COPAS: FLOATING OVER THE TREETOPS
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Although tropical forests cover only about 3% of the surface of our planet, they contain 50 to 80% of all species of plants and animals. Further, one third of primary production on our planet comes from tropical rainforests, and thus these forests are fundamental for survival of many organisms including man. However, the access to the tall canopies of these forests for scientific exploration has been always challenging, and they are still one of the last frontiers on earth.
COPAS (Canopy Operation Permanent Access System) erected in French Guyane is a new and unique system to study the function and life of tropical rainforests. The three-dimensional cable car system allows scientists to reach practically every region of the tree crowns within 1.5 ha. The development of the COPAS concept started in 1995 (see Gottsberger G., Döring J. 1995. “COPAS”, an innovative technology for long-term studies of tropical rainforest canopies. Phyton (Horn, Austria) 35: 165-173) and was officially inaugurated in September 20, 2014.
The COPAS group focused on four activity areas as scientific priorities:
- Functional organization of biodiversity
- Mechanisms of reproduction and forest regeneration
- Biotic and abiotic exchanges between the forest ecosystem and the atmosphere
- Epidemiology of viruses, bacteria, and parasites in the canopy.
A film by: Rudolf Gottsberger
Speakers:
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Gottsberger
Initiator and promoter of COPAS
Dr. Philippe Gaucher
Directeur technique des stations de terrain du CNRS Guyane
Dr. Jerome Chave
Scientific director of Nouragues station
Scientific director of the LabEx CEBA
(Laboratoire d’Excellence du Centre dÉtude
de la Biodiversité Amazonienne)
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