Lautaret garden
Introduction
The experimental platforms of the Lautaret garden correspond to a set of infrastructures (natural meadows, experimental garden, nursery, laboratories and air-conditioned greenhouses) allowing the study of alpine grassland ecosystems according to various themes (ecology, physiology, soils, water, snow, physics and atmosphere, geology, landscapes, social sciences....).
Proposed services
- Custom experimental services in natura;
- Data providing services;
- Sample providing services.
Types of observations
Biodiversity, Ecosystem management, Meteorology, Mulch, Soil chemistry, Soil physics, Surface flow, Vegetation, Water biology
Platforms
Experimental plateau
The site provides an experimental area in altitude for in situ studies and under partial environmental control. This area includes instrumented and/or electrified spots in the natural grassland area to allow measurements of the physical and physico-chemical parameters of the Alpine ecosystem under natural conditions or constraints (meteorology, nutrient flows etc).
Permanent mountain grassland
A wide grassland area of 19000 m² is owned by the Alpine Research Station. Each parcel unit represents 100-150 m². Electricity and solid structures including a mast are available at different locations into the natural area for safe and permanent measurements, even in wintertime. A meteorological station provides continous datas from the site, accessible on line. A climatic Station named ‘Fluxalp’ aims to better understand flux releases from a flat grass land area, in relation with meteorology.
Laboratories
The chalet Laboratoire is a laboratory of ecology and environmental sciences, located at 2100m altitude, at the Col du Lautaret.
The laboratory allows both the realization of scientific projects and the accommodation of students and their supervisors, in the very heart of a typically alpine area.
Research greenhouses
The research greenhouses are infrastructures dedicated to research on living beings in a controlled environment and to the production of plants for teaching, research and the collections of the Lautaret Alpine Garden.
