Biological invasions

The program of this lecture on biological invasions offers an in-depth and diversified exploration of this complex and often misunderstood phenomenon. Through a global and interdisciplinary approach, these 8 lectures will highlight the paradoxes and challenges of biological invasions, comparing them to other threats to biodiversity and unravelling the mechanisms that are unique to them. This lecture uses a variety of concrete examples, from invasive ants to stray cats, and from rats to pigs, to illustrate the ecological, economic and health impacts of biological invasions. The teaching style will be both rigorous and accessible, and will focus on ecological research, blending recent case studies, mathematical models and original experiments to make the subject engaging while showing its complexity and diversity. Complementary seminars further enrich the program, providing an additional perspective on the subject at the end of each lecture from experts in related fields such as epidemiology, economics and biogeography. The overall aim is to provide a better understanding of biological invasions, a complex phenomenon full of paradoxes that needs to be studied holistically.