Publications by Estelle Rochat

Spatial areas of genotype probability: Predicting the spatial distribution of adaptive genetic variants under future climatic conditions

Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat, Oliver Michele Selmoni

In a context of rapid global change, one of the key components for the survival of species is their genetic evolutionary potential for adaptation. Many methods have been developed to identify genetic variants underpinning adaptation to climate, but few too ...

2021

Multiscale Very High Resolution Topographic Models in Alpine Ecology: Pros and Cons of Airborne LiDAR and Drone-Based Stereo-Photogrammetry Technologies

Stéphane Joost, Aude Rogivue, Estelle Rochat, Kevin Leempoel, Annie Sandrine Guillaume

The vulnerability of alpine environments to climate change presses an urgent need to accurately model and understand these ecosystems. Popularity in the use of digital elevation models (DEMs) to derive proxy environmental variables has increased over the p ...

2021

Nested Species Distribution Models of Chlamydiales in Ixodes ricinus (Tick) Hosts in Switzerland

Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat

The tick Ixodes ricinus is the vector of various pathogens, including Chlamydiales bacteria, which potentially cause respiratory infections. In this study, we modeled the spatial distribution of I. ricinus and associated Chlamydiales over Switzerland from ...

AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY2021

Sampling strategy optimization to increase statistical power in landscape genomics: a simulation-based approach

Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat, Oliver Michele Selmoni, Elia Vajana, Annie Sandrine Guillaume

An increasing number of studies are using landscape genomics to investigate local adaptation in wild and domestic populations. The implementation of this approach requires the sampling phase to consider the complexity of environmental settings and the burd ...

2020

Species conservation in the face of global environmental changes: surface-based modelling of geo-environmental data to identify vulnerable populations

Estelle Rochat

Human activities are resulting in many land-use changes, particularly due to urbanisation and intensification of agricultural practices. Because of these changes, in addition to climate change, many species are facing habitat degradation. In order to avoid ...

EPFL2020

Seascape genomics as a new tool to empower coral reef conservation strategies: an example on north‐western Pacific Acropora digitifera

Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat, Oliver Michele Selmoni

Coral reefs are suffering a major decline due to the environmental constraints imposed by climate change. Over the last 20 years, three major coral bleaching events occurred in concomitance with anomalous heatwaves, provoking a severe loss of coral cover w ...

2020

Rapid identification and interpretation of gene‐environment associations using the new R.SamBada landscape genomics pipeline

Stéphane Joost, Sylvie Stucki, Estelle Rochat, Solange Catherine Gaillard, Oliver Michele Selmoni, Kevin Leempoel, Elia Vajana

Samβada is a genome‐environment association (GEA) software, designed to search for signatures of local adaptation. However, pre‐ and post‐processing of data can be labour‐intensive, preventing wider uptake of the method. We have now developed R.SamBada, an ...

2019

Signatures of selection and environmental adaptation across the goat genome post-domestication

Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat

Background: Since goat was domesticated 10,000 years ago, many factors have contributed to the differentiation of goat breeds and these are classified mainly into two types: (i) adaptation to different breeding systems and/or purposes and (ii) adaptation t ...

2018

Indication of spatially random infection of chlamydia-like organisms in Bufo bufo tadpoles from ponds located in the Geneva metropolitan area

Séverine Vuilleumier Varisco, Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat, Solange Catherine Gaillard, Oliver Michele Selmoni, Ivo Widmer, Elia Vajana

Occurrence of bacteria belonging to the order Chlamydiales was investigated for the first time in common toad (Bufo bufo) tadpole populations collected from 41 ponds in the Geneva metropolitan area, Switzerland. A Chlamydiales-specific Real-Time PCR was us ...

2018

Combining Landscape Genomics and Ecological Modelling to Investigate Local Adaptation of Indigenous Ugandan Cattle to East Coast Fever

Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat, Elia Vajana

East Coast fever (ECF) is a fatal sickness affecting cattle populations of eastern, central, and southern Africa. The disease is transmitted by the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, and caused by the protozoan Theileria parva parva, which invades host lym ...

2018

Genome-wide SNP profiling of worldwide goat populations reveals strong partitioning of diversity and highlights post-domestication migration routes

Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat, Elia Vajana

Background: Goat populations that are characterized within the AdaptMap project cover a large part of the worldwide distribution of this species and provide the opportunity to assess their diversity at a global scale. We analysed genome-wide 50K single nuc ...

BMC2018

Combining landscape genomics and ecological modelling to investigate local adaptation of indigenous Ugandan cattle to East Coast fever

Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat, Elia Vajana

East Coast fever (ECF) is a fatal sickness affecting cattle populations of eastern, central, and southern Africa. The disease is transmitted by the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, and caused by the protozoan Theileria parva parva, which invades host lym ...

2018

Simple rules for an efficient use of Geographic Information Systems in molecular ecology

Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat, Solange Catherine Gaillard, Kevin Leempoel, Ivo Widmer

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are becoming increasingly popular in the context of molecular ecology and conservation biology thanks to their display options efficiency, flexibility and management of geodata. Indeed, spatial data for wildlife and liv ...

2017

Persistence of butterfly populations in fragmented habitats along urban density gradients: motility helps

Stéphane Joost, Estelle Rochat, Ivo Widmer

In a simulation study of genotypes conducted over 100 generations for more than 1600 butterfly’s individuals, we evaluate how the increase of anthropogenic fragmentation and reduction of habitat size along urbanisation gradients (from 7% to 59% of impervio ...

Nature Publishing Group2017

Relationship between land cover type and Body Mass Index in Geneva

Stéphane Joost, Alain Clémence, Jens Ingensand, Estelle Rochat, Solange Catherine Gaillard, Ivo Widmer, Idris Guessous

Past studies conducted in urban areas analyzed the impact of the presence of green spaces on public health, and highlighted in particular the psychological benefits of interacting with nature. To investigate a supposed relationship between overweight and d ...

IEEE2015