Bentaleb, Ilham
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Bentaleb, Ilham
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Associate Professor (HDR), marine biologist & biogeochemist. She is expert in stable isotopic composition analysis applied in oceanography, past and present climatology and ecology. She has extensive experience in organic biogeochemistry from molecular compounds to bulk material (Bentaleb et al., 1996-99). Her main scientific highlights are as follow: Her PhD thesis focussed on the C isotopic fractionation between phytoplankton and surface seawater dissolved CO2 by measuring photosynthetic enzymatic activities, and biomass parameters (Chlorophyl and total Org. C). She has shown that the δ13C of phytoplankton is a good predictor of the CO2 content in surface waters (Bentaleb et al. 1996). These authors show that δ13Cphytoplankton generally decreases linearly towards high latitudes. This relationship δ13Cphytoplankton-CO2aq was applied on Antarctic sedimentary organic carbon to reconstruct past CO2aq concentration in the surface waters of the Southern Ocean (Bentaleb et al., 1998; Bentaleb & Fontugne, 1998) and PI has shown that the Southern Ocean was not the main carbon sink during glacial times (Bentaleb & Fontugne, 1996; Bentaleb et al., 1998). As sedimentary organic carbon is a mixture of various carbon sources (Riaux-Gobin et al. 2006) and not necessarily phytoplankton, she joined J. Grimalt laboratory in Barcelona and improved the δ13C-CO2aq relationship using specific autotrophic biomarkers instead of bulk marine material (alkenones as temperature and CO2aq indicators (Bentaleb et al., 1999; Bentaleb et al., 2002); Sterols as marine productivity indicators (Tolosa et al., 1999; Mejanelle et al. 2003)). She has shown through her PhD student that shell middens (Mesodesma donacium shells deposited by prehistoric population during the last millennia on the coast of Peru) are good indicator of seawater temperatures (δ18OShells) and oceanic dynamics (changes in the activity of the Peruvian upwelling). Both δ18OShells and δ13CShells have shown that seasonal temperature amplitudes and upwelling have changed for the last 10 millennia along the coast of Chile/Peru. These studies highlighted the interest of using shell middens as proxies of El Nino- Southern Oscillation variability showing that ENSO activity increased since the Mid Holocene (Fontugne et al. 2004; Carré et al. 2005a,b; 2006; 2009; 2011). Acknowledging the results and the scientific topics, the French CNRS recruited M. Carré as CR2 (CR2 Junior Researcher) in 2007. In the frame of the WP3 (Resp. I. Bentaleb) of the ANR IPSOS SEAL project (PI C. Guinet 2008-12), the PI supervised one post-doc (C. Martin) and co- supervised one PhD (M. Authier) on the topics of trophic isotopic ecology of the Kerguelen Southern Elephant Seals (SES) using the stable isotopes in canine dentine. We utilized the general assumption that δ13C values are set by primary producers and change little as they are transferred to consumers and δ15N values increase in consumers. We have shown that male and female SES have two feeding ground strategies 1) between the Polar Frontal Zone and 2) Antarctic waters, during their first 4 yr then they became resident to a well-defined foraging zone, either in Antarctic waters or in the Polar Frontal Zone and sub-Antarctic waters (Martin et al. 2011; Authier et al. 2011-12). After these results were published, in 2014 Dr Hofmeye (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) contacted IB to set collaboration to training South African PhD student on technics for fine scale microdrillings of fur seal dentine. The project “Fur seal ecology in the Southern Ocean” has been funded by the National Science Foundation of South Africa 2015-2017 (16K€). In 2016, ISEM hosted a SA post doc (M. Connan). Three abstracts using isotopic ecology on Southern Ocean fur seals have been submitted (Hofmeyr et al. 2016; Pretorius et al. 2016; Pretorius et al. 2017). Currently, one of her research foci is the migration behavior of the fin whale in the Med Sea using stable and radiogenic isotopes. Bentaleb I & C. Guinet obtained from the “Parc National de Ports Cros (2002-05)” funding to study isotopic trophic ecology & global change impacts on Med FWs (Bentaleb et al., 2011). This paper has opened new scientific direction. In 2013, IB obtained funds from the CNRS-BIODIVMEX program and organized two workshops “MEDWHALEDIV workshops: impact des changements globaux sur la Méditerranée (Montpellier, Nov&Dec 2013)”.
She has published 55 articles; h-index 19. She managed several WPs (ANR IPSOS Seal project; 1 post doc; 1 co-supervison of a PhD student; Biodiversa ERA-Net CoForChange project; 1 technician; South African project on fur seal ecology in the Southern Ocean- National Science Foundation of South Africa 2015-2017) and obtained funding from national funding bodies: BQR UM2; CNRS-INSU-SYSTER; BIODIVMEX. She is the co-leader of Master «CEPAGE», ERASMUS program and member of UM Administration Council of the UM & CSI INEE.
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