Olivier Broennimann

Niches, distributions & global changes

My research projects focus on the use of niche-based models in biogeography and conservation biology. I'm particularly interested in assessing and understanding global change impacts on plant diversity, from regional to global scale. I investigated these impacts looking at three components of global change:


(1) Modeling of rare and endangered plants in Switzerland. I investigated whether niche-based models could improve the sampling of rare species. I further reviewed the distribution of Rabinowitz' rarity types among the Swiss endangered flora to see how these rarity types relate to IUCN risk of extinction.


(2) Modeling of climate change impacts on biodiversity in the future. I investigated whether the geographic distribution, niche property and life form of the Southern African flora could explain plants' vulnerability to global change.


(3) Modeling of alien invasive plants. Among others, I investigated whether a shift of the climatic niche could occur in the case of biological invasions and if it does compromise the predictions of invaded areas.

2005 - 2008 PhD thesis supervised by Antoine Guisan, UNIL. "Niche-based models in biogeography & conservation biology: how far can we go to assess the impacts of global change?"

2005
Scientific collaborator. 3D Photo-interpretation and cartography of alluvial areas of national importance in Switzerland. Federal Office for the Environment, Service Conseil Zones Alluviales, Yverdon, Switzerland.


2004 - 2005
Scientific collaborator. Modeling of the distribution of Southern African taxa by 2050. Supervision by Dr. Wilfried Thuiller, Kirstenbosch Research Center (SANBI), Cape Town, South-Africa.


2003 - 2004
Scientific collaborator. Modeling of the distribution of Ilex gender (Aquifoliacea) / Morphological discrimination of the Ilex species of South America (multivariate statistical analyses), supervised by Dr. Pierre-André Loizeau, Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, Geneva, Switzerland.


2003 - 2004
Scientific collaborator. Field surveys and habitat modeling for the Eryngium Project in the Swiss Alps. Supervision by Prof. Antoine Guisan, UNIL.


2002 - 2003
Master thesis on "modeling of the distribution of rare and endangered plant species", supervised by Prof. Antoine Guisan, UNIL.


1997 - 2002
Studies in Biology at UNIL.


1994 - 1997
Baccalaureate in Sciences at the Gymnasium of CESSEV (Burier, Switzerland).