Presentation
Historical
UMR EcoFoG was created in 2002 by ENGREF (now AgroParisTech), CIRAD and INRA. It was created as part of an initiative to pool resources around shared research objectives on the forests of French Guiana. This approach was initiated a decade earlier within the Gis SILVOLAB, which brought together environmental management organizations, some of which have since become key partners of our UMR : OFB (formerly ONCFS), ONF, Parc Amazonien de Guyane (formerly the mission for the creation of the park).
Also members of Gis Silvolab, CNRS and the University of the West Indies and Guyana (UAG) joined UMR EcoFoG in 2006.
Since the creation of the University of French Guiana in 2015, UMR EcoFoG has 6 supervisory bodies - AgroParisTech, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, University of French Guiana, University of the West Indies - and hosts a cell of OFB researchers.
Objective
UMR EcoFoG has two main objectives:
- To develop original research in tropical ecology: diversity, functioning of tropical forests and responses to climatic and anthropogenic pressures.
- Stimulate innovation in the valorization of forest resources (development of innovative tools, methods, itineraries or products).
Since its inception, our unit has also provided training through research, including a second-year Master's course (BEE) and an AgroParisTech training module.
Research organization
The unit's research is organized into non-exclusive thematic areas. Each staff member chooses a main line of research and may choose one or more secondary lines of research. Depending on its needs, each area of research is supported by one or more of our laboratories and field experimental facilities.
- Axis BUT - Bio-discovery, Uses and Technologies
- Axis DFP - Plant development and plant functioning
- Axis EECM - Chemical and Molecular Ecology and Evolution
- Axis PAC - Community patterns and assemblages
- Axis PSE - Ecosystem processes and services
The FRT (Filières Ressources et Territoires) pole, which cuts across the 5 research areas, aims to optimize the applicability of our results to territories, and to act as a driving force within the research-innovation continuum in French Guiana.
Link: href="https://seafile.agroparistech.fr/f/28013ed412ed411097da/"
Quality policy
The UMR has a Unit Quality Representative (RQU), Éliane Louisianna, in charge of assessing and improving the quality of activities carried out within the UMR. All levels (scientific, technical or administrative) and all staff are involved. The aim is to encourage everyone to adhere to good practices over the long term, to ensure that our activities run smoothly and optimally.
Locations and facilities
Administration, classrooms, library and accommodation are located on the 15-hectare agronomy campus in the heart of Kourou.
The various laboratories (chemistry of natural substances, wood science, ecological genetics and genomics, interaction biology, ecophysiology, civil engineering) are located in Kourou on the agronomy campus, in the Pariacabo area and at the IUT, as well as in Cayenne (IRD) and Guadeloupe.
The teams have privileged access to the Paracou research station in Sinnamary. This site, managed by CIRAD, is organized into several study and experimental plots in primary and logged forests. The Guyaflux device, a 55-meter-high tower, is also installed here, enabling real-time measurement of gas exchanges between the tropical forest and the atmosphere. The depth of the time series and the scope of the data available make these devices unique in the tropical world.
Local, national and international collaborations
We are developing numerous interdisciplinary projects and close collaborations with other research units.
- The first circle of these collaborations is embodied by the Center for the study of Biodiversity in Amazonia (CEBA), which has been awarded the Laboratoire d'Excellence label and for which we are executive director.
Link: href="https://www.labex-ceba.fr/en/home/"
- A second level of collaboration is linked to our presence in various experimental networks.
- In French Guiana, we are part of the Guyafor permanent plot network.
- In Amazonia, we are a member of the Rainfor and ATDN networks, and on a pantropical scale we belong to the TmFO network of cultivated plots.
- We are also part of the European ICOS and international Fluxnet flow tower networks.