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International audience

International audience; 1. The white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) is globally endangered due to the impacts of habitat modification and fragmentation, water pollution, climate change, and invasive species, particularly the signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus). These pressures have caused the decline of A. pallipes populations in Europe, demonstrating the importance of predicting the species' potential distribution under current and future conditions. Focusing on the watercourses of mainland France, we aimed to identify suitable areas for A. pallipes to guide the conservation of current populations and future introduction actions or protection measures.2. We applied ecological niche modelling to model the potential distribution of both A. pallipes and P. leniusculus and identified locations suitable for A. pallipes only. We also assessed the potential distribution of the species under two representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios: RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5, respectively describing low-warming and high-warming conditions.3. We found that A. pallipes and P. leniusculus exploit equivalent niches in France. Despite this, under current conditions, about 5% of the study area simultaneously records a high suitability for A. pallipes and a low suitability for P. leniusculus and is therefore of significant conservation interest. This percentage remains relatively stable under RCP 2.6 for 2050 and 2100, but decreases to 2% under RCP 8.5 for 2100.4. Ecological niche modelling can supply crucial guidance for conservation actions aimed at protecting endangered species at a national scale by identifying sites most suitable for protection and sites where climate change and invasive species constitute a threat.

A mass mortality was detected in the downstream section of one of the most extensive French populations of the endangered white-clawed crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes, on June 26, 2013. This population occupied a 12 km stretch of the La Lucelle brook, with an estimated size of around 150 000 individuals. The presence of the crayfish plague pathogen was quickly diagnosed as the cause of the mortality, and monitoring was carried out to follow the spread of the disease from 15 July 2013 for one year. Results showed that after a fast spread between 15 and 25 July 2013 (upstream progression of mortality for about 4 km), the mortality front was limited to a stretch of a few hundred meters from August until December 2013. During winter, mortality was always observed, confirming that disease remained active. In April 2014, the mortality front was halted by a large dam in the brook (2 m high), 0.56 km from brook source. Two months later, 30 live crayfish were observed above the dam. On the 30 August 2014, no crayfish were found above the dam. Infected individuals analysed for microsatellite markers confirmed the Pacifastacus leniusculus strain of Aphanomyces astaci at the origin of this outbreak. Before the crayfish plague spread upstream of the large dam, a sample of 576 individuals was collected from upstream of the dam and translocated to another stream in the same French department. In July 2014, observations by night confirmed the presence of translocated white-clawed crayfish in the receiving brook.

Sur les neuf espèces d'écrevisses présentes en France, six sont des espèces introduites dont les conséquences sur l’environnement créent de profonds déséquilibres biologiques. Dans le département des Vosges, des actions spécifiques sont expérimentées, notamment auprès des propriétaires d’étangs pour tenter de lutter contre l’expansion des écrevisses introduites et ainsi préserver les dernières populations d’écrevisses natives.