Presentation seminar for the EMERGE and SYLVABIOM projects

Posted on by

You are cordially invited to attend all or part of this presentation seminar supported by Labex ARBRE

Conference room at INRA Nancy center, Champenoux

18 September 2013, 10h00 – 18h00
19 September 2013,  8h30 – 16h00

_______________________________________

Agenda

Wednesday – September 18, 2013

10h Welcome coffee
10h30 – 11h30Outline of Emerge, objectives and database.
11h30 -13h : Volume models : total volume, stem volume, coefficients of expansion, bark coefficients.
13h-14h :  Lunch break at the cantine
14h-14h30 : Initial context perspectives : resource potential, population potential
14h30-15h30 : Scanner and fresh weight density
15h30-16h:  Coffee break
16h-18h : Ground-based laser and outdoor demo followed by ;

  • volume estimations and biomechanics
  • uses pertaining to stock
  • Computree project platform and algorithmic developments

_______________________________________
Thursday,  September 19, 2013

8h30-10h : Models of biomass and mineralomass
10h-10h30 : Coffee break
10h30-13h : Sylvabiom

  • Context and results of TtCR production of Poplars, Willow and Black Locust over four seasons of vegetation.
  • Variability and plasticity of the efficiency of the use of water and nitrogen in the Willow family grown in TtCR.
  • DNA Methylation, a descriptor of suitability for producing biomass in TtCR

13h-14h : Lunch break in the cantine
14h-16h : Sylvabiom : potential for total biomass production of fast-growing woody species cultivated in short-rotation trees.

16h-16h30 :  Coffee break and closing

_______________________________________

LABEX Annual Meeting

Posted on by

Conference Room –  INRA Nancy Center, Champenoux

21 October 2013,  08h00 – 17h45

 

The primary objective of this meeting will be to present the projects awarded funding by the Labex call for proposals in 2012.  It will aim to highlight and discuss the most noteworthy achievements during the first year of Labex ARBRE, specific to research units and those in each thematic area (Research, Valuation, Training-Dissemination).  Projects selected for funding from the 2013 call for proposals will also be presented.  The day will end with a strategy discussion moderated by project leaders from each thematic area who will focus on how to strengthen relationships between thematic actions and areas of research.

For the detailed meeting agenda please click here – Agenda

Science, precautionary principles, place of the future

Posted on by

Francis Martin, Director of LabEx ARBRE and researcher with the IAM unit, participated recently in a meeting with the President of the Republic and the Ministers in charge of research and ecology. The meeting was entitled “Science, precautionary principles, place of the future”.

At a luncheon, five researchers were invited to give their views on the consequences of the application of the principle of precaution on scientific activities in different fields: biology, genetic, ecology, climate change and nuclear physics. Exchanges were designed to support the reflection of the Executive office on the implementation of this principle written into law February 2, 1995.

Joining Francis Martin were guests Edouard Brézin (physicist, president of the Academy of Sciences), Gilles Bœuf (biologist, president of the national Museum of natural history), Jean Jouzel (climatologist, Chairman of the High Council on science and technology) and Eva Pebay-Peyroula (biologist, former President of the ANR). The Ministers in charge of higher education and research (Geneviève Fioraso) and ecology (Philippe Martin) also attended the meeting which took place on Tuesday, August 20 at the Elysee.

EFI 20 Years Science and Policy Forum

Posted on by

Hundreds of people from all over Europe and beyond are expected in Nancy the week of 23-27 September to celebrate 20 years of forestry research in Europe.

Program highlights of the week will include the forum “Our forests in the 21st century – ready for risks and opportunities?” on Wednesday, 25 September,  followed on September 26 by the session entitled “Risks to European Forests – What added value can a European Forest Risk Facility provide?”. Both will take place at the Palais des Congrès in Nancy.

Featured guest speakers confirmed for September 25 will include the prestigeous Prof. Dr. Eduardo Rojas Briales (FAO), Dr. Janez Potočnik (Commissioner for the environment, European Commission), Mr. Kriton Arsenis (European Parliament) and Ms. Jan McAlpine (United Nations Forest Forum).

Also worth noting is a round table discussion for the general public on Tuesday, 24 September, at 8 pm at the Museum-Aquarium in Nancy (“Forests of Europe: ready for the future?”) and two field trips planned for Friday, September 27 (one half-day morning outing to Champenoux and a second scheduled for the afternoon to the Haye forest).

Finally, several parallel meetings and satellite events will be held during this eventful week. More information can be found on the official event website (also in English).

This event is co-organized by the European Forest Institute (EFI) through its regional office for Central Europe and the European Observatory of Forests (EFICENT-OEF), the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), the University of Lorraine, AgroParisTech, GIP Ecofor and Labex ARBRE.

An INRA-JGI Bastille Day tribute!

Posted on by

In the spirit of Bastille Day, longtime collaborator Francis Martin, head of the Lab of Excellence for Advanced Research on the Biology of Tree and Forest Ecosystems at INRA, the French National Institute of Agricultural Research, enthuses (in French with English subtitles) about the Joint Genome Institute’s contributions to the field of fungal genomics.

http://today.lbl.gov/2013/07/12/bastille-day-special-vive-la-collaboration-scientifique/

Labex Seminars on the Ecophysiology of Trees

Posted on by

Friday, July  12, 13h30 – 15h30 (INRA Champenoux), Conference Room

On July 12, we are pleased to welcome to INRA two renowned researchers in the field of tree ecophysiology; Annie Desrochers of the Univeristy of Québec and Andrew Merchant from the Australian Research Council and the University of Sydney.  Both will present their research in the conference room at INRA.

13h30 : Annie Desrochers,  professor at the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Research Institute of Forests (IRF), The Research and Forestry Development unit of Abitibi-Témiscamingue (URDFAT),  will present her work on root links between trees.

Presentation summary:

Trees are traditionally considered as distinct entities competing with each other for resources. However, many tree species in North America are interconnected through their roots, which challenges classic notions of forest ecology and competition. Indeed, root connections allow trees to share water, sugars and secondary compounds.  Throughout the years we have excavated the root systems of many tree species (trembling aspen, balsam poplar, jack pine, red pine, black spruce) and found high levels of root grafting or parental root connections for species regenerating through root suckering. We found that responses to defoliation (tree level) or to commercial thinning (stand level) could be affected by root connections.  For a clonal species (trembling aspen), we also found that root grafting could be responsible for the conservation of dead genotypes underground, until the next disturbance allows them to come back through root suckering. These examples show us that trees can directly affect the physiology of other trees through root connections, and suggest that stands with trees growing on communal root systems could be considered as single organisms. Hence, root connections are important in forest ecology and should be taken into account in forest management.

Speaker profile : http://chaireafd.uqat.ca/chercheurs/PageIndividus_f.asp?IdCollaboration=25

____________________________________________________________________________

 

14h15: Andrew Merchant, of the University of Sydney and an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery postdoctoral fellow in plant metabolism, while visiting Nancy, will give a presentation called “Transcriptome responses to long term water deficit among eucalypt species of contrasting ecotype”.

Speaker profile : http://sydney.edu.au/agriculture/staff/find_staff_member/staff_profiles/andrew_merchant.shtml

All are welcome!

Labex Seminars in Forest Biomechanics and Modeling

Posted on by

Wednesday 10, 13h30 to 15h30 (INRA Champenoux), Room “Tilleul”

13h30: Rosario Sierra de Grado

“Straight  and twisted-stemmed populations in Pinus pinaster: different biomechanical capabilities? Stems, roots and biomass partitioning in tilted plants”

14h30: Felipe Bravo

“Modelling Growth and Yield of Pinus sylvestris and Pinus pinaster in Central Spain: individual non-spatial approach, intengration on decision support systems and future integration of climate variable”

Universidad de Valladolid, Palencia campus, Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute, University of Valladolid & INIA Madrid

—

Rosario is a forest geneticist, specialist of maritime pine breeding. She introduced biomechanical concepts and experiments in tree breeding research (Sierra de Grado et al. Trees 1997, Tree physiology 2008). She was the dean of the forest engineering program (bachelor and master level) of University of Valladolid on Palencia campus. They work in the . Both Her visit is motivated by opportunities of collaboration between our national projects (LABEX WADE task 2, ANR Tropic) and a national Spanish project.

Felipe Bravo is a forest scientist (interests in growth modeling, inventory, adaptive silviculture and forest management, see for example Bravo, F. et al. 2011 Growth and yield models in Spain: Historical overview, Contemporary Examples and perspectives. Forest Systems 20(2):315-328). He is responsible of the new master Erasmus Mundus Program MEDFOR « Mediterranean Forestry ». As Rosario, he was the dean of the forest engineering program (bachelor and master level) of University of Valladolid on Palencia campus. His visit is motivated by his participation in the thesis committee of Vivien Bonnesoeur. He is more generally involved in forest growth modeling, with Mathieu Fortin and Ruben Manso, in the framework of the ANR FOR-WIND. Felipe is also the supervisor with Heinrich Spiecker of the phD of Jorge Olivar, welcomed in LERFoB in 2012 in the Xylosciences platform.

Mining the Matsutake Genome

Posted on by
Professor Jianping (JP) Xu from the Department of Biology of McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) is hosted by the Ecogenomics team (IaM department) for a 3-month sabbatical stay. He will investigate the genome polymorphism of the famous, iconic Tricholoma matsutake. JP is funded by the LabeX ARBRE.

SYMWOOD

Posted on by

On June 25th, teams of the LERMAB and IaM Departments involved in the LabeX project entitled SYMWOOD (Comparative Genomics and Biochemistry of SYMbiosis and WOOD decay machineries in Fungi) have discussed their most recent results and planned future experiments.