Campus de Rimouski
300 Allée des Ursulines
UQAR
Rimouski
Québec, Canada
G5L 3A1
418.723.1986, poste 1971
francois_vezina@uqar.ca
Je suis écophysiologiste et professeur au département de biologie, chimie et géographie de l’Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR). Après un BSc à l’UQAR, j'ai obtenu une maîtrise à l’Université de Sherbrooke où j'ai étudié l’utilisation de l’hypothermie et l’énergétique hivernale chez les passereaux résidents. J'ai par la suite obtenu un PhD à l’Université Simon Fraser en conduisant des travaux sur l’énergétique de la reproduction, les stratégies de gestion de l’énergie et la flexibilité phénotypique chez les oiseaux. J'ai ensuite travaillé pendant 4 ans sur l’acclimatation au froid et la flexibilité phénotypique chez les oiseaux limicoles dans le cadre d’un postdoctorat aux Pays-Bas. Ces travaux m’ont, entre autres, amené à Alert au Nunavut pour étudier les compromis physiologiques résultants des coûts énergétiques combinés de la récupération postmigratoire, de la préparation pour la reproduction et des besoins de thermorégulation chez les limicoles au moment de leur arrivée sur les aires de reproduction. Mes travaux actuels portent sur l’acclimatation physiologique en réponse aux fluctuations climatiques hivernales et sur les conséquences à long terme des contraintes environnementales chez oiseaux forestiers non migrateurs.
Coûts énergétiques de la reproduction et effets sur les stratégies de gestion de l’énergie
Anand, Sachin (Doctorat). Réponses aux extrêmes thermiques chez un spécialiste du froid arctique.
Courtin, Baptiste (Doctorat). Energétique, gestion des réserves et performance de vol chez le plectrophane des neiges en hiver et en migration.
Desjardins, Émilie (Doctorat - Codirection). Conservation de la biodiversité au site habité le plus nordique de la planète dans un contexte de réchauffement climatique.
Fache, Inès (Doctorat). Étude des facteurs impactant la dynamique démographique d’un passereau arctique migrateur d’Amérique du Nord : le plectrophane des neiges.
Le Pogam, Audrey (Post-Doctorat). Influence du réchauffement de l’Arctique sur la physiologie et la performance reproductrice d’un spécialiste du froid, le plectrophane des neiges (Plectrophenax nivalis).
Senécal, Sarah (Doctorat). Conséquences à long terme de la performance individuelle dans deux stades d'histoire de vie énergétiquement coûteux.
Turcotte, Marianne (Maîtrise). Différences physiologiques entre les sexes chez le plectrophane des neiges selon les sites d’hivernage.
Le Pogam, Audrey , 2021 (Doctorat). Ajustements phénotypiques en réponse aux contraintes associées à l'hiver, la migration et la reproduction chez le plectrophane des neiges .
Senécal, Sarah , 2020 (Maîtrise). Qualité de la nourriture comme déterminant de l’effort de nourrissage chez deux espèces de mésanges .
Caron Carrier, J., Lai, S., Vézina, F., Tam, A., Berteaux, D., 2022. Long-distance, synchronized and directional fall movements suggest migration in Arctic hares on Ellesmere Island (Canada). Scientific Reports, 12: 5003. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08347-1.
Lai, S., Desjardins, É., Caron Carrier, J., Couchoux, C., Vézina, F., Tam, A., Koutroulides, N., Berteaux, D., 2022. Unsuspected mobility of arctic hares revealed by longest journey ever recorded in a lagomorph. Ecology, 103(3), e3620. DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3620.
Milbergue, M., Vézina, F., Desrosiers, V., Blier, P., 2022. How does mitochondrial function relate to thermogenic capacity and basal metabolic rate in small birds? Journal of Experimental Biology, 225(12), jeb242612. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.242612.
O'Connor, R., Le Pogam, A., Young, K.G., Love, O.P., Cox, C.J., Roy, G., Robitaille, F., Elliott, K.H., Hargreaves, A., Choy, E.S., Gilchrist, G., Berteaux, D., Tam, A., Vézina, F., 2022. Warming in the land of the midnight sun: breeding birds may suffer greater heat stress at high- versus low-Arctic sites. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1981), 20220300. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0300.
Choy, E.S., O'Connor, R., Gilchrist, G., Hargreaves, A., Love, O.P., Vézina, F., Elliott, K.H., 2021. Limited heat tolerance in a cold-adapted seabird: implications of a warming Arctic. Journal of Experimental Biology, 224(13), jeb242168. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.242168.
Cornelius Ruhs, E., Love, O.P., Drainville, L., Vézina, F., 2021. No common pesticides detected in snow buntings utilizing a farmland landscape in eastern Québec. Avian Conservation and Ecology, 16(2), 26. DOI: 10.5751/ACE-01979-160226.
Desjardins, É., Lai, S., Payette, S., Dubé, M., Sokoloff, P.C., St-Louis, A., Poulin, M.-P., Legros, J., Sirois, L., Vézina, F., Tam, A., Berteaux, D., 2021. Survey of the vascular plants of Alert (Ellesmere Island, Canada), a polar desert at the northern tip of the Americas. Check List, 17(1): 181–225. DOI: 10.15560/17.1.181.
Desjardins, É., Lai, S., Payette, S., Vézina, F., Tam, A., Berteaux, D., 2021. Vascular plant communities in the polar desert of Alert (Ellesmere Island, Canada): Establishment of a baseline reference for the 21st century. Écoscience, 28(3-4): 243-267. DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2021.1907974.
Le Pogam, A., O'Connor, R., Love, O.P., Drolet, J., Régimbald, L., Roy, G., Laplante, M.-P., Berteaux, D., Tam, A., Vézina, F., 2021. Snow buntings maintain winter-level cold endurance while migrating to the High Arctic. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 724876. DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.724876.
Le Pogam, A., O'Connor, R., Love, O.P., Petit, M., Régimbald, L., Vézina, F., 2021.
Coping with the worst of both worlds: Phenotypic adjustments for cold acclimatization benefit northward migration and arrival in the cold in an Arctic-breeding songbird. Functional Ecology, 35(6): 1240-1254. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13793.
O'Connor, R., Le Pogam, A., Young, K.G., Robitaille, F., Choy, E.S., Love, O.P., Elliott, K.H., Hargreaves, A., Berteaux, D., Tam, A., Vézina, F., 2021. Limited heat tolerance in an arctic passerine: Thermoregulatory implications for cold-specialized birds in a rapidly warming world. Ecology and Evolution, 11(4): 1609-1619. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7141.
Zgirski, T., Legagneux, P., Chastel, O., Regimbald, L., Prouteau, L., Le Pogam, A., Budzinski, H., Love, O.P., Vézina, F., 2021. Early life neonicotinoid exposure results in proximal benefits and ultimate carryover effects. Scientific Reports, 11, 15252. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93894-2.
Le Net, R., Provost, C., Lalonde, C., Regimbald, L., Vézina, F., Gagnon, C.A., Lair, S., 2020. Whole genome sequencing of an avipoxvirus associated with infections in a group of aviary-housed Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 50(4): 803-812. DOI: 10.1638/2018-0102.
Le Pogam, A., Love, O.P., Regimbald, L., Dubois, K., Hallot, F., Milbergue, M., Petit, M., O'Connor, R., Vézina, F., 2020. Wintering snow buntings elevate cold hardiness to extreme levels but show no changes in maintenance costs. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 93(6), 711370. DOI: 10.1086/711370.
Cornelius Ruhs, E., Vézina, F., Karasov, W.H., 2019. Physiological and immune responses of free-living temperate birds brovided a gradient of food supplementation. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 92(1): 106-114. DOI: 10.1086/701389.
Cornelius Ruhs, E., Vézina, F., Walker, M.A., Karasov, W.H., 2019. Who pays the bill? The effects of altered brood size on parental and nestling physiology. Journal of Ornithology, 161: 275-288. DOI: 10.1007/s10336-019-01715-1.
Laplante, M.-P., Mckinnon, E.A., Love, O.P., Vézina, F., 2019. Flexible response to short‐term weather in a cold‐adapted songbird. Journal of Avian Biology, 50(2), e01766. DOI: 10.1111/jav.01766.
Mckinnon, E.A., Laplante, M.-P., Love, O.P., Fraser, K.C., Mackenzie, S., Vézina, F., 2019. Tracking landscape-scale movements of Snow Buntings and weather-driven changes in flock composition during the temperate winter. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 7, 329. DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00329.
Milbergue, M., Blier, P., Vézina, F., 2018. Large muscles are beneficial but not required for improving thermogenic capacity in small birds. Scientific Reports, 8, 14009. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-32041-w.
Barceló, G., Love, O.P., Vézina, F., 2017. Uncoupling basal and summit metabolic rates in white-throated sparrows: digestive demand drives maintenance costs, but changes in muscle mass are not needed to improve thermogenic capacity. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 90(2): 153-165. DOI: 10.1086/689290.
Cornelius, E.A., Vézina, F., Regimbald, L., Hallot, F., Petit, M., Love, O.P., Karasov, W.H., 2017. Chickadees faced with unpredictable food increase fat reserves but certain components of their immune function decline. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 90(2): 190-200, 299. DOI: 10.1086/689913.
Lewden, A., Nord, A., Petit, M., Vézina, F., 2017. Body temperature responses to handling stress in wintering black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus L.). Physiology and Behavior, 179: 49-54. DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.05.024.
Petit, M., Clavijo-Baquet, S., Vézina, F., 2017. Increasing winter maximal metabolic rate improves intrawinter survival in small birds. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 90(2): 166-177. DOI: 10.1086/689274.
Swanson, D.L., McKechnie, A.E., Vézina, F., 2017. How low can you go? An adaptive energetic framework for interpreting basal metabolic rate variation in endotherms. Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology, 187(8): 1039–1056. DOI: 10.1007/s00360-017-1096-3.
Vézina, F., Gerson, A.R., Guglielmo, C.G., Piersma, T., 2017. The performing animal: causes and consequences of body remodeling and metabolic adjustments in red knots facing contrasting thermal environments. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 313(2): R120-R131. DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00453.2016.
Dubois, K., Hallot, F., Vézina, F., 2016. Basal and maximal metabolic rates differ in their response to rapid temperature change among avian species. Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology, 186(7): 919-935. DOI: 10.1007/s00360-016-1001-5.
Cortés, P., Petit, M., Lewden, A., Milbergue, M., Vézina, F., 2015. Individual inconsistencies in basal and summit metabolic rate highlight flexibility of metabolic performance in a wintering passerine. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology, 323A: 179-190. DOI: 10.1002/jez.1908.
Franci, C.D., Vézina, F., Grégoire, F., Rail, J.-F., Verreault, J., 2015. Nutritional stress in Northern gannets during an unprecedented low reproductive success year: Can extreme sea surface temperature event and dietary change be the cause? Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 181: 1-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2014.11.017.
Royer-Boutin, P., Cortés, P., Milbergue, M., Petit, M., Vézina, F., 2015. Estimation of muscle mass by ultrasonography differs between observers and life states of models in small birds. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 88(3): 336-346. DOI: 10.1086/680016.
Swanson, D.L., Vézina, F., 2015. Environmental, ecological and mechanistic drivers of avian seasonal metabolic flexibility in response to cold winters (invited publication). Journal of Ornithology, 156(Supplement 1): 377-388. DOI: 10.1007/s10336-015-1192-7.
Devost, I., Hallot, F., Milbergue, M., Petit, M., Vézina, F., 2014. Lipid metabolites as markers of fattening rate in a non-migratory passerine: Effects of ambient temperature and individual variation. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 177: 18-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2014.07.014.
Lewden, A., Petit, M., Milbergue, M., Orio, S., Vézina, F., 2014. Evidence of facultative daytime hypothermia in a small passerine wintering at northern latitudes. Ibis, 156(2): 321–329. DOI: 10.1111/ibi.12142.
Petit, M., Lewden, A., Vézina, F., 2014. How does flexibility in body composition relate to seasonal changes in metabolic performance in a small passerine wintering at northern latitude? Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 87(4): 539-549. DOI: 10.1086/676669.
Petit, M., Vézina, F., 2014. Phenotype manipulations confirm the role of pectoral muscles and haematocrit in avian maximal thermogenic capacity. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 217: 824-830. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.095703.
Petit, M., Vézina, F., 2014. Reaction norms in natural conditions: How does metabolic performance respond to weather variations in a small endotherm facing cold environments? PLoS one, 9(11): e113617. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113617.