Research Summary
Vallée des Baux, Provence – The European Roller is a captivating migratory bird emerging as an “indicator species,” one whose need for certain types of habitat and prey allows its status to be a measure of the health of many environmental aspects of a region. The species is a wide-ranging summer visitor to the Mediterranean and southern and eastern Europe, where more than half of its global breeding range is found. However, its total European breeding population is relatively small and is estimated to have declined by 30% since 1970; it is currently listed as “Near Threatened.”
The Roller needs healthy forests, riverbanks, and field hedgerows for its breeding nests, and it feeds on large insects-- all characteristic elements of a diverse and healthy landscape.
The Mediterranean Basin is a “biodiversity hotspot”--one of the 34 richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life in the world--and the only one in Western Europe. Much of this biodiversity is owed to centuries of traditional farming and water management traditions that helped conserve rich and beautiful landscapes. But now the region’s fragile ecosystems are highly threatened by development, climate change, and other forces.
For scientists and local conservationists in the French Mediterranean countryside, tracking the Roller should reveal the effect of local conservation measures, particularly as they relate to traditional French farming and other landscape management traditions.
Your task is to help collect the data needed to use the European Roller as an indicator of the threats to this beautiful and storied region’s fields, streams, forests, and farms.
Meet the Scientists
Muriel Gervais
A Rocha France
Muriel Gervais has a Master’ Degree in Biodiversity Management and Ecology. She was involved as a volunteer for several years in different projects run by A Rocha France and A Rocha UK, and was involved in the European Roller project in its first stages of development. Muriel has recently started working for A Rocha France to continue the work started on the Roller program.
Joël White
Field Team Leader
Joël holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc (DEA) in ecology from Paris’ Pierre et Marie Curie University and a B.Sc. in Zoology from the University of Newcaslte-upon-Tyne in the UK, and is currently conducting postdoctoral research in the bioacoustic properties of bird calls and the neurobiology of how birds may use them to learn and remember territorial features. He has been supervising and teaching students in the classroom and in the field since 2003, has published numerous scientific articles and has presented at major scientific conferences.
Jane Carpenter
Field Team Leader
Born in 1977, Jane is doctoral student at the University of Oxford studying possible causes for the population decline of the marsh tit in Britain; she holds a Master of Research: Science of the Environment degree from the University of Lancaster (UK). Jane has worked with A Rocha International on two previous bird projects in France and Portugal, studied little owl predation of storm petrels and other bird population dynamics on Skomer Island off the coast of Wales, and has a General C bird-ringing permit. She’s also a bronze, silver, and gold medal-winning member of the Oxford University Women’s Pool Team.
John Lancaster
Field Team Leader
John has a broad background of knowledge in terrestrial, freshwater and marine fields, with extensive experience in fieldwork and in leading field experiences for volunteers. As a research assistant for A Rocha France, he has designed, implemented, and written reports on a range of monitoring projects including mosquitoes and farmland bird populations. His participation in the European Roller program includes fieldwork such as ringing and nestbox installation; mapping work with GIS packages; student and volunteer supervision; welcoming and guiding visitors in the field; and responsibilities related to community life in the field studies centre. He holds a MSc in Restoration Ecology of Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments from the University of Liverpool.
John loves most genres of music, and played drums for local church group, and has performed at gigs and festivals as percussionist in a folk band. John enjoys cycling, football, swimming and weight training, holds a green belt in Karate and a BSAC Elementary Diver Certificate. Has a working knowledge of French, basic Swedish, and some German.