Construction et étude d'un modèle de réseau trophique de la vasière de Brouage (bassin de marennes Oléron, France). Prise en compte de la saisonnalité et des échanges physiques pour la synthèse constructive des connaissances sur une zone intertidale d'une région tempérée.

In order to better understand the functioning of the Brouage intertidal mudflat (Marennes- Oléron Basin, France), its carbon-based trophic web has been modelled and analyzed. The foodweb building is based on the 4 step method of Inverse Analysis: 1) conceive an a priori model as the graph of compartments (nodes) between which exist fluxes of material (vertices). These vertices are the unknowns for the problem; 2) gather all the existing knowledge about the ecosystem and translate it into linear equations and inequalities involving the fluxes; 3) complete this set of data by common knowledge on the behaviour of the compartments and translate it into inequalities, 4) solve the obtained linear system under the parsimony principle to find a unique solution vector. The food-web analysis is based on. The first purpose of this work was a methodological one: inverse analysis method has been adapted to consider the seasonal and spatial variability of the temperate ecosystem: two seasons have been coupled in the computation and the area has been divided into three geographical zones along a cross-shore gradient. Hence, two types of physical exchanges are involved: the benthicpelagic ones and the advection ones. Statistical results can also be obtained by coupling Monte Carlo methods to Inverse Analysis. To study the obtained networks, new indices based on Markov Chains take delay into account in describing integrative transfers of material between compartments. This lets emerge the systems' properties that are not obvious at first sight and emphasizes the role of peculiar components. The second purpose was to apply such methods to the Brouage mudflat ecosystem in order to better understand its functioning. As the knowledge and methods evolve, various food webs were computed and analyzed with the help such indices and existing ones. Sensitivity analyses allow to point at the most crucial lacks of knowledge, which can orientate future field research. New data would improve the quality of the model in two ways: one the one hand, they would validate or invalidate the outcomes and on the other hand, they would give useful information to better constrain some of the black boxes and most uncertain fluxes, especially the advection and vertical flows. The main results of the study show a strongly seasonal system in which benthic and pelagic components are linked with intensity. The system is driven by its high local benthic primary production, but also depends on imports from the basin. Each of the 3 geographic zones has a peculiar functioning. The central zone corresponds to the classical description of European intertidal mudflats: very productive, it can feed the other regions. It is a production zone. The upper part is less productive but is fed by the middle one via the water column and can be exploited by shorebirds. It is a degradation zone (material is transformed for less qualitative). The lower part strongly depends on the basin imports for its functioning, as the cultivated bivalves act as a pump for pelagic material of which a great part is deposited under the cultivation structures (oyster racks or mussels "bouchots"). It is a transformation zone.