Welcome to
the new european Ecotron of Montpellier

The European Ecotron is a research platform dedicated to the study of ecosystems and organisms in the context of environmental changes(UPS 3248)

. The project was initiated by the Life Sciences department of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). It is currently co-funded by CNRS and the Languedoc Roussillon region and the city of Montpellier. It is one of the main research platform of the ANR VALIDATE

This structure is ready to study ecosystems, organisms and biodiversity responses to environmental changes in order to tackle the major issues related to sustainable development . This  facility bridges the gap between the complexity of real field communities and the simplicity of laboratory or greenhouse experiments.

Biodiversity, together with environmental conditions, is a key factor in the control of ecosystems biogeochemical cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, water…).The research topics to be addressed in the Ecotron include fundamental questions about the role of biodiversity in ecosystem processes as well as more applied aspects aiming at optimizing ecosystem services.

The Ecotron provides a key link between the analysis of elementary functions in simplified conditions and the in situ study of ecosystems. By confining ecosystems in chambers, it is possible to simulate a broad range of environmental conditions (temperature, water conditions, CO2, pollutants...) and to measure accuratly the main fluxes generated by the ecosystem, as well as to close the elements (carbon, nitrogen….) budgets.
It is open for all international scientists who are working in Ecology Research.