Dr. Giannina Passuni Saldana

My research interests focus on the relationships between biological and environmental components at different time scales as seasonal, interannual, and decadal periods. The objective of my research is to give recommendations for resource management and conservation on keystone and charismatic species. In the IHF, I am evaluating the resilience and stability of the Humboldt system components to regime shifts. Our team is part of the ‘Humboldt tipping’ project. This project has part of their research activities in Peru, where our partner is the Institute of Peruvian Sea (IMARPE, in Spanish).

Ph.D. in Biological Sciences and Ecosystems (2013-2016)

Ecole Doctorale des Systèmes Intégrés en Biologie, Agronomie, Géosciences, Hydrosciences, Environnement. University of Montpellier, France.
Thesis subject: A bird-eye view on the spatio-temporal variability of the seasonal cycle in the Northern Humboldt Current System: the case of Guanay cormorant, Peruvian booby and Peruvian pelican.
Funding: French Research Institute for Development (IRD) and Institute of Peruvian Sea (IMARPE).

M.Sc. of Science in Oceanography with specialization in Biology and Marine Ecology (2011-2012)

University of Aix Marseille 2, France.
Master thesis: A random forest approach for quantifying the effects of the environmental variability, distribution and abundance of prey and fisheries exploitation on the foraging effort of Peruvian cormorants and boobies.
Funding: French embassy in Peru and French Research Institute for Development (IRD).

BSc. in Biological Sciences with specialization in Zoology (2002-2007)

University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru (Bachelor program studies in Peru last 5 years).
Final undergraduate project: Distribution of abundance of Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens, Jenyns 1842) related to biogeochemical parameters in the Peruvian coast.
Funding: French Research Institute for Development (IRD) and Institute of Peruvian Sea (IMARPE).

Visiting PhD student at Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) in France (2015) as part of the research group of Statistical Ecology (GDR 3645 Ecologie Statistique) financed by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

2019-ongoing: University of Hamburg, Institute for Marine Ecosystem and Fishery Science
Post-Doc / Humboldt tipping Project.

2017-2019: Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
Post-doc/ Project: Bottom-up influence of climate change on endangered marine top predators via trophic coupling and retroactive top-down influence of these predators on their environment.

Funding: National Research Foundation - Scarce Skills Postdoctoral Fellowships (DST- NRF- DHET)

The project "Humboldt tipping" explored past regime shift in the Humboldt Current System driven by climatic, biological and anthropogenic fluctuations that occur at different time scales and evaluate the possible adaptation measures. Our main goal is produce recommendations on governance in order to reduce the risk of tipping point impacts on the regional economy and increase the resilience of Peru's coastal communities. The University of Hamburg works on the WP 2: Pressure-state relationships and fish production in the HUS.

The specific objective of our WP is to identify links between environmental factors and productivity of living marine resources to develop understanding of key thresholds and responses.

Peer-review

Passuni, G., Barbraud, C., Chaigneau, A., Demarcq, H., Ledesma, J., Bertrand, A., Castillo, R., Perea, A., Mori, J., Viblanc, V.A., Torres-MaitaA, J., Bertrand, S. (2016). Seasonality in marine ecosystems: Peruvian seabirds, anchovy, and oceanographic conditions. Ecology, 97 1, 182-93.

Passuni, G., Barbraud C., Chaigneau A., Bertrand A., Oliveros-Ramos, R., Ledesma J., Castillo R., Bouchon M., Bertrand, S. (2018). Long-term changes in the breeding seasonality of Peruvian seabirds and regime shifts in the Northern Humboldt Current System. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 597:231-242.

Barbraud C., Bertrand A., Bouchon M., Chaigneau A., Delord K., Demarcq H., Gimenez O., Gutierrez M., Gutierrez D., Oliveros-Ramos R., Passuni G., Tremblay Y.,

Bertrand S. (2018). Density dependence, prey accessibility and prey depletion by fisheries drive Peruvian seabird population dynamics. Ecography. 41.7: 1092–1102.

Selected oral and Poster presentations

Passuni, G., Human, L., Bizani, M., Pattrick, P., Deyzel, S., Bornman, T., Pichegru, L. Productivity near the biggest colony of African penguins: are the penguin’s bottom up controlling the nearshore water productivity around the colony? 10th International Penguin Conference, Dunedin, Australia, 2019.

Passuni G., Barbraud C., Bertrand A., Bouchon M., Chaigneau A., Castillo R., Ledesma J., Oliveros-Ramos R., Torres-Maita J., Bertrand S. Long-term changes in the breeding seasonality of Peruvian guano producing seabirds in relation with environmental variability. 2nd world seabird conference, Cape Town, South Africa, 26-30 October, 2015.

Passuni, G. Barbraud C., Chaigneau A., Demarcq H., Ledesma J., Bertrand A., Castillo R., Torres-Maita J, Oliveros-Ramos R., Bertrand S. Occupancy models for characterizing the breeding phenology of Peruvian guano-producing seabirds. Poster. International Statistical Ecology Conference, Montpellier, France, 1-4 July 2014.

Bertrand S., Passuni G., Fablet R., Chaigneau A., Bertrand A., Tremblay Y., Demarcq H., Delord K. Seabirds foraging within random forests. International Statistical Ecology Conference, Montpellier, France, 1-4 July 2014.

Passuni, G., Barbraud, C., Chaigneau A., Ledesma J., Bertrand A., Castillo R., Perea A., Mori J., Torres Maita J., Bertrand S. 2014. Seasonality in marine ecosystems and seabird breeding phenology: the case of the Peruvian guano-producing seabirds. Plenary session. IV Peruvian Congress of Marine Sciences, Lima, Peru, 25-29 June 2014.