Equipments projects

PYR-IRMS isotopes H and O
Renewal of existing equipment
2027

• High-Temperature Pyrolyzer with Liquid Analyzer coupled to an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (Pyr-IRMS)
• d18O and dD of liquid samples in AN or enriched from forest or aquatic ecosystems (waters extracted from wood, leaves, soils, free waters, rain, throughfall...)
   

Objectives:

• strategies for water acquisition by the tree (hydraulic lift and inter-species competitions)
• species of interest in assisted migration strategies or the evaluation of site effects (topography, soil depth, preferential flows) on access to water resources and nutrients
• benefit of mixtures of forest, forage, and cereal species in accessing deep water during periods of drought within the framework of agroforestry projects
• better biochemical understanding of the mechanisms of hydrogen isotopic fractionation between water, sugars, and plant cellulose in constrained climatic and hydrological contexts
• isotopic methods to evaluate the carbon use efficiency (CUE) by soil microorganisms (18O labeling method, which estimates microbial growth thru the incorporation of this isotope into their DNA)
• evaluation of water and fat masses in livestock (goats, cattle) in order to better understand the accumulation of pollutants in the food chain
  
  
   

Sample preparation platform
New equipments
2024 - 2025

• Laser Cutter
• Numerical Control Milling Machine for Wood Machining
• Machining Center - Numerical Control Milling
• Band saw
• Twin blade saw
   

Objectives:

• Strengthening the Wood Sample Preparation Chains adapted to the management of large series (numbers and volumes of samples) and improving ergonomic conditions during handling phases.
• Numerically controlled milling machine and laser cutting for cutting samples dedicated to understanding the behavior of wood in the tree and at the ring scale, of reduced dimensions and machined in the green state.