In 2023, I presented a second poster at the 52nd meeting of the French Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour (SFECA).
This poster is associated with this preprint: (Dessart et al., 2024)
This conference holds a special place in my heart, as it was hosted in Tours, where I was pursuing my PhD. It provided a wonderful opportunity to connect with PhD students from other labs, and we made the most of the beautiful weather by playing pétanque, a pastime I greatly enjoy. On a more professional note, this week was filled with inspiring discussions and exciting talks on animal behaviour.
Poster
References
2024
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The cognition of mosquito larvae as a biological indicator of the quality of aquatic ecosystems
Martin Dessart, Claudio R. Lazzari, and Fernando J. Guerrieri
PhD Manuscript, Mar 2024
Human activities affect organisms living in freshwater ecosystems. Sublethal doses of pollutants alter the perception, integration and storage of information in aquatic invertebrates. However, it remains difficult to quantify these effects using chemical analysis of water or biodiversity monitoring. Instead, the development of novel biological indicators involves the analysis of cognitive abilities as a sensitive and integrative endpoint. In this work, we assess the cognitive abilities of mosquito larvae in relation to their environment and investigate whether they can be used as biological indicators of the quality of freshwater ecosystems. Taken together, our results show that mosquito larvae are capable of learning and remembering information that are modulated by environmental conditions and the presence of pollutants. Thanks to a controlled experimental framework, this work provides a first proof of concept for the use of the cognition of mosquito larvae as a bioindicator of freshwater ecosystem quality.