My research focuses on studying the mechanisms of soil macrofauna community assembly and quantifying their roles in ecosystem functioning, particularly organic matter dynamic. I use observational approaches at several scales (local, regional, continental and global) to describe the effects of vegetation, human activities, climate, soil, and their interactions on the taxonomic and functional diversity of invertebrates. I set up experiments under controlled conditions to link the identity, diversity, and traits of fauna species and assemblages with organic matter dynamic, particularly litter mass loss and microbial activity. I develop acoustic, video, and image monitoring tools to better understand the phenology and behavior of soil biota, as well as citizen science projects and various educational tools on soil ecology for schoolchildren and the general public.

Scientific Career

Since 2025 | Associate Professor at ECODIV Lab, Université de Rouen Normandie.

2022 – 2023 | Postdoctoral researcher at iDiv and University of Leipzig, lab of Prof N. Eisenhauer. Project SoilBON Earthworm.

2021 – 2022 | Temporary Associate Professor at ECODIV Lab, Université de Rouen Normandie.

2017 – 2020 | PhD student at CEFE, Université de Montpellier. Supervized by: Pr. T. Decaëns, Dr. J. Nahmani. Plant-soil macroinvertebrate interactions in European forests: community structuring and interactions with microfauna  in the context of climate change.

2015 – 2017 | Master Degree Biodiversity Ecology and Evolution, Université de Montpellier.
2^nd year internship: supervisors: Dr. A. Milcu and Dr. J. Nahmani. Effect of earthworms and plants on greenhouse-gas emissions from soil submitted to soil moisture fluctuations.
1^st year internship: supervisors: Dr. S. Coq and Dr. J. Nahmani. Functional description of a macro-decomposer community in a grassland under different land-use.

2012 – 2015 | Bachelor degree, Ecology and Biology of Organisms, Université de Montpellier. Voluntary intership: supervisors: Dr. J. Cortet. Collembola community composition at the landscape scale.

Grants, fellowships

2025 | PHENOSOL (Phenology of soil organisms through acoustic monitoring). French government PhD fellowpship.

2025 | FERTI (Effect of fertilization on humid grassland above- and belowground diversity). DREAL funding 450.000€

2024 | BASS (Biodiversitys and soil organism activity through acoustic monitoring). Normandy Region “Emergent” scheme funding 150.000€.

2022 | Short Terme Scientific Mission: Earthworm taxonomic and functional diversity in Europe. COST Action 19237 EUdaphobase, 3.000€

2021 | SOLALECOLE: investigating agroecological transitions potential in schools. 3rd Participatory Research Call “Co-Construction of Knowledge” (CO3), 20.000€

2019 | EcoFerme: gardening and composting with new technologies in schools. ANIMAFAC national call for student project, jury’s selection. 1.500€.

2018 | EcoFerme: gardening and composting with new technologies in schools. MUSE – CONNECT call for student project. 8.000€.

2017 | PhD individual scholarship from the University of Montpellier, France.

Papers in peer-reviewed journals

[17] Barantal S., Morillas L., Burton V. J., Sheard J. K., Rienks F., Auclerc A., Perrin W., Sandén T., Ganault P.. (accepted with minor revision). Citizen science contributions to soil biodiversity research and conservation: insights from European studies. Applied Soil Ecology.

[16] Goulpeau A., Hedde M., Ganault P., Lapied E., Maggia M.-E., Marcon E., Decaëns T. (2025). Biotic interactions and environmental filtering both determine earthworm alpha and beta diversity in tropical rainforests. Oecologia, 207:151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-025-05788-z.

[15] Lemoine M. Hättenschwiler S., Milcu A., Barantal S., Nahmani J., Ganault P. (2025). Persistent macrodetritivore functional diversity and identity effects on litter mass loss under drought in a Mediterranean forest understory model ecosystem. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 209 109918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109918

[14] Goulpeau A., Hedde M., Ganault P., Lapied E., Maggia M.-E., Marcon E., Decaëns T. (2025). Dissecting earthworm diversity in tropical rainforests. Ecography, 2025, 6. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.07697

[13] Bonfanti J., Potapov A. M., Angst G., Ganault P., Briones M. J. I. et al. (2024). Linking effect traits of soil fauna to processes of organic matter transformation. Functional Ecology, 39, 446-461. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14720

[12] Joimel S., Bonfanti J., Bahri J., Ganault P., Rakoto A., Redon P.-O., Cortet J. (2025). Resilience of Collembola communities to extreme drought is moderated by land use at a regional scale. Applied Soil Ecology, 205, 105751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2024.105751.

[11] Ganault, P., Ristok, C., Phillips, H. R. P., Hedde, M., et al. (2024). Soil BON Earthworm - A global initiative on earthworm distribution, traits and spatiotemporal diversity patterns. Soil organisms, 96(1), 47-60. https://doi.org/10.25674/362

[10] Ganault P., Nahmani J., Capowiez Y., Bertrand I., Buatois B., Shihan A., Fromin N., Milcu A (2024). Earthworms and plants can decrease soil greenhouse gas emissions by modulating soil moisture fluctuations and soil macroporosity in a mesocosm experiment. Plos One, 19 (2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289859

[9] Angst G., Potapov A., Joly F.-X., Angst Š., Frouz J., Ganault P., Eisenhauer N. (2024). Conceptualizing soil fauna effects on labile and stabilized soil organic matter. Nature Communications, 15, 5005. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49240-x

[8] Gabriac Q., Ganault P., et al. (2023). Environmental drivers of earthworm communities along an altitudinal gradient in the French Alps. European Journal of Soil Biology 116, 103477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2023.103477

[7] David J.-F., Coq S., Decaëns T., Ganault P., Hättenschwiler S., Nahmani J. (2023). Influence of tree species richness and identity on saprophagous macroarthropod abundance and species richness in European forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 534, 120862. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2023.120862

[6] Erktan A., Coq S., Blanchart E., Chevallier T., Trap J., Bernard L., Nahmani J., Hartmann C., Hedde M., Ganault P., Barot S., Cortet J. (2022). Biodiversité et structure physique des sols: une vision spatialisée du fonctionnement des sols. Etude et Gestion des Sols, 29, 153-167. https://hal.science/hal-03744198v1

[5]. Mathieu J., Antunes A. C., Barot S., Bonato Asato A. E., Bartz M. L. C., Brown G. G., Calderon-Sanou I., Deacëns T., Fonte S. J., Ganault P., et al. (2022). sOilFauna - a global synthesis effort on the drivers of soil macrofauna communities and functioning. Soil Organisms 94, 111-126. https://doi.org/10.25674/so94iss2id282

[4]. Coq S., Ganault P., Le Mer G. Nahmani J., Capowiez Y., Dignac M.-F., Rumpel C., Joly F.-X (2022). Faeces traits as unifying predictors of detritivore effects on organic matter turnover. Geoderma 422, 115940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.115940

[3]. Ganault P., Barantal S., Coq S., Hättenschwiler S., Lucas S., Decaëns T., Nahmani J (2022). Leaf litter morphological traits, invertebrate body mass and phylogenetic affiliation explain the feeding and feces properties of saprophagous macroarthropods. European Journal of Soil Biology 109, 103383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2021.103383 

[2]. Javelle A., Scheromm P., Ganault P., Muller B (2021). The representations of the soil by urban schoolchildren put to the test of gardening experiences. Etude et Gestion des Sols, 28, 219-233. https://hal.science/hal-03467024v1

[1]. Ganault P., Nahmani J., Hättenschwiler S. et al (2021). Relative importance of tree species richness, tree functional type, and microenvironment for soil macrofauna communities in European forests. Oecologia 196, 455–468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04931-w