BIOTROP
(Ecology of Tropical Forest)

Research :
       Objectives are focused on the effects of natural (vegetal succession, climatic changes) and anthropogenic disturbances (logging, fragmentation, hunting) on the dynamic of indicator groups or vegetal and animal functional groups in the tropical forest, e.g. primary and secondary seed dispersers, decomposer insects, undergrowth plants and growth models of trees. We analyse the impact of disturbance in term of change in specific diversity, assemblages’ composition and consequences on the stability of interactions (e.g. plants – frugivorous vertebrates). We use data bases, collections, and temporal monitoring of some assemblages to analyse the role of demographic and historic processes on the evolution of biodiversity.

Study areas : French Guiana, Suriname, Rwanda, Centrafrican Republic, China, Gabun, Thailand, Indonesia

Key words : Biodiversity, climatic change, tropical forest, functional group

Manager : François FEER (CR1, CNRS)   Patrick BLANC (CR1, CNRS)   Pierre-Michel FORGET (MCM1, MNHN)   Bernard RIERA (CR1, CNRS)   Jean-François PONGE (EM, MNHN)   Irène MENDOZA SAGRERA (postdoctoral fellow)   Sandrine SALMON (IE,MNHN)      PhD Students   Olivier BOISSIER   André NDUWIMANA   Jules Romain NGUEGUIM