Previous work in the Gulf of Lions, France has suggested that significant amounts of sediment may be escaping through the western part of this tectonically passive margin, despite it being far-removed from the primary sediment source (the Rhone river, ~160 km to the NE). It is hypothesized that the westernmost Cap de Creus canyon is intercepting the regional sediment-transport pathway and directing it offshore, allowing significant sediment export through this area. The overall goal of this project is to determine pathways and causes of sediment movement into Cap de Creus canyon to determine its role in off-shelf sediment export within the Gulf of Lions. Box cores were collected within the canyon and on the adjacent shelf on five cruises (2003-2005). Geochronology (210Pb-derived accumulation rates), grain-size distributions, and sedimentary structures (x-radiography) were analyzed to assess sedimentation patterns. Results indicate two mid-depth shelf depocenters (30-90 m water depth) separated by a zone of bypassing created by current acceleration around a headland. Within the canyon, the northern flank and mid-depth thalweg are modern depocenters of fine-grained sediments. The canyon head and southern flank are considered non-depositional for fine grains, although the head may be accumulating sands. Material enters the canyon from the northern rim (via advection of shelf benthic nepheloid layers), the southern rim (via dense-water cascading off the shelf), and through the canyon head (primarily coarse-grains). Budget calculations indicate that 9-23% of the sediment input to the Gulf is sequestered on the shelf and 1-4% is accumulating in upper Cap de Creus canyon. An ephemeral mud layer within the canyon axis indicates rapid deposition and frequent flushing, suggesting that sediment is moving through the upper canyon. This is also supported by high suspended-sediment concentrations associated with off-shelf dense-water flows. This study suggests that Cap de Creus canyon is an important conduit of sediment past the shelf break and the western margin is a primary location of sediment export from the Gulf of Lions.

Previous work in the Gulf of Lions, France has suggested that significant amounts of sediment may be escaping through the western part of this tectonically passive margin, despite it being far-removed from the primary sediment source (the Rhone river, ~160 km to the NE). It is hypothesized that the westernmost Cap de Creus canyon is intercepting the regional sediment-transport pathway and directing it offshore, allowing significant sediment export through this area. The overall goal of this project is to determine pathways and causes of sediment movement into Cap de Creus canyon to determine its role in off-shelf sediment export within the Gulf of Lions. Box cores were collected within the canyon and on the adjacent shelf on five cruises (2003-2005). Geochronology (210Pb-derived accumulation rates), grain-size distributions, and sedimentary structures (x-radiography) were analyzed to assess sedimentation patterns. Results indicate two mid-depth shelf depocenters (30-90 m water depth) separated by a zone of bypassing created by current acceleration around a headland. Within the canyon, the northern flank and mid-depth thalweg are modern depocenters of fine-grained sediments. The canyon head and southern flank are considered non-depositional for fine grains, although the head may be accumulating sands. Material enters the canyon from the northern rim (via advection of shelf benthic nepheloid layers), the southern rim (via dense-water cascading off the shelf), and through the canyon head (primarily coarse-grains). Budget calculations indicate that 9-23% of the sediment input to the Gulf is sequestered on the shelf and 1-4% is accumulating in upper Cap de Creus canyon. An ephemeral mud layer within the canyon axis indicates rapid deposition and frequent flushing, suggesting that sediment is moving through the upper canyon. This is also supported by high suspended-sediment concentrations associated with off-shelf dense-water flows. This study suggests that Cap de Creus canyon is an important conduit of sediment past the shelf break and the western margin is a primary location of sediment export from the Gulf of Lions.

The Northern Current flows cyclonically contouring the continental slope in the NW Mediterranean. At the entrance of the Gulf of Lions this current is about 20 -- 30 km wide and flows along the deepest half of the continental slope, i.e. over the 1000 to 2000 m isobaths approximately. Surface speeds are of 30 -- 50 cm s^{-1}. In the MATER HFF experiment (March -- May 1997) mesoscale variability of the Northern Current is observed from current meter records, SST images and hydrographic data. The HFF experimental box is 20 x 40 km, covering the upper half of the slope (i.e. covering from 250 m to 1250 m depth isobaths). Current meter and satellite data show that the site is embedded in a region of significant Northern Current meandering and eddy activity. From SST images, meander wavelengths are estimated larger than 60 km, embracing smaller structures. These flow patterns affect upper-layer waters down to at least 650 m depth. Current meter data distinguish two narrow energetic bands centred at 3.5 days and 7.5 days, respectively, in agreement with previous studies.Baroclinic instability is viewed as a possible mechanism to explain the generation of the Northern Current meanders. The analytical model of Tang (1975) predicts the development of unstable waves of wavelength (> 60 km) and periods compatible with the 7.5 day band recorded with current meter devices. The higher frequency band of 3.5 days is out of the frequency range predicted by the classical baroclinic instability theory and it is discussed as a restriction of quasi-geostrophic theory.Barotropic instability is studied using a laboratory model of a -westward' jet flowing over the lower half of the continental slope, which considers dynamic similarity with the Northern Current. The laboratory model is cross-validated with a corresponding numerical model. Jet instabilities of currents similar to the Northern Current (i.e. westward jets) occur at the edges of the jet, showing a clear meandering tendency over the mid-slope. Westward currents of Ro = 0.1 -- 0.2 develop instabilities of wavelengths (50 -- 75 km) similar to those observed from SST images, with periods (3.3 -- 3.8 days) compatible with the 3.5 days period band recorded with HFFE current meters.The laboratory and numerical experiments have reproduced westward jets (as the Northern Current), but also eastward jets, in order to have a full approach to better understand the role of the bottom topography on barotropic instabilities. The slope current instabilities are successfully explained by the Marcus and Lee theory (1998) of jets on a beta plane. This theory is valid for westward flows with Ro > 0.1 and for eastward flows with Ro > 0.2 (jets of the so-called Regime II flows in this thesis), and it states that the instabilities of each shear layer of the barotropic jet take the appearance of a Kelvin-Helmholtz-like pattern, associated with a Rossby wave (of topographic origin in our case). According to this theory, the differences between eastward and westward jets rely on the disposition of the Rossby waves --at the centre of the current in eastward flows and at the edges of the jet in westward currents. Jets over a sloping bottom with small Rossby numbers (Ro < 0.1 for westward jets; Ro < 0.2 for eastward jets) show a flow pattern (the so-called Regime I in this thesis) that has common characteristics for eastward and westward flows. In these -small'-Ro flows, Kelvin-Helmholtz-like instabilities dominate, whereas Rossby waves are too weak to produce any major difference between jets flowing in eastward or westward direction. This occurs when the topographic influence, assumed proportional to the Ro number of the jet, is small.The differences between eastward and westward slope currents observed in this work (and similar observations of jets on a beta-plane from previous works) are explained in this thesis by a simple scheme based on conservation of potential vorticity, considering there are two main components in balance: the shear-induced vorticity and the topographically induced vorticity. The signs of these two components are determined by the relative direction of the flow with respect to the inclination of the bottom topography. Once the critical Rossby number is overpassed so that the topographic effects are important (Ro > 0.1 for westward jets; Ro > 0.2 for eastward jets), conservation of potential vorticity tends to enhance vortices at the centre of eastward jets --eastward jets show meandering at the jet core. In westward jets, potential vorticity conservation is responsible of enhancing vortices at each edge of the jet. Thus, westward jets (as the Northern Current) are broad and meandering occurs at the jet edges.In Ro > 0.1 westward flows (i.e. Regime II westward jets) a topographic Rossby wave appears over the shelf break. This result is likely observed because of the specific topography used in this work --a continental slope and a continental shelf separated by a shelf break, producing a strong change in ambient potential vorticity. Numerical simulations reveal that this Rossby wave is triggered by the slope current. This topographic Rossby wave is a robust pattern, since it is independent of the position of the current over the slope, the shape of the velocity shear profile of the jet, and the jet width. Although this type of wave could not be inferred from the HFFE field data, it could be a focus of study in further field experiments. It also needs further analytical consideration. The general conclusion extracted from this thesis that tries to explain the mesoscale variability associated to the Northern Current is that both baroclinic and barotropic instability could explain part of the oceanic observations. As a consequence, mixed barotropic-baroclinic instability (which occurs at wavelengths which are between those corresponding to pure barotropic and pure baroclinic instability) is thought to play an important role on the observed mesoscale variability. The resulting wavelength would depend on the relative strength of both mechanisms.

La dynamique des matières en suspension joue un rôle primordial au sein de la zone côtière en étant le principal vecteur de matière particulaire depuis les sources (rivières) vers les puits (marges continentales, canyons sous-marins, océan profond). Le suivi de cette dynamique, notamment pendant les évènements de crues des fleuves et des tempêtes, est primordial afin d’estimer les budgets sédimentaires des marges continentales, de suivre l’évolution des habitats benthiques et de déterminer le rôle de cette dynamique dans le transport de contaminants. Cette thèse a pour objet l’étude des impacts de tels évènements sur la dynamique des particules en suspension au sein du Golfe du Lion (Méditerranée). Une approche multiplateforme, couplant les différentes plateformes de mesures existantes (campagne en mer, glider, satellite, mouillage, bouée côtière) et basée sur la mesure de la turbidité en terme quantitatif et qualitatif a été adoptée. Les résultats ont permis de décrire 1) la dynamique des néphéloïdes en fonction des forçages (vents, vagues, courants) durant des évènements de crue du Rhône et de tempête marine, 2) la variabilité spatiale et temporelle de l’assemblage particulaire lors de ces mêmes évènements par une caractérisation in situ et 3) de montrer le rôle des plateformes autonomes du type gliders dans le suivi de la dynamique des matières en suspension en zone côtière. / Coastal suspended particulate matter dynamics play a main role in the fate of land-derived material from the source (rivers) to sink (continental margins, submarine canyons, deep sea). The monitoring of this dynamic, especially during flooding and storm conditions, is decisive to understand factors impacting sedimentary budgets of continental margins, health of benthic habitats and spread of contaminants. The aim of this PhD is to study the impacts of such events on the suspended particles dynamics over the shelf of the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediteranean). A multi-platform approach, combining existing observation platforms (survey, glider, satellite, mooring and coastal buoy) and based on the measurement of the turbidity was adopted. Results enabled to describe 1) the impacts of forcings (winds, waves, currents) on the dynamics of nepheloid layers during flooding and storm conditions, 2) the variability of the particle assemblage during such events through an in situ characterization and 3) the role of gliders in the monitoring of suspended particles dynamics within the coastal zone.

De nombreuses espèces de poissons marins côtiers à forte valeur économique ont un cycle de vie complexe impliquant des migrations saisonnières entre l'environnement marin et les habitats côtiers. Une meilleure compréhension de leur cycle de vie, en particulier l'identification de leurs nourriceries clés, est vitale pour la gestion durable des stocks de poissons exploités. Cette étude évalue la fonction de nourricerie des lagunes côtières du Golfe du Lion (Méditerranée NO) pour la daurade royale, Sparus aurata, une espèce d'intérêt commercial, dont les juvéniles colonisent ces habitats chaque année pendant leur premier été de vie. La qualité en tant que nourriceries de quatre lagunes aux conditions environnementales contrastées a été estimée par des mesures de la condition (indices de Fulton et TAG:ST) et du taux de croissance (par otolithométrie) des juvéniles. Les résultats montrent une condition et une croissance des juvéniles plus importantes dans les deux lagunes les plus dessalées et peu profondes (Bages-Sigean et Mauguio) que dans les deux lagunes profondes aux salinités proches de celle de la mer (Salses-Leucate et Thau). Les différences spatiales, stables dans le temps, de signatures élémentaires des otolithes ont permis de valider ces dernières comme tag naturel pour discriminer les habitats des juvéniles de daurade royale. Ainsi, l'identification a posteriori des nourriceries colonisées au stade juvénile chez des adultes pêchés le long de la côte du Golfe du Lion a pu être réalisée. Les estimations de la contribution relative des habitats des juvéniles au stock d'adultes (selon la contribution absolue ou la contribution par unité de surface) révèlent l'importance globale des lagunes pour le maintien des populations. Les lagunes les plus dessalées ont été identifiées comme les meilleures nourriceries de la zone d'étude. Le rôle important de la lagune de Thau pour le maintien des stocks de poissons a également été mis en évidence. Les résultats dans leur ensemble montrent une certaine convergence entre les estimations d'exports potentiel et réel des habitats des juvéniles. Les conclusions de cette étude sont primordiales pour la gestion et la protection des habitats clés des juvéniles ainsi que les ressources exploitées qui en dépendent. / Many coastal marine species of major socio-economic importance exhibited complex life histories include seasonal migrations between offshore marine environments and inshore coastal habitats. An adequate scientific understanding of their life cycle and, in particular the identification of the most significant juvenile nursery grounds are urgently needed for the sustainable management of fish stocks. This present study investigated the nursery function of coastal lagoons in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean) for a valuable fish species, the gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata, whose juveniles colonize these habitats each year for feeding and growing over their critical first summer of life. Habitat quality of four contrasted lagoons was measured with body condition (Fulton and muscle TAG/ST indices) and otolith growth rate of juveniles. Results showed better condition and higher growth rates in juveniles inhabiting the two shallow and brackish lagoons (Bages-Sigean, Mauguio) compared to the two deeper and more saline lagoons (Salses-Leucate and Thau). Otolith elemental signatures were temporally validated as natural tags to discriminate among juvenile habitats, allowing the retrospective identification of juvenile origin of S. aurata adults captured along the Gulf of Lions coastline. The estimations of relative contributions of juvenile habitats to adult stocks revealed the overall significance of lagoons for the maintenance of population. While, brackish lagoons were identified as the major contributors and best nursery habitats in the area, the importance of Thau lagoon to sustain fish stocks was also highlighted. Combined results of this research revealed some agreement between potential and effective export estimates from juvenile habitats. Information derived from this study is highly valuable for the sustainable management and protection of juvenile habitats, and the fishery resources that depend on them.

In this work, we implemented the GHER hydrodynamic model in the Gulf of Lions (resolution 1/100°). This model is nested interactively in another model covering the North-Western basin of the Mediterranean Sea (resolution 1/20°), itself nested in a model covering the whole basin (1/4°). A data assimilation filter, called the SEEK filter, is used to test in which of those grids observations taken in the Gulf of Lions are best assimilated. Therefore, twin experiments are used: a reference run is considered as the truth, and another run, starting from different initial conditions, assimilates pseudo-observations coming from the reference run. It appeared that, in order to best constrain the coastal model, available data should be assimilated in that model. The most efficient setup, however, is to group all the state vectors from the 3 grids into a single vector, and hence coherently modify the 3 domains at once during assimilation cycles. Operational forecasting with nested models often only uses so-called passive nesting: no data feedback happens from the regional models to the global model. We propose a new idea: to use data assimilation as a substitute for the feedback. Using again twin experiments, we show that when assimilating outputs from the regional model in the global model, this has benecial impacts for the subsequent forecasts in the regional model. The data assimilation method used in those experiments corrects errors in the models using only some privileged directions in the state space. Furthermore, these directions are selected from a previous model run. This is a weakness of the method when real observations are available. We tried to build new directions of the state space using an ensemble run, this time covering only the Mediterranean basin (without grid nesting). This led to a quantitative characterization of the forecast errors we might expect when various parameters and external forcings are affected by uncertainties. Finally, using these new directions, we tried to build a statistical model supposed to simulate the hydrodynamical model using only a fraction of the computer resources needed by the latter. To achieve this goal, we tried out artifficial neural networks, nearest-neighbor and regression trees. This study constitutes only the first step toward an innovative statistical model, as in its present form, only a few degrees of freedom are considered and the primitive equation model is still required to build the AL method. We tried forecasting at 2 different time horizons: one day and one week.

La daurade royale (Sparus aurata, L.) est une espèce migratrice, connue pour coloniser les lagunes côtières, fortement anthropisées, du printemps à l'automne. Identifier les lagunes clés pour l'accomplissement du cycle de vie doit donc permettre de mieux gérer et protéger les populations de daurades du Golfe du Lion. Dans ce cadre, la microchimie de l'otolithe est un outil précieux. Au cours de sa croissance, cette concrétion de l'oreille interne incorpore des éléments chimiques prélevés dans le milieu. Piégés dans le réseau cristallin, ils sont une image des conditions environnementales rencontrées par le poisson à une date donnée ce qui rend possible, en théorie, de reconstituer ses migrations. Néanmoins, pour cela, il faut (i) connaître précisément la croissance du poisson et de ses otolithes, (ii) mettre en évidence des différences chimiques entre les zones clés pour le cycle de vie en identifiant les outils statistiques appropriés pour la discrimination des habitats. Ainsi, (i) la comparaison objective de modèles de croissance, associée à l'analyse d'un spécimen exceptionnellement âgé a permis de remettre en cause les données classiquement acceptées sur la croissance de la daurade et le schéma de croissance de ses otolithes a été établi ; (ii) la comparaison de 4 méthodes statistiques de discrimination a permis de sélectionner la méthode du random forest pour différencier les signatures chimiques des otolithes de S.aurata de différentes lagunes. Ces avancées ont permis de confirmer le schéma migratoire précédemment décrit, tout en révélant une variabilité des comportements entre les individus et au cours de la vie du poisson. Les juvéniles semblent préférer les lagunes dessalées, suggérant un rôle de nurserie pour ces habitats, alors que les adultes préfèrent des lagunes profondes comme l'étang de Thau. Le maintien de la diversité des caractéristiques des différentes lagunes est donc nécessaire, afin d'assurer la pérennité de la population de S.aurata dans le Golfe du Lion. / The Gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) is a migratory species, known to colonize coastal lagoons with high anthropogenic load, from spring to autumn. It is necessary to identify key lagoons for the seabream life cycle to allow better management and protection of gilthead seabream populations in the Gulf of Lions. For this, otolith microchemistry is a powerful tool. As it grows, this inner ear concretion absorbs chemical elements taken in its surrounding. Traped in the crystal net, these elements are an image of the environmental conditions met by the fish individual. It is then possible to rebuild fish past migrations. For this it is necessary to (i) precisely know the fish and otoliths growth calendars and (ii) identify chemical differences between the key habitats for the life cycle by choosing statistical methods for habitat discrimination.(i) The objective comparison of many growth models, combined to the analysis of an exceptionally old specimen allowed to propose a new scheme for the gilthead seabream growth and its otolith growth pattern was established ; (ii) the comparison of 4 statistical discrimination methods allowed to select the random forest method to differentiate the otolith chemical signatures of gilthead seabreams from various lagoons. These insights confirmed the already described migration pattern and emphasized a behavioural variability between individuals and between periods of life. The juveniles seem to prefer brackish lagoons, suggesting a nursery rôle for these habitats, whereas the adults prefer deeper lagoons as the Thau lagoon. The maintenance of the lagoons diversity is thus necessary for the preservation of the Gilthead seabream population in the Gulf of Lions.

Les espèces démersales représentent 50% des captures des pêcheries françaises du golfe du Lion, dont la plupart sont pleinement exploitées, voir surexploitées depuis plusieurs décennies. Cette thèse évalue la pertinence d'aires marines protégées (AMPs) comme outil de gestion et de conservation de ces populations. Jusqu'à présent de telles zones ont été uniquement mises en place le long des côtes pour protéger des espèces très peu mobiles. Le problème est plus complexe pour les espèces vivant en haute mer car leur habitat est plus large et plus diffus. Pour ce faire, la distribution spatiale de 12 espèces démersales exploitées clés ont été étudiées de 1994 à 2010, à l'aide d'observations scientifiques et d'outils statistiques ad hoc. Une approche géostatistique a permis de détecter des structures d'auto-corrélation spatiale pour l'ensemble des espèces, et de produire des cartes de distributions annuelles de chaque espèce. Ces distributions sont apparues très stables sur les dix-sept années, mis à part un phénomène d'expansion/ rétraction avec le niveau d'abondance totale sur la région. Par ailleurs une approche par modèle linéaire généralisé a révélé des associations importantes de ces espèces à un habitat stable dans le temps. Ces résultats sont en accord avec la théorie du bassin de MacCall selon laquelle l'association d'une espèce à un habitat est densité-dépendant, et l'augmentation de la densité d'individus dans une zone serait à l'origine de la colonisation d'habitats sub-optimaux. Protéger l'habitat optimal d'une espèce permettrait alors de constituer un habitat «source», si la zone est judicieusement choisie ; en effet le report de l'effort de pêche à l'extérieur de l'AMP peut au contraire rendre cette mesure inefficace voir délétère. Par ailleurs les populations adultes occupaient généralement des zones plus concentrées et incluses dans l'aire de répartition des juvéniles. Ces zones communes d'habitats essentiels (reproduction et nourriceries) peuvent être potentiellement intéressantes à protéger dans un cadre monospécifique. L'hétérogénéité observée des répartitions d'une espèce à l'autre implique l'instauration de zones très clairsemées, et rend la gestion difficile dans une cadre pluri-spécifique. Une zone de taille raisonnable a tout de même été identifiée, représentant 20% de la population de chaque espèce et représentative de la diversité des habitats de cette région. / Demersal species represent 50% of French fisheries catches in theGulf of Lions, most of which are fully exploited, or overfished for decades. This thesis evaluates the relevance of marine protected areas (MPAs) as a tool for conservation and management of these populations. So far these areas have been implemented only along the coast to protect the very few mobile species. The problem is more complex for deep sea species because their habitat is broader and more diffuse. To do this, the spatial distribution of 12 key demersal species exploited were studied from 1994 to 2010, with scientific observations and ad hoc statistical tools. A geostatistical approach allowed to detect spatial autocorrelation structures for all species, and produce maps of annual distributions of each species. These distributions appeared very stable over 17 years, apart from a phenomenon of expansion/ contraction with the level of total abundance in the region. In addition, a generalized linear model approach revealed significant associations of these species to a temporally stable habitat. These results are consistent with MacCall basin theory, according which habitat suitability is a density-dependent thus the increase of individuals in an area make them colonize sub-optimal habitats. An optimal habitat under protection could thus be "source" habitat, if the area is carefully chosen. Indeed reporting the fishing effort outside the MPA can instead make this measure ineffective or deleterious. The adult population were generally in more concentrated areas and included in the spatial range of juveniles. These common areas of essential habitat (breeding and nursery) may be potentially interesting to protect a single species . However, the heterogeneity of distributions of a species to another involves the introduction of very sparse areas, making the management difficult. However an area of ​​reasonable size has been identified, covering 20% ​​of the population of each species and representative of the diversity of bottom habitats in the region.

Une approche modélisante du potentiel TSL le long des plages du golfe du Lion est proposée sur la base du modèle d’ingénierie côtière Unibest-LT (Deltares). Sont exploités en entrée de modèle des données de houle de 1979 à 2010 (base de données ANEMOC-2 produite par le Cerema à partir d’une approche modélisante également) conjointement à des données topo-bathymétriques haute résolution LiDAR (base de données Litto3D produite conjointement par le SHOM et l’IGN). Le potentiel de TSL annuel est calculé pour 157 profils topo-bathymétriques couvrant l’ensemble des ∿250 km de littoral étudié dans ce travail de thèse.En premier lieu, le potentiel de TSL annuel résultant est d’abord estimé sur la base d’une année de houle type, établie à partir de 31 ans de houle horaire entre 1979 et 2010, puis pour chaque année entre 1979 et 2010. La différence observée avec le potentiel de TSL annuel résultat « type » permet de discrétiser les années en trois situations : anomalie positive, anomalie négative ou proche de la normale. Par ailleurs, un lien est clairement établi entre la variabilité interannuelle identifiée dans les simulations et les tempêtes. En outre, cette analyse interannuelle menée à l’échelle des plages du golfe du Lion amène à affiner les limites des cellules de dérive littorale potentielle, pour lesquelles trois scénarios d’organisation sont établis : habituel, occasionnel, exceptionnel.Enfin, le lien entre potentiel de TSL annuel résultant et variations du rivage est testé, conformément au large corpus bibliographique qui existe à ce sujet en ingénierie côtière. Cependant, les résultats s’avèrent décevants : une remise en cause de la théorie sous-jacente est proposée. / Wave data from 1979 to 2010 derived from a large-scale modelling database (ANEMOC-2) were used together with high resolution topo-bathymetric LiDAR data as inputs within the coastal engineering model Unibest-LT (Uniform Beach Sediment - Longshore Transport). The spatial and temporal coverage of these data offers a unique opportunity to carry out a comprehensive study of potential longshore transport intensity and direction.Over the 250 km-long stretch of coast covering the study area, the longshore drift directions computed with the 30-year mean wave climate closely match those of previous findings based on experimental geomorphological methods.Potential LST rates are then computed for each year individually over the 1979-2010 period. Deviations from the 30-year mean LST rates are used to identify 3 cases: positive anomalies, negative anomalies and close to normal. Storm contributions to longshore transport are brought into light: inter-annual variability in LST rates is strongly correlated to >4 m waves occurences.The relationship between LST rates gradients alongshore and shoreline changes is also investigated : despite the significant amout of papers on that subject, results showned in this thesis appears to be disappointing.In the light of these findings, coastal drift cell boundaries are defined taking into account the 30-year mean potential LST rates and the inter-annual variability. This thesis thus highlights the good potential of longshore transport modelling in yielding coherent results that are essential from a shoreline management perspective for future coastal sustainability.

La compréhension et la gestion des écosystèmes requièrent un maximum de connaissances sur les dynamiques de populations. Depuis 2007, la taille de la sardine (Sardina pilchardus) et de l’anchois (Engraulis encrasicolus) dans le Golfe du Lion a chuté tandis qu’au même moment, la population de sprat, qui a une faible valeur commerciale, a fortement augmenté. Les très forts enjeux économiques autour de ces espèces ont conduit au projet de recherche « EcoPelGol » dans lequel se situe cette étude portant sur les changements observés. La condition corporelle, la croissance ainsi que la structure en âge et en taille des sardines, des anchois et en partie des sprats ont été analysées sur les vingt dernières années. Alors qu’en 2005-2007, la situation semblait optimale pour les anchois et les sardines (taille et condition élevées), celle-ci s’est considérablement dégradée depuis 2008, l’anchois et la sardine étant significativement plus petits et plus maigres. De plus, une diminution de l’âge et de la croissance a été observée chez la sardine. Nous avons ensuite caractérisé les fluctuations des débarquements historiques (1865-2013) de l’anchois, de la sardine et du maquereau. La chute récente des débarquements a été mise en exergue, avec une situation inédite où la sardine est actuellement moins débarquée qu’avant les années 60, date à laquelle les débarquements ont fortement augmenté suite à un accroissement conséquent de l’effort de pêche. Bien que la majorité de la variance dans les séries de débarquements semble être engendré par les changements de l’effort de pêche, nous avons également observé une relation entre les débarquements et l’indice « Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation » pour l’anchois et la sardine et avec le « Western Mediterranean Oscillation » pour l'anchois. Dans une troisième analyse, la pression de prédation du thon rouge sur l’anchois, la sardine et le sprat a été estimée pour voir si l’accroissement de la population du thon depuis 2007 lié à de nouvelle mesures de gestion a pu impacté les poissons petits pélagiques. Mais bien que la sardine et l’anchois soient les proies principales du thon, moins de 2% de leurs populations ont été consommés chaque année entre 2011-2013, et ce, sans sélectivité sur la taille de ces proies de la part du thon. Ainsi, le thon rouge n’a pas pu avoir un impact significatif sur la structure en taille ou les abondances des petits pélagiques. Dans le chapitre final, nous avons considéré la possible influence de pathogènes. Des analyses globales dirigées vers la détection des parasites, des bactéries et des virus ont été effectuées tout au long de l’année et ont révélées la présence ponctuelle et relativement faible de bactéries des genres Tenacibaculum et Vibrio et celle systématique de microparasites. Malgré l’impossibilité d’exclure leur pathogénicité, aucune lésion tissulaire n’a été attribuée à ces organismes, réduisant fortement la probabilité d’une épizootie. Nos travaux indiquent que les mécanismes « top-down », des pathogènes ou encore la pêche ne sont probablement pas les facteurs clés pour expliquer les changements observés chez les poissons petites pélagiques. À l'opposé, certains paramètres environnementaux ont expliqué une partie de la variabilité dans la condition corporelle des poissons et leurs débarquements. Nous concluons donc qu’un contrôle « bottom-up », et particulièrement un changement dans la quantité et/ou qualité du zooplancton, peut être la cause des phénomènes dans les populations des poissons petits pélagiques. Si cette thèse permet une avancée dans la compréhension de leur dynamique, des analyses complémentaires seront nécessaires pour confirmer notre hypothèse principale et pour estimer l’influence des autres facteurs agissant potentiellement en synergie. / Knowledge on population dynamics is key to the improvement of management and the understanding of ecosystem functioning. Since 2007, the size of sardine (Sardina pilchardus) and anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean) has severely decreased, which has strongly affected the fisheries. Simultaneously, the commercially uninteresting sprat population increased remarkably. As the economic and ecological stakes are high, the EcoPelGol project of which this PhD is part was established. We first analysed the sardine, anchovy and (partially) sprat population for changes in body condition, growth and size and age structure over the last 20 years. We concluded that sardine and anchovy have had from 2008 onwards a distinctively poor body condition and size, and that sardine have also showed a concurrent decrease in age and growth. In contrast, both species were in optimal and average “health” during 2005-2007 and 1992-2004, respectively. Subsequently, historical landings of sardine, anchovy and mackerel were considered (1865-2013), of which the fluctuations were characterised and statistically related to environmental variables. The recent dramatic landings decrease was put into perspective, as for example sardine is now for the first time landed less than before the 1960s, when a big probably effort-related upsurge occurred. Despite most of the variability being explained by what looks like changes in fishing effort, a link was found between the sardine and anchovy landings and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and the anchovy landings and the Western Mediterranean Oscillation. Next, as a management associated bluefin tuna increase also happened since 2007, its predation pressure on all three small pelagic species was estimated. We concluded that although sardine and anchovy are bluefin tuna’s main prey items, less than 2% of each population (including sprat) was consumed annually during 2011-2013 and that there was no clear size selectivity. Thus, tuna could not have had a noticeable impact on the population abundance or size structure of the small pelagics. In the last chapter, an epizootic disease was considered. An all-embracing approach directed towards the all-year round detection of both general and specific parasites, bacteria and viruses revealed the mostly temporal and not necessarily high occurrence of only three groups: microparasites, Vibrio spp. (sometimes determined as Vibrio alginolyticus) and bacteria of the genus Tenacibaculum. Although we could not exclude their pathogenicity, significant tissue damage at a cellular or macroscopic level was never observed, making the disease hypothesis less likely. Thus, we considered several hypotheses and indicated that top-down control (through Bluefin tuna predation), pathogens and fisheries are unlikely to be main drivers. In contrast, some environmental parameters explained a part of the variability in fish condition and landings. After a final discussion on all probable theories we concluded that a bottom-up control, such as especially a planktonic change in quantity and/or quality, might be on the basis of the observed changes. Although this work is a great step towards the understanding of the small pelagic dynamics in the Gulf of Lions, further investigations will still be needed to confirm our main hypothesis and to estimate the potential synergetic effect of other drivers.