chave at cict.fr
Tel +33(0) 561556760
Fax +33(0) 561557327
I am a researcher with CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), based in Toulouse, at the Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique.
Summary CV
Positions
2008-: Directeur de Recherche CNRS (Toulouse), Professeur Ecole Polytechnique
(Paris)
2001-2008: Chargé de recherche CNRS (Toulouse)
1999-2001: post-doctoral associate at Princeton University, Department
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
1999: PhD at Université Paris XI (Orsay) and Commissariat à
l'Energie Atomique
Associate editor
Ecology Letters (2004-)
PLoS ONE (2006-)
Journal of Theoretical Biology (2006-)
Population Ecology (2008-)
Research topics
An overarching goal in community ecology is to understand the mechanisms
of species coexistence across scales. Tropical forests have long served
as a testing ground for these theories: in the most diverse of these forests
every other tree is a representant of a new species. I am combining field
research and mathematical modeling to explore and compare the different
mechanisms proposed to explain this astounding biodiversity. Most of my
current field research is in French Guiana, as part of the ANR-funded
Bridge project, and especially
at the Nouragues research station
(French Guiana). Current projects also also involve the study of large-scale
patterns of plant diversity in South America. 
I am also interested in the biogeochemical cycling between ecosystems and the atmosphere. I am involved in a project aimed at providing biometric methods for measuring carbon stock and balance for tropical forests. This entails a precise individual-level estimation of biomass stocks, both for trees and for lianas, detailed scaling-up techniques, and long-term census plots for woody plants. This work is being developed through collaborations with the CTFS, and the Rainfor international research network. This approach has been developed mostly to refine our knowledge of the tropical C cycle.