Pierre-Luc Chagnon

Pierre-Luc Chagnon is an Associate Professor at the Université de Montréal, affiliated with the Department of Biological Sciences (Faculty of Arts and Sciences) and the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale. His research focuses on plant-microorganism interactions, particularly mycorrhizal fungi, and their impacts on terrestrial ecosystem functioning. He employs observational and experimental approaches, integrating ecological network theory and behavioral ecology to address fundamental and applied questions in plant and microbial ecology.

His research interests include predicting the utility of microbial traits for phytotechnologies (e.g., phyto-remediation, green roofs, and riverbank restoration). Key projects involve understanding how mycorrhizal fungal traits influence ecosystem processes, green roof microbial community structures, and soil fertility impacts on plant root traits.

Chagnon has secured grants from institutions like the CRSNG (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) and FRQNT (Québec Nature and Technologies Fund). He leads and collaborates on projects such as 'How mycorrhizal fungal traits influence ecosystem functioning' and 'Studying resilient Labrador plants for erosion control.'

He supervises multiple PhD and Master’s students, including work on mycorrhizal availability, green roof plant performance, and soil microbial predation effects. His lab is part of the CSBQ (Québec Biodiversity Science Center) and IRBV (Plant Biology Research Institute).