Existing & forthcoming data
Here is just an overview of what we did so far and what we plan to do. In principle, we are or will be happy to share data. You are very welcome to propose new ideas and collaborations. If so, please refer to the guidelines.
Tree growth
Tree heigt is measured on the 36 innermost trees of each plot since 2008. Since 2014, we are also monitoring tree diameter in pine and birch. This will continue.
Contact: Céline Meredieu
Predation
We used fake caterpillars made with modelling clay to estimate predation rate. Most of predation marks were attributed to birds. The same is currently done in other TreeDivNet experiments.
Contact: Bastien Castagneyrol & Luc Barbaro
Ground beetles
Severin Jouveau's PhD project is about ground beetles. It addresses the effect of tree diversity and understorey vegetation on ground beetle diversity and activity. First results... very soon
Micro-ENVIRONMENT
We want to compare canopy light interception between monospecific and mixed stands of Pinus pinaster and Betula pendula using different approaches : dendrometric measurements, PAR sensors and hemispherical photographs. This will allow to better understand the effect of species diversity on light related mechanisms and stand productivity.
Contact: Marie Charru
Fine roots & mycorhizae
We aim at assessing both the production of fine roots and ectomycorrhizal hyphae and the degradation of plant litter (leaves or needles versus fine roots) in both mono-specific and mixed tree species plots. We mostly use ingrowth devices (root cores, hyphal mesh bags) and litter bags (leaves, roots) left on site for up to two years.
Contact: Mark Bakker (mark.bakker@inra.fr)
TLS & crown morphology
Some plots were digitised using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) by our partner Mathieu Dassot (www.ecosustain.fr/numerisation) to assess the effect of mixture and irrigation on crown morphology for birch and pine.
Contact: Mathieu Dassot (contact@ecosustain.fr)
Leaf microbiota
Can we detect a signature of drought stress in leaf microbiota? A combination of next-generation sequencing and machine-learning will be used to identify microbial bioindicators of drought stress in forest ecosystems.
Contact: Marine Cambon (marine·cambon@gmail·com) or Corinne Vacher (corinne· vacher@inra·fr)
Insect herbivory
We are interested in tree diversity effects on insect herbivory. We have been monitoring herbivory more or less every year since 2010 and will continue.
Contact: Bastien Castagneyrol
Understorey vegetation
Diversity, % cover and height of understorey vegetation were assessed twice, in 2012 and 2016.
Contact: Bastien Castagneyrol
TREE NUTRITION
We are addressing the effects of biodiversity and water supply on tree nutrition.
Contact: Laurent Augusto
FOLIAR PATHOGENS
We are interested in understanding tree diversity effects on oak powdery mildew (Erysiphe sp.), and how it interacts with insect herbivory at ORPHEE. In summer 2018, we assessed insect herbivory and oak powdery mildew co-infection on the same shoots, on Quercus robur and Quercus pyrenaica, in 3 irrigated and 3 non-irrigated blocks
Contact: Elsa Field (elsa.field＠plants.ox.ac.uk)
Ecophysiology
Does the identity of tree neighbours affects tree resistance to drought and sap flow? This is what we asked, while the temperature was 42°C (no kidding).
Contact: damien.bonal＠inra.fr or marie.charru＠agro-bordeaux.fr
