cape buffalo (submitted)

Elodie Wielgus, Alexandre Caron, Emily Bennitt, Michel de Garine-Wichatitsky, Bradley Cain, Hervé Fritz, Eve Miguel, Daniel Cornélis, Simon Chamaillé-Jammes. Inter-group contacts in Cape buffalo and risk for pathogen transmission (in prep)

Conferences

Wielgus E., Cornélis D., Caron A., Cain B., de Garine-Wichtitsky M., Fritz H., Chamaillé-Jammes S. Fission-fusion dynamics in the African buffalo. International Long Term Ecological Research Network & LTSER-France joint conference. October 2017.

Wielgus E., Cornélis D., Caron A., Cain B., de Garine-Wichtitsky M., Fritz H., Chamaillé-Jammes S. Fission-fusion dynamics in the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer). International Savanna Science Network Meeting. March 2018.

Wielgus E., Cornélis D., de Garine-Wichtitsky M., Cain B., Fritz H., Miguel E., Valls-Fox H., Caron A., Chamaillé-Jammes S. Are fission-fusion dynamics consistent across populations of the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) ? International Conference on Ecological Science. October 2018.

The African buffalo is a key species in the socio-ecosystems of southern Africa and better understanding its ecology could help to mitigate conflicts (e.g. resource competition, crop destruction and disease transmission) and promote sustainable use (e.g. consumption and tourism). The ecology of the African buffalo has been the focus of extensive studies during the last 50 years, but the social ecology of this species is still poorly understood.

My work focuses on understanding the social ecology of African buffalo in several populations in southern Africa in order to better understanding the risk for pathogen transmission within this species. Using GPS data of buffalo, the aim of my PhD is (1) to describe the within-group social dynamics in several populations of African buffalo, a within-group dynamics characterized by regular splitting and merging of subgroups ; (2) to explain the contact patterns between buffalo groups and the influence of resource availability on these patterns; and (3) to examine the influence of within-group social dynamics on risk of pathogen transmission within buffalo groups.

My work is carried out in collaboration with CEFE – CNRS and CIRAD in France.