Soil science
PhD, HDR, Research Scientist, IRD
Address: 14 avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, FRANCE
Phone: +33 (0)5 61 33 29 14
Email: alain.pierret|DONTWANTSPAM|@ird.fr
Main fields of research and expertise
Alain Pierret is a research scientist with over 25 years of experience in the fields of plant and soil sciences, environmental health, natural resources management and environmental archaeology. After working in Australia, for the CSIRO, Land and Water, from 1997 to 2003, Alain was appointed as a research scientist with IRD in December 2004 and has since then worked on various research projects mainly in Laos and Thailand. Alain holds an “Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches” from University P. & M. Curie, Paris. He has acted as an editor for the journal Plant and Soil for 10 years and has published over 70 scientific articles / book chapters among which 55 in peer-reviewed international journals (H-Index=19), more than 30 dealing with roots/soil structure. Alain also has supervised over 25 under- and post-graduate students, including 5 PhDs. His main research interests include the complex interactions between land use / land use change, plant growth and functioning, biogeochemical cycles and the occurrence/spread of contaminants.
Selected publications
LACOMBE G., VALENTIN C., SOUNYAFONG P., DE ROUW A., SOULILEUTH B., SILVERA N., PIERRET A., SENGTAHEUANGHOUNG O., RIBOLZI O., in press. Linking crop structure, throughfall, soil surface conditions, runoff and soil detachment: 10 land uses analyzed in Northern Laos. Science of the Total Environment. In press.
KIM, M., BOITHIAS, L., CHO, K.H., SILVERA, N., THAMMAHACKSA, C., LATSACHACK, K., ROCHELLE- NEWALL, E., SENGTAHEUANGHOUNG, O., PIERRET, A., PACHEPSKY, Y.A., RIBOLZI, O., (2017). Hydrological modeling of Fecal Indicator Bacteria in a tropical mountain catchment. Water Research 119, 102-113.
RIBOLZI O., EVRARD O., HUON S., DE ROUW A., SILVERA N., LATSACHACK K., SOULILEUTH B., LEFEVRE, I., PIERRET A., LACOMBE G., SENGTAHEUANGHOUNG O., VALENTIN C., 2017. From shifting cultivation to teak plantation: effect on overland flow and sediment yield in a montane tropical catchment, 2017. Scientific Reports, Nature, 7: 3987.
MANIVANH L, PIERRET A, RATTANAVONG S, KOUNNAVONGSA O, BUISSON Y, ELLIOTT I, MAEGHT L, XAYYATHIP K, SILISOUK J, VONGSOUVATH M, PHETSOUVANH R, NEWTON PN, LACOMBE G, RIBOLZI O, ROCHELLE-NEWALL E, DANCE DAB. 2017. Burkholderia pseudomallei in a lowland rice paddy: seasonal changes and influence of soil depth and physico-chemical properties. Scientific Reports, 7:3031
KIM J.H., FOURCAUD T., JOURDAN C., MAEGHT J.-L., MAO Z., METAYER J., MEYLAN L., PIERRET A., RAPIDEL B., ROUPSARD O., DE ROUW A., SANCHEZ M.V., WANG Y., STOKES A. 2017.Vegetation as a driver of temporal variations in slope stability: the impact of hydrological processes. Geophys. Res. Lett., 44 (10) (2017), pp. 4897-4907, 10.1002/2017GL073174
IMDIRAKPHOL S., ZAZZO A., AUETRAKULVIT P., TIAMTINKRIT C., PIERRET A., FORESTIER H., ZEITOUN V. (2017) The perforated stones of the Doi Pha Kan burials (Northern Thailand): A Mesolithic singularity? Comptes rendus Palevol (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2016.12.003
SISOUVANH P., TREO-GES V., HARTMANN C., PIERRET A., SENGKHRUA T., SUVANNANG N. (2017) A Soil Column-Based Experimental Design to Assess the Impact of Compost and Vermicompost Amendments on Maize Biomass. Asia-Pacific Journal of Science and Technology 22(1) : 1-13
BOITHIAS L., CHOISY M., SOULIYASENG N., JOURDREN M., QUET F., BUISSON Y, THAMMAHACKSA C., SILVERA N., LATSACHACK K, SENGTAHEUANGHOUNG O., PIERRET A., ROCHELLE-NEWALL E., BECERRA S., RIBOLZI O. (2016) Hydrological regime and water shortage as drivers of the seasonal incidence of diarrheal diseases in a tropical montane environment. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005195
RIBOLZI O, ROCHELLE-NEWALL E, DITTRICH S, AUDA Y, NEWTON PN, RATTANAVONG S, KNAPPIK M, SOULILEUTH B, SENGTAHEUANGHOUNG O, DANCE DAB, PIERRET A. (2016) Land use and soil type determine the presence of the pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei in tropical rivers. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/S11356-015-5943-z
PIERRET A., MAEGHT J.-L., CLEMENT C., MONTOROI J.-P., HARTMANN C., GONKHAMDEE S. (2016) Understanding deep roots and their functions in ecosystems – an advocacy for more unconventional research. Annals of Botany. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcw130
ROCHELLE-NEWALL E, VIGUIER M, THAMMAHACKSA C., SILVERA N., LATSACHACK K., DINH R.P., NAPORN P, SY H.T., SOULILEUTH B, HMAIMUM N., SISOUVANH P., ROBAIN H., JANEAU J.-L., VALENTIN C., BOITHIAS L., PIERRET A. (2016) Effect of land use and hydrological processes on Escherichia coli concentrations in streams of tropical, humid headwater catchments. Scientific Reports 6:32974. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep32974
MONTOROI J-P., PIERRET A., MAEGHT J.-L., CHINTACHAO W., CHENYAPANICH S., SRISUK K. 2016. Some Convincing Evidences of a Deep Root System Within an Interfluve Aquifer of Northeast Thailand. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science44:52057. doi:10.1088/1755-1315/44/5/052057
LACOMBE G., RIBOLZI O., DE ROUW A., PIERRET A., LATSACHACK K., SILVERA N., DINH R.P., ORANGE D., JANEAU J.-L., SOULILEUTH B., ROBAIN H., TACCOEN A., SENGPHAATHITH P., MOUCHE E., SENGTAHEUANGHOUNG O., DUC T.T., VALENTIN C. (2016). Contradictory hydrological impacts of afforestation in the humid tropics evidenced by long-term field monitoring and simulation modeling. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 2691–2704. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-2691-2016
PRIETO I., ROUMET C., CARDINAEL R., KIM J., MAEGHT JL, MAO Z., PORTILLO N., THAMMAHACKSA C., DUPRAZ C., JOURDAN C., PIERRET A., ROUPSARD O., STOKES A. Root community traits along a land use gradient: evidence of a community-level economics spectrum. Journal of Ecology (2015), 103: 361–373. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12351
KNAPPIK M., DANCE D., RATTANAVONG S., PIERRET A., RIBOLZI O., DAVONG V., SILISOUK J., VONGSOUVATH M. (2015) Evaluation of molecular methods to improve the detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei in soil and water samples from Laos. Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2015). http://aem.asm.org/content/early/2015/03/23/AEM.04204-14.abstract
SINGTHONG S, ZEITOUN V., PIERRET A., FORESTIER H. (2015) An outlook on prehistoric research in Laos: An inventory and some perspectives. Quaternary International. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.09.006
MAEGHT J.-L., GONKHAMDEE S., CLEMENT C., ISARANGKOOL NA AYUTTHAYA S., STOKES A., PIERRET A. (2015) Seasonal patterns of fine root production and turnover in a mature rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis Müll. Arg.) stand – differentiation with soil depth and implications for soil carbon stocks. Frontiers in Plant Science 6. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2015.01022
BUISSON Y., RATTANAVONG S., KEOLUANGKHOT V., VONGPHAYLOTH K., MANIVANH L., PIERRET A., MAEGHT J.-L., WUTHIEKANUN V., NEWTON P. and DANCE D. (2015) Melioidosis in Laos: Emergence or late discovery? In: Infectious diseases and socio-ecosystems – Socio-ecological dimensions of infectious diseases in Southeast Asia. Morand S., Dujardin J.-P., Lefait-Robin R. & Apiwathnasorn C. (Editors). Springer, Singapore. pp 89-104. ISBN 978- 981-287-526-6