Topic: Interactions between the spatio-temporal dynamics of pests and the structure of agricultural landscapes: supporting integrated management at the regional level
Dates: 15 October 2021 – 30 November 2025
CBGP manager: M.P. Chapuis
Supervisor: T. Brévault (CIRAD-AIDA)
University: AgroParisTech

This thesis focuses on inferring the spatio-temporal variations in the dispersal of the oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis – a major pest of mangoes, particularly in West Africa – at different spatial scales, whilst taking into account the environmental factors likely to influence it. The approach adopted to study dispersal is a landscape genetics approach based on the use of thousands of SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) genetic markers containing information on demographic processes (density and dispersal). Several demogenetic datasets with different spatial and temporal resolutions, derived from monitoring B. dorsalis populations via trapping in two Senegalese mango-producing regions (Niayes and Casamance), are thus studied in conjunction with environmental data enabling the characterisation of the landscape in these two regions.

Keywords: Bactrocera dorsalis, mango, population dynamics, landscape genetics, SNP, dispersal.