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Welcome!
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ECOS results of a joint-venture, with a joint-professorship,
between the EPFL  and the Federal Research Institute WSL
This webpage provides some useful information such as who we are, where to find us,
what is our research focus and what do we teach at EPFL. Colleagues
will find an outline of our main research projects and related
published works. Our regular students of the section Environnemental
Sciences and Engineering (SSIE) as well as those of the training
course in Sustainable Development and North-South Development (SHS),
will find some teaching material on the corresponding link in the
summary section (bottom left).
The scientific focus of the ECOS lab is on the organization,
functioning and dynamics of terrestrial plant, animal and microbial
communities, in relationship to population, habitat and ecosystem
processes. Interactions among communities and with their environment
determine the properties and the dynamics at the ecosystem level and
this is a central theme. A new important focus is on the functional
link between above- and belowground biological communities,
considering different taxonomic groups, in the production of critical
ecosystem services (e.g. biodiversity) and as indicators of a changing
environment. These complex interactions require a trans-disciplinary
approach (i.e. involving the study of herbaceous, shrub and tree plant
communities in relationship with grazers or soil microbial
communities). Therefore, we propose an integrative approach of
community ecology, based on the study of the hierarchical organization
of biological communities. Key ecological processes are ecological
succession, disturbance, resilience, invasibility, dominance reduction
and facilitation. The model ecosystems we study are mountain pastures,
wooded pastures and wetlands (bogs, fens and floodplains)
Our general objectives are:
To understand the organization of communities at various spatial scales
To investigate the functioning of communities, through time, in relation
with environmental constrains (dispersal, environmental stress and
disturbance)
To assess the role of individual species (e.g. keystone species) and
functional groups in communities
To understand the spatio-temporal dynamics of communities within complex
systems and biodiversity change
The broader goal is to provide science-based guidelines for conservation,
restoration and management of natural and semi-natural sensitive
terrestrial ecosystems. The coupling of observational and experimental
approaches supports the modelling perspective towards an integrative
vision of the consequences of changes in our environment.
Our research has the following societal implication:
To provide scientifically founded management tools
To improve our ability to restore altered communities and ecological
goods & services
To achieve sustainable management of semi-natural communities and
wildlife in landscapes altered by human activities
Professeur Alexandre Buttler
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Éditeur: Webmaster
Mise à jour: 07-08-2009
©2006 ECOS, EPFL
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