Terrestrial macrocosms
This technical platform has been operational since 1994. The terrestrial macrocosms make it possible to replicate animal populations and their associated communities in semi-natural conditions for the purposes of experimentation in population biology. The problems of managing protected areas and species at risk of extinction depend on studying the role of social structures and individual responses in the persistence of species. The plateau offers the technical means to replicate in semi-natural conditions small populations of lizards whose demographic, social and genetic structure and environmental conditions can be manipulated. The technical platform thus allows the study of ecological and evolutionary responses in small, complete and partially autonomous terrestrial communities. This experimental work is coupled with a modelling work. The construction of terrestrial macrocosms was financed by the Ministry of Research, ANR, CNRS and the Ile-de-France Region.
