Instrumented sites and observatories

Presentation

The IMBE manages biodiversity observation and experimentation sites and platforms:

  • The platform CLIMED (Climate and Environment in the Mediterranean) located in the Étoile massif.
  • The Chêne Pubescent Observatory platform at the Haute-Provence Observatory (O3HP) located in St Michel de l'Observatoire.
  • The spatio-temporal observatory of biodiversity and the functioning of mountain socio-ecosystems (ORCHAMP).

Managers

Scientific Manager ORCHAMPS
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Technical manager ORCHAMPS
ITA-Engineer Administrative Technician
Scientific Manager CLIMED
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Scientific Manager O3HP
DR-Research Director
O3HP Technical Manager
ITA-Engineer Administrative Technician

Instruments and techniques

Photo gallery

A site for observing and experimenting with biodiversity and climate change.

The Climed site is located on municipal land belonging to the city of Marseille, which makes it available to researchers free of charge (precarious occupation agreement between Aix-Marseille Université and the city of Marseille's green spaces department).

This site enjoys a privileged geographical position: situated on the edge of one of France's largest conurbations (13th It is part of a natural site that is home to remarkable biodiversity, both in terms of the number of species it contains and their identity (numerous species of heritage interest protected at regional, national or European level). At the interface between the city and the hills around Marseilles, this site for observation and experimentation provides an opportunity to explore questions relating to the link between biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems, the sensitivity of species to climate change, the permeability of natural environments to exotic species and, more generally, the future of scrubland formations in the context of global change.

Located in the Etoile massif, this site has a gradient of plant diversity that makes it possible to test a number of hypotheses formulated on the basis of experimental approaches in controlled environments but never tested in a natural environment.

The O3HP website (Oak Observatory at OHP) is an experimental site, set up in 2009 on 100 ha at Saint Michel l'Observatoire (Alpes de Haute Provence), to study the dynamics, functioning and biodiversity of a Mediterranean downy oak forest in the face of climate change. For the Mediterranean region, this system complements the pioneering holm oak system set up by the CEFE at Puechabon near Montpellier and the Aleppo pine system at Roquefort la Bedoule set up by the INRA.

O3HP is an official member of the AnAEE-France, AnAEE-ERIC, SEE-life of the CNRS Ecology and Environment Institute and TEMPO networks.

The system is organised around an experimental platform installed in a plot of Pubescent Oak (Quercus pubescens), accompanied by Montpellier maples (Acer monspessulanum) :
1. A system of instrumented gateways organised in the form of a cross, with each branch 10m long and installed at 2 heights: 0.80m and 3.5m, allowing easy access to the canopy and lower strata without disturbing the ground.
2. A rain exclusion system covering approximately half of the plot (300 m2) and designed around a system of unrolling tarpaulins to intercept rainfall and a sprinkler system to redistribute it at will. This makes it possible to reconstitute a rainfall pattern in the forest plot studied that is close to that predicted by climate models for the coming decades, based on a fall in rainfall of the order of 30 to 40%. When it rains, and at precise times defined by the chosen model, the curtains folded along the metal structure covering the canopy and the walkways crossing it automatically unfold, thus limiting the incidental rainfall. The biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of the rain exclusion zone and the nearby control zone can then be compared to understand the impact of climate change on this Mediterranean forest ecosystem.
3. A network of sensors (T°, humidity, at different ground and canopy levels, sap flow, etc.), providing real-time information on meso- and microclimatic conditions and tree activity.


LO3HP is therefore a genuine field tool with strong scientific potential, constituting a shared platform between different laboratories and widely open to the scientific community.

This programme brings together atmospheric physicists, astrophysicists, physiologists and ecologists, with strong interaction between OHP staff and those of the Ecology or Environment laboratories (IMBE, CEREGE, etc.) to optimise the management of the databases... collected in very large numbers.

The O3HP is integrated on the same OHP site for :
-  The Gérard Mégie Geophysical Station: measurements of stratospheric O3 by Lidar (2-80 km) and measurements by weekly balloon soundings of the O3 profile between 0-35 km, total aerosols in the vertical column, UV radiation and stratification of the temperature and wind of the atmosphere).
-  The ICOS station: measurements of concentrations (10 m, 50 m, 100 m) and flows of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, CO, H2O). The ICOS station is equipped with a Lidar to measure the planetary boundary layer (70m-4km) and is also designed to measure aerosols.
-  The AirPaca pollution monitoring station: continuous measurements of O3, NOx and PM10 and PM2.5 particles at canopy level (5 m).
The COOPERATE database set up at O3HP enables effective data interoperability and is a major asset for this complementary approach.

Setting up the Ventoux transect as part of the observatory ORCHAMP and a collaboration between the Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie marine et continentale (IMBE, UMR Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse (UAPV), CNRS, IRD), the Écologie des forêts méditerranéennes research unit (INRA-URFM), the Entomology and Mediterranean Forest Experimental Unit (INRA-UEFM), the Alpine Ecology Laboratory (LECA, CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont-Blanc), the Syndicat Mixte d'Aménagement et d'Équipement du Mont Ventoux (SMAEMV) and the Office National des Forêts (ONF).

Mont Ventoux is one of the latest transects to be included in the Alpine Workshop Zone's observatory of the relationship between climate, man, agro-sylvo-pastoral environments in the Alps (ORCHAMP). Including Mont Ventoux in the long-term monitoring of plant and soil biodiversity for this observatory is the result of collaboration between the community of ecologists and foresters at IMBE, LECA and INRA.

The Ventoux, the Giant of Provence, is an original mountain range rising to an altitude of almost 2,000 metres, at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and Alpine climates. It is the most westerly massif in France's Southern Alps, an Alpine bastion in Provence. It is an ideal observation site, rich in naturalist knowledge and monitoring sites, particularly concerning the imprint of past and modern man on his environment.

The selection of ORCHAMP sites is based on a stratified sampling of the French Alps according to climate and topography. The six plots on the southern slopes of the Ventoux were installed in May 2018. The soil, vegetation and tree protocols were validated and implemented and completed during the first half of September 2018. The IMBE - INRA collaboration is making the most of the skills of each team while allowing others to learn. The soil samples are now ready to be sequenced at LECA.

The northern slope will be described and monitored by five plots to be set up in 2019. The IMBE-INRA-LECA-SMAEMV-ONF collaboration continues and there is no doubt that the Ventoux will be an essential element in understanding the structure and evolution of human-biodiversity relationships in the Alps.

The other ORCHAMP sites that saw the light of day in 2018: the Pic de Bure in Dévoluy, the Pic Ombière in the upper Clarée valley, the Plan de l'Aiguille in the Mont Blanc massif and the Col de la Bonette (Saint-Etienne-de-Tinée side).