I'm a paleoecologist looking at plant micro-fossils, namely pollen grains and biogenic silica bodies (phytoliths) that accumulate in present-day modern soils and may be found preserved in fossil sediments. I'm interested in understanding the interactions between plants, vegetation and climate, vegetation and climate in the past, pollen and phytolith analyses.

Early in my career, I conducted research on the pollen signal of the forests of the Western Ghats in South India and, more recently, on the palaeo-vegetation of palaeo-anthropological sites in Africa where ancient hominid remains such as bones and stone tools have been found. I also conduct studies on modern soils and plant specimens to understand the possibilities and limitations of these microfossils to reproduce the composition and structure of present-day vegetation, and/or environmental and climatic characteristics.

Gibert C., Vignoles A., Contoux C., Banks W.E., Barboni D., Boisserie J-R., Chavasseau O., Fluteau F., Guy F., Noûs C., Otero O., Sepulchre P., Souron A., Ramstein G.Climate-inferred distribution estimates of mid-to-late Pliocene hominins. Global and Planetary Change 210 (2022) 103756.

Cornu, S., J-D. Meunier, C. Ratié, F. Ouegraogo, Y. Lucas, P. Merdy, D. Barboni, C. Devigne, D. Borschneck, O. Grauby, C. Keller. Allophane, a significant soil pool of silicon for plants. Geoderma412 (2022) 115722

B. Bourel, D. Barboni, G.M. Ashley, A.M. Shilling. Vegetation dynamics of KisimaNgeda freshwater spring reflect hydrological changes in northern Tanzania over the past 1200 years: Implications for paleoenvironmental reconstructions at paleoanthropological sites. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 580, pp.110607. ⟨10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110607⟩

Nutz A., Schuster M., Barboni D., Gassier G., Van Bocxlaer B., Robin C., Ragon T., Ghienne J-F., Rubino J-L. Plio-Pleistocene sedimentation in West Turkana (Turkana Depression, Kenya, East African Rift System): paleolake fluctuations, paleolandscapes and controlling factors. Earth-Science Reviews211, 103415.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103415

Couvreur T.L.P., Dauby G., Blach-Overgaard A., Deblauwe V., Dessin S., Droissart V., Hardy O.J., Harris D.J., Janssens S.B., Ley A.C., Mackinder B.A., Sonké, B., Sosef M.S.M., Stévart T., Svenning J.-C., Wieringa J.J., Faye, A., Missoup, D., Tolley, K.A., Nicolas, V., Ntie S., Fluteau F., Robin C., Guillocheau F., Barboni, D.,Sepulchre, P. (2020). Tectonics, climate and the diversification of the tropical Africanflora and fauna. Biological Reviews (doi: 10.1111/brv.12644)

Bourel B., R. Marchant, T. de Garidel-Thoron, M. Tetard, D. Barboni, Y. Gally, L. Beaufort, 2020. Automated recognition by multiple convolutional neural networks of modern, fossil, intact and damaged pollen grains. Computers & Geosciences140, pp.104498.⟨10.1016/j.cageo.2020.104498⟩.

Jouquet, P., Jamoteau, F., Majumdar, S., Podwojewski, P., Nagabovanalli, P., Caner, L., Barboni, D., Meunier, J.-D., 2020. The distribution of Silicon in soil is influenced by termite bioturbation in South Indian forest soils. Geoderma 372, 114362.