Researcher in Arctic community dynamics

GINR - Pinngortitaleriffik, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim

Preprint / Submitted:

Le Moullec, M., Hendel, A-L., Petit Bon, M., Jónsdóttir, I.S., Varpe, Ø., Van der Wal, R., Beumer, L.T., Layton-Matthews, K., Isaksen, K. and Hansen B.B. Towards rainy Arctic winters: experimental icing impacts tundra plant productivity and reproduction. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.10.447955v3

Verdonen, M., Barrio, I.C., Barbero-Palacios, L., López-Blanco, E., Speed, J.D.M., Defourneaux, M., Garcia Criado, M., Le Moullec, M. ... I.H., Myers-Smith. Borealization of tundra ecosystems with climate and land-use change. https://doi.org/10.32942/X2JS9X 

Peer-reviewed publications:

Dussex, N., Bieker, V. C., Sun, X., Le Moullec, M., Ersmark, E., Røed, K. H., Speakman, J. R., Loe, L. E., Dalén, L., Hansen, B. B. and M. D. Martin. (2025) The genomic basis of the Svalbard reindeer’s adaptation to an extreme Arctic environment, Genome Biology and Evolution, evaf160, https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf160 

Barrio, I. C., Vuorinen, K. E. M., Barbero-Palacios, L., Defourneaux, M., Petit Bon, M., … including Le Moullec, … and Stefaniya Kamenova. (2025). Emerging priorities in terrestrial herbivory research in the Arctic. Arctic Science. 11: 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2024-0080

Sato-Bajracharya, S., Le Moullec, M., Hansen, B.B., Jenssen, B.M. and T.M. Ciesielski. (2025) 4200 Years of Mercury Variation in the Antlers of High-Arctic Wild Reindeer. Arctic Science, 11: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2024-0043 .

Gilardet, A., Lord, E., García, G.O., Xenikoudakis, G., Douka, K., Wooller, M.J., Rowe, T., Martin, M.D., Le Moullec, M., Anisimov, M., Heintzman , P.D. and L. Dalén. (2025) A high-throughput ancient DNA extraction method for large-scale sample screening. Molecular Ecology Resources, 25:e14077. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.14077   

Kristensen, J., Barbero-Palacios, L., Barrio, I., Jacobsen, B.I., Kerby, K., López-Blanco, E., Malhi, Y., Le Moullec, M., Müller, C., Post, E., Raundrup, K. and M. Macias-Fauria. (2024). Tree planting is no climate solution at northern high latitudes. Nature Geoscience, 17:1087-1092. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01573-4.   Alphabetic order except 1st and last authors.

Maes, S.L., including Le Moullec, M., et al. (2024) Environmental drivers of increased ecosystem respiration in a warming tundra. Nature 629:105–113. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07274-7

Hold, K., Lord, E., Brealey, J.C., Le Moullec, M., Bieker, V.C., Ellegaard, M.R., Rasmussen, J.A., Kellner, F.L., Guschanski, K., Yannic, G., Røed, K.H., Hansen, B.B., Dalén, L., Martin, M.D. and N. Dussex. (2024). Ancient reindeer mitogenomes reveal island-hopping colonisation of the Arctic archipelagos. Scientific Reports 14:4143. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-54296-2

Le Moullec, M.✝, Kellner, F.L.✝, Ellegaard M.R., Rosvold J., Peeters, B., Burnett, H.A., Pedersen, Å.Ø., Brealey, J.C., Dussex, N., Bieker, V.C., Hansen, B.B. and  M.D Martin. (2024) A paleo-genomic investigation of overharvest implications in an endemic wild reindeer subspecies. Molecular Ecology. 00, e17274. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17274

 ✝ Equal contribution

Dussex, N., Tørresen, O.K., van der Valk, T., Le Moullec, M., Veiberg, V., Tooming-Klunderud, A., Skage, M., Garmann-Aarhus, B., Wood, J., Rasmussen, J. A., Pedersen, A.Ø., Martin, S.L.F., Røed, K. H., Jakobsen, K.S., Dalèn, L.,  Hansen, B.B. and M.D. Martin. (2023) Adaptation to the High-Arctic island environment despite long-term reduced genetic variation in Svalbard reindeer. iScience. 23:10, 107811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107811. 

Petit Bon, M., Hansen, B.B., Loonen, M.J.J.E., Petraglia, A., Brathen, K-A., Bohner, H., Layton-Matthews, K., Beard, K.H., Le Moullec, M., Jonsdottir, I.S. and Van der Wal, R. (2023) Long-term herbivore removal experiments reveal different impacts of geese and reindeer on vegetation and ecosystem CO2-fluxes in high-Arctic tundra. Journal of Ecology. 00, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14200.

Burnett, H.A., Bieker, V.C., Le Moullec, M., Peeters, B., Rosvold, J., Pedersen, Å.Ø., Dalén, L., Loe, L.E., Jensen, H., Hansen, B.B. and Michael, D.M. (2023) Contrasting genomic consequences of anthropogenic reintroduction and natural recolonisation in high-arctic wild reindeer. Evolutionary Applications. 00, 1–18.  https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13585. 

Pedersen, Å.Ø., Soininen , E.M., Hansen, B.B., Le Moullec, M., Loe, L.E., Paulsen, I.M. G, Eischeid, I., Karlsen, S.R., Ropstad, E., Stien, A., Tarroux, A., Tømmervik, H., Ravolainen, V. (2023) High seasonal overlap in habitat suitability in a non-migratory High Arctic ungulate. Global Ecology and Conservation. 45 e02528 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2023.e02528 

Paulsen, I.M.G., Pedersen, Å.Ø., Hann, R., Blanchet, M.A., Eischeid, I., van Hazendonk, C.M., Ravolainen, V., Stien, A. and Le Moullec, M. (2023) How Many Reindeer? UAV Surveys as an Alternative to Helicopter or Ground Surveys for Estimating Population Abundance in Open Landscapes. Remote Sensing.  15(1):9. DOI: 10.3390/rs15010009 

Vuorinen, K.E.M., Austreim, G., Trembley, J-P., Myers-Smith, I., … Le Moullec, M., …Speed, J.D.M. (2022) Growth rings show constrained evidence for ungulates’ potential to suppress shrubs across the Arctic. Environmental Research Letter. 17 034013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac5207

Herfindal, I., Lee, A.M., Marquez, J.F., Le Moullec, M., Peeters, B., Hansen, B.B., Henden, J-A. & Sæther, B-E. (2022) Environmental effects on spatial population dynamics and synchrony – lessons from northern ecosystems. Climate Research. 86:113-123. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01682

Le Moullec, M., Sandal, L., Grøtan, V., Buchwal, A. & Hansen, B.B. (2020) Climate synchronizes shrub growth across a high-arctic archipelago: contrasting implications of summer and winter warming. Oikos. 129(7):1012-1027. DOI: 10.1111/oik.07059  

Peeters, B., Le Moullec, M., Raeymaekers, J.A., Marquez, J.F., Røed, K.H., Pedersen, Å.Ø., Veiberg, V., Loe, L.E., & Hansen, B.B. (2020) Sea ice loss increases genetic isolation in a high-arctic ungulate metapopulation. Global Change Biology. 26:2028-2041. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14965

Le Moullec, M., Pedersen, Å.Ø., Stien, A., Rosvold, J. & Hansen, B.B. (2019) A Century of Conservation: The Ongoing Recovery of Svalbard Reindeer. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 83(8):1676-1686. DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21761 

Hansen, B.B., Pedersen, Å.Ø., Peeters, B., Le Moullec, M., Albon, D.S., Grøtan, V., Herfindal, I., Sæther, B.-E. & Aanes, R. (2019) Spatial heterogeneity buffers synchronizing climate effects on the high-arctic reindeer meta-population dynamics. Global Change Biology. 25:3656-3668. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14761 

Le Moullec, M., Buchwal, A., van der Wal, R., Sandal, L. & Hansen, B.B. (2019) Annual ring growth of a widespread high-arctic shrub reflects past fluctuations in community-level plant biomass. Journal of Ecology. 107:436-451. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.13036 

Le Moullec, M., Pedersen, Å.Ø., Yoccoz, N.G., Aanes, R., Tufto, J. & Hansen, B.B. (2017) Ungulate population monitoring in an open tundra landscape: distance sampling versus total counts. Wildlife Biology. 1, wlb.00299. DOI: 10.2981/wlb.00299 

Major grants:

2024. UArctic Danish call

2023. Horizon Europe - Marie Sklodowska Curie - Project Manager

Field and laboratory works:

Vegetation: 

• Field leader for two vegetation experiments, including start-up of a long-term and a transplant experiment (2016 – present)

• Field assistant of vegetation sampling in Amazonas Peru (2019)

• Leader of shrub-dendrochronology laboratory work at NTNU (2016 – 2017)

• Field leader of vegetation sampling across Svalbard (2013 – 2016) 

Reindeer: 

• Field leader of the caribou and muskox monitoring program in Greenland (2023 – present)

• Field leader of Svalbard reindeer subfossil collection (2014 – present)

• Member of the Svalbard reindeer Capture-Mark-Recapture program (2014 – present)

• Field leader of reindeer monitoring across Svalbard archipelago (distance sampling), including genetic sampling (2013 – 2016) 

Safety field instructor: avalanche and glacier safety courses, Norwegian Polar Institute (2017 – 2022)

Teaching

• Supervision of PhD students. 

2024 – 2027 Laura Barbero Palacios (GINR, NTNU) “Spatial patterns of plant-herbivore feedback in Greenland.” (Main-supervision)

2024 – 2028 Maud Therrien (Guelph University) “Dispersal in wild reindeer/caribou.” (Co-supervision)

• Supervision of 10 master students. 

1. 2024 – present Aurelien Grange (USMB, GINR) “Diet variation in Greenlandic caribou with consequences on body condition.”

2. 2024 – present Arthur Grand (USMB, GINR) “Effects of warmer and rainier arctic winters on plant nutrients, controlled for the induced changes in phenology”.

3. 2022 – 2023  Saria Sato Bajracharya (NTNU, Erasmus +) "Exploring 4000 Years of Mercury Variation in the Antlers of Svalbard Reindeer in the High Arctic".

4. 2021 – 2022 Lia Lechler (Edinburg University) “Large-scale effects of warmer and rainier arctic winters captured from remote-sensing vegetation productivity maps”.

5. 2021 – 2022 Halvor Røssum (NTNU) “Effects of warmer and rainier arctic winters on above and below-ground tundra vegetation biomass”.

6. 2021 – 2022 Iselin Helløy (NTNU) “Effects of warmer and rainier arctic winters: energy allocation trade-offs between shoot growth and reproduction in two contrasting high-arctic shrubs”.

7. 2020 – 2021 Jan-Philip Detempel (UNIS and Free University of Berlin) “Effects of warmer and rainier arctic winters on a widespread herb: Bistorta vivipara”.

8. 2018 – 2019 Anna-Lena Hendel (University of Bayreuth, Germany) "Effects of rain-on-snow and basal ice on seasonal NDVI in High Arctic Svalbard: a multi-scale approach".

9. 2018 – 2019 Kristine Valøen (NTNU) "Stochastic rain events increase NDVI through moss water content: a High-Arctic field experiment".https://ntnuopen.ntnu.no/ntnu-xmlui/handle/11250/2618095

10. 2015 – 2017 Lisa Sandal (NTNU) "Spatiotemporal patterns of plant growth in a warming high Arctic: insights from dendrochronology of Salix polaris".

• Guest Lecturer – Antropocæne i Arktis, Ilisimatusarifik - The Universtiy of Greenland (2023)

• Guest Lecturer – Climate Change Biology, UNIS/Norway (2023)

• Guest Lecturer – Arctic biodiversity, environmental changes and conservation, NTNU/Norway (2019-2023)

• Teaching assistant 25% (1650h, 2014 – 2018) – genetics and evolution (BI2017, 4 semesters), biostatistics (ST2304 and BI3051, 3 semesters), natural resource management (RFEL3081, 2 semesters), study design (BI3052, 2 semesters), and community ecology (BI2034, 1 semester), NTNU/Norway 

Mobility

1. Stockholm Universtiy, Centre for Palaeogenetics, Sweden, Prof. L. Dàlen (Feb. 2023)

2. Université Savoie Mont-Blanc, Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, France, Ass. Prof. G. Yannic (Dec. 2020)

3. Université Laval, Québec, Canada, Prof. S. Côté (Fall 2019) 

4. University of Alaska Anchorage, USA, Prof. J. Welker, Dr. A. Buchwal (Fall 2016)

Dissemination

• Presentations at 12 international conferences: 

1. Arctic Ungulate Conference, Anchorage, Alaska, USA, 3 Talks (2023).

2. Ecology Across Borders, UK, Talk/Poster (2021)

3. EvoDemo, Røros, Norway, Talk (2020)

4. OIKOS, Reykjavik, Iceland, Talk (2020)

5. SQEBC, Montreal, Canada, Talk and Poster (2019)

6. Svalbard Science Conference, Oslo, Norway, Poster (2019)

7. Arctic Ungulate Conference, Jokkmokk, Sweden, Talk (2019)

8. OIKOS, Trondheim, Norway, Poster (2017)

9. Svalbard reindeer conference, Longyearbyen, Norway, Talk (2017)

10. Ecology Across Borders, Gent, Belgium, Talk (2017)

11. Norsk Økologisk Forening, Oslo, Norway, Poster (2016)

12. Arctic Ungulate Conference, Røros, Norway, Poster (2014).

• Invited presentations at international institutes: 1. GINR - Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (Greenland, 2022), 2. LECA - Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (France, 2020), 3. Université Laval (Canada, 2019), University of Alaska Anchorage (USA, 2016), 4. KU-Leuven (Belgium, 2017).

• Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Global Arctic, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), available at: https://fr.coursera.org/lecture/global-arctic/impacts-of-global-warming-on-arctic-biota-XVIj5 (2018).

• Media interviews, Latest news here. 

In 2019-2024: The Wildlife Society, Eos – Science News by AGU and New-York Inverse (USA); TROUW (Netherlands); Norwegian SciTech news, Gemini and Svalbardposten (Norway); Liberation, ENS-Edition, Marianne and Dauphiné (France); Deutsche Presse-Agentur (Germany); il Venerdi (Italie). Selected press release on Svalbard reindeer and Arctic shrubs. 

• Gender equality: One of the 4 main characters of the France 2 TV documentary “La science a mauvais genre”. 6th Oct. 2021. Read more on NTNU news here. 

• Popular science talks: Greenland Nuuk – (2023), Norway – Ny-Ålesund (2019), Longyearbyen (2017), France – Chamonix, Aime, and La Plagne (2014).

Previous jobs

• Assistant researcher/Field technician, Norwegian Polar Institute, several short contracts (2017-2022) 

• PhD, NTNU, Norway (2014-2018)

• Mountain leader at the Chamonix Guide Company, France (2009-2013)

• Ski patrol at the Super Saint Bernard, Switzerland, and Granier, France (2008-2010)

• Mountain hut keeper, La Balme Pierra-Menta (2008)

• Cheese maker, La Peule, Switzerland (2006-2007)