Research Interests:
In the broadest sense, I am interested in theoretical and applied questions about the evolution and ecology of amphibian populations and communities. For the past 6 years my research program centered on population genetics in human dominated landscapes, focusing on gene flow interruption and its consequences for amphibian populations. Part of this research also investigated the fitness consequences of phenotypic and genetic variation. Current projects investigate the impact of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs, Chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and a viral disease caused by Ranavirus) on amphibians and the potential use of both genetic variability and fluctuating asymmetry to detect the distribution of these diseases. Amphibian populations are facing various threats in Northern Ontario such as habitat removal, connectivity disruption and EIDs and my research ultimately integrate all these aspects to understand the disappearance of populations.
In general, my work integrates intense field work coupled with molecular approaches (microsatellite DNA markers) for the analysis of parentage and population genetics, and laboratory experiment to estimate measures of fitness.
Select Publications:
Lesbarrères D. & Fahrig L. (in press) Measures to reduce population fragmentation by roads: What has worked and how do we know? Trends in Ecology and Evolution
Babin-Fenske J., Merritt T., Gunn J., Walsh T. & Lesbarrères D. (in press) Phylogenetic analysis of Hyalella colonization in lakes recovering from acidification and metal contamination. Can. J. Zool.
Leduc J., Kozlowicz K., Litzgus J. & Lesbarrères D. (in press) Ecology of herpetofaunal populations in tailings wetlands. Herpetology Notes
Lesbarrères D. et al. (in press) Ranavirus: past, present and future. Biol. Lett.
Lesbarrères D. 2011. Sex or no sex, reproduction is not the question. BioEssays 33: 818.
Schulte-Hostedde, A.I., S. Kuula, C. Martin, C. Schank, and D. Lesbarrères. 2011. Allometry and sexually dimorphic traits in male anurans. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 24: 1154-1159.
Echaubard P, Little K, Pauli B, Lesbarrères D. 2010. Context-Dependent Effects of Ranaviral Infection on Northern Leopard Frog Life History Traits. PLoS ONE 5(10): e13723. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013723
Gauthier, C. and D. Lesbarrères. 2010. Growth variation in captive species: the case of Leopard geckos, Eublepharis macularius. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 5(3): 449-455.
D. Lesbarrères, M.S. Fowler, A. Pagano and T. Lodé. 2010. Recovery of anuran community diversity following habitat replacement. Journal of Applied Ecology 47(1): 148-156.
St. Amour, V., T.W.J. Garner, A.I. Schulte-Hostedde, and D. Lesbarrères. 2010. Developmental instability in relation to two amphibian pathogens in the green frog (Rana clamitans). Conservation Biology 4: 788-794.
Kidd, A.G., J. Bowman, D. Lesbarrères, and A.I. Schulte-Hostedde. 2009.Hybridization between escaped domestic and wild American mink (Neovison vison). Molecular Ecology 18: 1175 -1186.
Lesbarrères, D. 2009. New insight into an old story: The post-glacial recolonization of European biota. Heredity 102: 213.
Hartel, T., S. Nemes, D. Cogãlniceanu, K. Öllerer, C. I. Moga, D. Lesbarrères and L. Demeter. 2009. Pond and landscape determinants of Rana dalmatina population sizes in a rural landscape from Romania. Acta Oecologica 35: 53-59.
Laurence, S., Bewick, A., Coltman, D., Davis, C., Kidd, A., Lesbarrères, D. and Schulte-Hostedde, A. 2009. Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci in muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus. Molecular Ecology Resources 9: 654-657.
Lesbarrères D., Merilä J. & Lodé T. 2008. Male breeding success is predicted by call frequency in a territorial species, the agile frog (Rana dalmatina). Canadian Journal of Zoology 6(11): 1273-1279.
St-Amour V., Wong W.M., Garner T.W.J. & Lesbarrères D. 2008. Anthropogenic influence on the prevalence of two amphibian pathogens. Emerging Infectious Diseases 14: 1175-1176.
Tremblay, A., Lesbarrères D., Merritt T., Wilson C. and Gunn. J. 2008. Genetic structure and phenotypic plasticity of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) populations influenced by habitat, predation and contaminant gradients. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 4: 264-266.
Pagano, A., D. Lesbarrères, A. Crivelli, M. Veith, T. Lodé, and D. S. Schmeller. 2008. Geographical and ecological distributions of frog hemiclones suggest occurrence of both "General Purpose Genotype" and "Frozen Niche Variation" clones. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 46:162-168.
Lesbarrères D., Schmeller D.S., Primmer C.R. & Merilä J. 2007. Genetic variability predicts common frog (Rana temporaria) size at metamorphosis in the wild. Heredity 99: 41-46
St-Amour V. & Lesbarrères D. 2007. Detecting Ranavirus in toe clips: an alternative to lethal sampling methods. Conservation Genetics 8: 1247-1250.
Lesbarrères D., Primmer, C.R., Lodé T. & Merilä J. 2006. The effects of 20 years of highway presence on the genetic structure of Rana dalmatina populations. Ecoscience 14: 311-323.
Lodé T., M-J. Holveck & D. Lesbarrères. 2005. Asynchronous arrival pattern, operational sex ratio and occurrence of multiple paternities in a territorial breeding anuran, Rana dalmatina. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 86: 191-200.
Tonteri, A., S. Titov, A. Veselov, A. Zubchenko, M. T. Koskinen, D. Lesbarrères, S. Kaluzchin, I. Bakhmet, J. Lumme, and C. R. Primmer. 2005. Phylogeography of anadromous and non-anadromous Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from northern Europe. Annales Zoologici Fennici 42:1-22.
Lesbarrères D., Primmer C.R., Laurila A. & Merilä J. 2005. Environmental and population dependency of heterozygosity-fitness correlations in Rana temporaria. Molecular Ecology 14: 311-323.
Lodé T., Holveck M-J., Lesbarrères D. & Pagano A. 2004. Sex-biased predation by polecat influences frog polyandrous mating. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B (Suppl.). Biology Letters 271 (S6): S399-S401.
Palo J.U., Lesbarrères D., Schmeller D.S., Primmer C.R.& Merilä J. 2004. Microsatellite marker data suggest sex-biased dispersal in the common frog Rana temporaria. Molecular Ecology 13: 2865-2869.
Lesbarrères D., Lodé T. & Merilä J. 2004. What type of amphibian tunnel could reduce road kills? Oryx 38: 220-223.
Lodé T. & Lesbarrères D. 2004. Multiple paternity in Rana dalmatina, a monogamous territorial breeding Anuran. Naturwissenschaften 91: 44-47.
Lesbarrères, D., Pagano, A. and Lodé, T. 2003. Inbreeding and road effect zone in a Ranidae: the case of Agile frog, Rana dalmatina Bonaparte, 1840. Compte-Rendus Biologies 326: 68-72.
Pagano, A., Dubois, A., Lesbarrères, D., and Lodé, T. 2003. Frog alien species: a way for genetic invasion. Compte-Rendus Biologies 326: 86-92.
Lesbarrères, D. 2003. Déplacements et mouvements migratoires des Anoures: le problème de l'utilisation des "Crapauducs." In L'Ethologie appliquée aujourd'hui (C. Baudoin, ed.), 2: 49-54.
Lesbarrères, D. and Lodé, T. 2002. Variations in male calls and response to unfamiliar advertisement call in a territorial breeding anuran, Rana dalmatina. Ethology, Ecology, Evolution 14: 287-295.
Lesbarrères, D. and Lodé, T. 2002. Influence de facteurs environnementaux sur la reproduction de Rana dalmatina (Anurae, Ranidae): implications pour sa conservation. Bulletin de la Société Herpétologique de France 104: 62-71.
Lesbarrères, D. and Lodé, T. 2000. La conservation des Amphibiens: exemples d'aménagements autoroutiers. Bulletin de la Société des Sciences Naturelles de l'Ouest de la France 22: 37-48.