What are the animal and plant species that live in the canopy of Guadeloupe? It is to find out that a team of researchers braved the altitude, to reach the tops of the trees, in the heart of our rich forests. Up there, they observed organisms found on the ground and others waiting to be discovered.
From the canopy, namely the tops of the trees, where the foliage is directly exposed to the sun, the view of biodiversity is even more resplendent.
The Guadeloupean archipelago is a dream territory for the researchers of the scientific project “In the footsteps of Melophasma” ; This is a mission to explore the fauna and flora of tropical forest canopies. The multidisciplinary team went to Deshaies, to the Moreau Falls site in Goyave, then to Marie-Galante, in mid-March, with the agreement and even the assistance of the National Forestry Office of Guadeloupe.
This initiative is orchestrated by the Natural History Museum and financed by the Department of Environment, Planning and Housing (DEAL).
In Deshaies, botanists, entomologists, herpetologists and mobilized volunteers have installed an ephemeral laboratory 25 meters high, on the trunk of a “chestnut tree small leaves“. A collection of insects could be carried out on this 8 m platform2 of surface.
•
©Ludovic Gaydu
It turns out that some species remain perched high, and never set foot on the ground. ; we must therefore go to meet them, to be able to observe them.
Other organisms, on the other hand, move from one ecosystem to another and you have to climb to see it.
•
©Ludovic Gaydu
The report on the work of this project will be available in April 2025. The list of precise data will be accessible on the Karunati website, an online atlas of the fauna and flora of Guadeloupe.
•
©Ludovic Gaydu
REPORTING/
Reporter : Rémi Defrance
image reporter : Ludovic Gaydu
Editor : Marius Avril
Blender : Teddy Artis
#French
