Experimental set-ups
Paracou Forest Experimental Research Station
The Paracou experimental forest station in French Guiana is a scientific facility contributing to the production of knowledge on the functioning of tropical forests.
Objectives
It is managed by CIRAD UMR EcoFoG and consists of a series of permanent forest plots (around 120ha) monitoring the growth dynamics of around 70,000 trees at annual or biennial intervals.
When the station was set up in the early 1980s, its main objective was applied research to define sustainable silvicultural management practices for the forestry sector in French Guiana.
In addition to this objective, which has been pursued to this day, a number of other research topics have been added :
- focusing on ecosystem dynamics and functioning,
- the role of forests in carbon sequestration,
- the study of biodiversity,
- the resilience of forests to human disturbance and climate change,
- methodological developments, such as the calibration of earth observation satellite missions
Installations
These new topics have lead to the installation of new facilities such as the Guyaflux flow tower (Inrae), fertilisation plots (Imbalance-P ERC project), a phenological observatory (PhenObs project) and inventories of undergrowth trees (Understory and Alt projects).
The Paracou system is part of several networks of permanent plots, both in French Guiana (Guyafor) and internationally (RainFor-ForestPlot, TmFO, ATBN, GFBI Science-i, GeoTrees, etc.), which allows for changes of scale in our understanding of the phenomena under study.
The wealth of data acquired and the facilities at Paracou make it an internationally attractive station.
