Laboratory of the ecology of natural and anthropised hydrosystems (LEHNA)

Research topics

Areas of research:
The activities of the UMR cover all disciplines in the field of ecology, from the evolution of living things through to their action on geophysical processes, via knowledge of the physical framework and responses to stress.

It covers both fundamental and applied research in the fields of ecology and evolution, with special competence in ecosystems of continental waters. A workgroup is nonetheless working in the polar region, and the trend is to broaden the areas being studied. The laboratory has five teams. Three of them focus their research on ecosystems (river, subterranean, humid zones ecosystems) and two looks after transversal projects (contaminants, ecophysiology and conservation).

The UMR structure comes into its own through its transversal work supported by a policy of incentives. One of the areas looked at is that of molecular identification of biodiversity at all time and space scales (from long term to population differentiation). The second area is that of the impact of environmental stress on organisms and populations (ecophysiology, ecotoxicology, micro-evolution). The third is establishing a link between evolutionary ecology and functional ecology (genomic stoichiometry, for example). The fourth focuses on ecological processes with interfaces between water, soil and sediment, by contributing to ecological engineering of water resources.

The UMR has built up a range of tools that are pooled via technical platforms:

• molecular ecology for the extraction, purification and amplification of DNA and RNA.
• analysis of water for quantifying nutrients (nitrogen, carbon)
• analytical chemistry applied to pollutants
• isotopic ecology for assaying stable isotopes, whether natural or used as markers
• hydraulic channels for the study of responses to shear forces or to currents
• lysimeters for studying water percolation in solid matrices
• oxymeters for measuring oxygen consumption in isolated tissue
• ground logistics (vehicles, embarkation points, sampling equipment and electrical fishing)

The platforms and the personnel working on them cover an original range of competences and know-how.

The UMR is highly involved in local and regional partnerships. Locally, it makes a significant contribution to the Fédération de Recherche 41 BioEnvironnement et Santé [Environment and Heath Research Federation, 41 Bio], for which it has run two experimental platform projects: the greenhouse and the EcoAquatron. It is one of the 4 UMR that make up the Dispositif en Ecologie et Environnement de Lyon [Lyon Ecology and Environment Scheme - DIPEE; CNRS INEE], in charge of coordinating requests for resources between the CNRS and establishments, sharing the facilities and technical personnel allocated to them.

Regionally, it is highly involved in the GIS Zone Atelier Bassin du Rhône [Rhone Basin Workshop Zone GIS], which features a range of disciplines based on issues of sustainable management of ecosystems and water resources (framework agreement with the agency of the Rhone Mediterranean Corsica basin). It is also involved in the Fédération de recherche Observatoire de Terrain en Hydrologie Urbaine [Federation of research of the ground observatory in urban hydrology], which organises research on water management, in particular rain water, in a large conurbation (Greater Lyon). Part of the UMR takes part in labex Intelligence des Mondes Urbains [labex, Intelligence of Urban Worlds]. It has a contract with the Institut Paul-Emile Victor.