RI LIFE INRA-AQUAPOLE
Agnes Bardonnet
64310 St-Pée-sur-Nivelle
France
U3E, INRA/AFB
65, rue de St Brieuc
35 042 Rennes cedex,
France
Freshwater Biological Station, AgroCampusOuest, Rennes, Brittany, France.
Description of the infrastructure: LIFE-PEARL is part of INRA, a multi-site infrastructure offering micro- meso- and macrocosms for the implementation of scientific programs focused on aquatic ecology. Facilities located on Rennes Agro-Campus consist of a large-scale mesocosm platform and 2 indoor facilities. The large-scale mesocosm platform includes 7 series of 90 mesocosms (2-30m3) and allows for extremely high replication of experimental treatments. Pond communities can be generated ranging from invertebrates to fish for studying their response to external natural or anthropogenic forcing. Mesocosms are also equipped for ecotoxicology experiments and manipulation of invasive species. The 2 indoor-facilities are organised in a series of 12 rooms (7 to 28m2) with accurate temperature, photoperiod and dissolved oxygen concentration control and manipulation features. Depending on requests and research programs, different types of structures (tanks, aquariums, crystallisers) can be installed.
Finally, at Le Rheu (5 km from Rennes) hosts 31 large earth ponds of various sizes (100, 250, 500 or 1000 m2) that are filled by pumping water from the nearby river and may be subdivided or installed with cages.
Our platforms are engineered for versatility and adaptation to a large range of experimental designs.
The Rennes platform includes about 200 mesocosms (0.4 to 30 m3) and allows for a high replication of experimental treatments. We can reconstruct pond communities from invertebrates to fish to study their response to external forcing (natural or anthropogenic). Our mesocosms are also equipped for ecotoxicology experiments and manipulation of invasive species (we are accredited and master confinement and treatment procedures).
Additionally, a series of outdoor tanks are equipped for thermal experiments (up to 4°C above ambient temperature).
The mesocosm platform is complemented with an 800 m2 indoor microcosm (10-to-400 L) facility in which we can accurately manipulate environmental factors, and where we routinely culture a variety of organisms (algae, plants, plankton, invertebrates, amphibians, fish…).
Finally, at Le Rheu (5 km from Rennes) we further propose a series of large earth ponds of 100, 350, 500 or 1000 m3, which all may be subdivided or installed with cages.
- Temperature (including via thermistors)
- rain
- light
- photoperiod
- nutrients
- community structure (species and trophic composition)
- gas (CO2, O2)
Population dynamics and community change in response to environment (in particular for contaminants in the context of global change)
The LIFE Infrastructure is dedicated to the study of changes in freshwater ecosystems biodiversity with a primary interest in fish evolution and population dynamics. In this context, we also manipulate invertebrates, plants, mollusc, phyto and zooplankton. Major strengths of LIFE are its numerous facilities, the high expertise of its technical staff, and the possibility to perform experiments across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The main objective of RI LIFE is to decipher the effects of multiple environmental forcings on individuals, populations or communities in order to inform management decisions for fish populations.
Population and community dynamics, Environment, Ecotoxicology
In addition, the direct connection of PEARL and ECP, with ESE (https://www6.rennes.inra.fr/ese/) and ECOBIOP (https://ecobiop.com/) research teams ensures access to additional analytical platforms (environmental and analytical chemistry, trophic and molecular biology), as well as expertise of a broad scientific community.
