With this innovative platform we will be able to bring the laboratory to the field (rather than report samples to the laboratory with all that that implies as disruption and transformation between the in situ sampling and laboratory analysis). It is composed of a number of complimentary and innovative kits (soil,vegetation, micro climate, microbiology..). Each kit contains mobile state of the art equipement able to fullfill a great number of analytic and monitoring tasks.. It will aim: (i) to characterize environmentally terrestrial ecosystems (especially sites non-instrumented but with great potential to generalize the results obtained on the three nodes of the project (eg experimental devices GIS Data Cooperative - or provenance trials - eg Plantacomp) - the platform will be a major-waiting for inter-study ecosystems (forests, grasslands, crops); (ii) allow campaigns targeted measures at highly instrumented monitoring sites or at other representative sites(instantaneous flow capture special events, unstable compounds) (iii) serve as a support for the development of measures in situ and non-destructive analytic techniques and methods. (soil, vegetation….) Overall, this platform is a facility open acces, usuable by the entire community of environmental sciencists.

The Paracou Research Station encompasses 5000 ha of tropical rain forest near Sinnamary, French Guiana, and is accessible by paved road. The site includes several types of forest plots, each with unique research objectives. Logging Plots: Fifteen nine-hectare plots (numberred 1 to 15) were established in 1984 to study the impact of different logging treatments on tropical tree population structure. This zone is reserved exclusively for studies investigating the impact of the different logging treatments on forest populations. Primary Forest Plot: A 25 hectare plot (no. 16) was established in 1991 for studies of undisturbed forest. Researchers whose interests are unrelated to the effects of logging treatments are encouraged to conduct their work in this plot. Clearcut Plot: a 6.25 ha plot (no. 17) was established in 1989 at a nearby reserve along the road to St. Elie to study the effects of clearcutting on tropical forest dynamics