Island populations are valuable systems to study evolutionary ecology due to their isolation, reduced population sizes, and important environmental pressures. Small island populations are particularly vulnerable to extinction due to factors such as demographic stochasticity, limited genetic diversity, inbreeding depression, and restricted migration opportunities. Yet, Mediterranean wall lizards (Podarcis spp.) show remarkable persistence on isolated small islands and islets in the Mediterranean. Understanding the mechanisms behind this resilience is critical for advancing knowledge of population persistence under environmental stress and limited genetic resources and would offer insights into evolutionary processes, conservation strategies, and population dynamics.

This project aims to investigate the ecological, genetic, and physiological factors contributing to population resilience and adaptation in small island populations of Mediterranean wall lizards.

Globally, the apparently inexorable increase of biological invasions and their resulting damage raise questions about the factors that influence invasion success. In this project, I considered the spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, which provides an exemplar as a highly successful invasive species. It is an ideal model because of the rapidity of its invasion and the important economic losses resulting from its ability to oviposit in healthy fruit. 

I explored the mechanisms that could contribute to its rapid global invasion. In particular, I considered its polyphagy, the alternative resources it can use in seasons when cultivated fruit are not available, as well as the local, landscape-scale and climatic factors that influence its infestations. I also investigated its behavioural thermoregulation capacities and the plasticity of its thermal preference, traits that allow a better understanding of the ability of D. suzukii to exploit favourable microhabitats. Finally, I explored the effect of the interaction between food resource, temperature and the presence of the bacterial symbiont Wolbachia on the performance of D. suzukii and its oviposition choices. 

Orchidaceae is one of the most diverse angiosperm families. Threatened by climate change, urbanisation, and illicit collection, conservation measures are urgently needed. In vitro culture is a promising solution, yet challenges remain. Among the critical stages of in vitro cultivation is the transition from protocorm to plantlet and subsequent tuber formation. To facilitate this transition, some researchers advise a cold treatment. 

I explored the influence of cold treatment on orchid seedling development in vitro, from protocorm to plantlet by applying different temperature regimes on protocorms of the terrestrial orchids Anacamptis coriophora, A. laxiflora, Himantoglossum hircinum and H. robertianum grown asymbiotically in vitro. We hypothesised that cold treatment initially acts as a stress delaying plantlet growth, although given enough time the cold treated plantlets catch up with the non-treated ones, that there would be a quantifiable relationship between tuber size and temperature and that there would be differences between species in response to cold treatment.

Closely related plant species that co-occur in the same community and flower in synchrony, i.e. synchronopatric species, share similar habitat and may compete for both biotic and abiotic resources. Co-flowering may lead to reproductive interference, i.e. interspecific sexual interaction that negatively affects fitness of one or more of the co-flowering species, but these costs can be offset by effective reproductive isolation mechanisms are in place.

In Pha Taem National Park, located in eastern Thailand, four rare and narrowly endemic Ceropegia species—C. acicularis, C. boonjarasii, C. citrina and C. tenuicaulis—coexist in close sympatry, offering a unique opportunity for studying the mechanisms of reproductive isolation among Ceropegia spp. We investigated two main questions: To what degree do the four Ceropegia species exhibit specialization on fly pollinators, and are pollinator assemblages species-specific? Are behavioral (floral scents) and/or morphological (floral and fly morphology) filters responsible for the observed specificity? 

A critical step during in vitro sexual propagation of terrestrial orchids is the treatment of the microscopic seeds with a disinfecting solution that kills bacteria and fungi attached to the seeds. This treatment is necessary to prevent infection of the culture vessels, but also serves to scarify the seeds, a process that disrupts seed dormancy and initiates germination. The most common technique used is agitation in disinfecting solution. However, the literature is inconclusive with respect to the proper composition of the solution, its concentration, or the duration of soaking. 

I compared three disinfection/scarification methods of seeds: soaking in NaClO, soaking in NaClO plus centrifugation and sucrose presoaking plus soaking in NaClO. I used seeds of Anacamptis laxiflora (Lam.) and measured disinfection and germination rates.