Camélia Research Unit

Characterisation and modelling of exchanges in lagoons subject to terrigeneous and anthropogenic influences

CONTEXT

Economic development in the tropics results in significant environmental alterations. Pacific Island States with limited land and resources are especially sensitive to the necessary balance between development and sustained environmental management.
The Camelia Research Unit was created in 2001 to logically prolong the research effort supported since 1996 (Ecotrope programme 1996-2000) by IRD (French Institute of Research for Development) on the general topic of how anthropogenic activities influence tropical coastal environments. Our research efforts at the scale of the Pacific region has been strongly relying on collaborative actions between IRD and the regional University of the South Pacific (USP) based in Suva, Fiji.

SITES

The research programme includes 2 study sites : the south-west lagoon of New Caledonia and the lagoon of Suva in Fiji. Those systems are representative of Pacific island environments and subject to different levels of anthropogenic inputs Additional results gained from a previous study on the Tahiti lagoon will be added for comparison.

SCHEDULE

The programme has already completed the first 4 years (2001-2004) and is now in the second 4 year period which runs from 2005-2008.

OBJECTIVES

The main goal of the Camelia Research Unit is to determine how human activities influence Pacific tropical coastal ecosystems. Within this scope, Camelia more strictly focus on the fate and impact of 3 main categories of inputs enhanced by human activities:

Particles generated by soil erosion and responsible for hypersedimentation.

Organic an inorganic nutrients responsible of eutrophication.

Metals that might prove potentially toxic for lagoon living organisms.

The research programme has been constructed in order to provide answers to the following scientific questions:

What are the main transport and transformation mechanisms that command the distribution of terrigeneous and anthropogenic inputs in the considered coral reef lagoon environments?
What are the impacts of terrigeneous and anthropogenic inputs in term of sediment deposition, eutrophication of original oligotrophic systems and metal transfer to lagoon benthic organisms?
What synthetic and predictive improvement can be gained from modelling approaches as far as transport and transformation processes are concerned?

RESEARCH ACTIONS

Answers to the questions included within the scope of the Camelia Research Unit will be provided through 5 combined research actions:

Determining the distribution of physical and chemical water structures and assessing transport mechanisms.

Quantifying fluxes at the sediment-water interface and relating those fluxes to terrigeneous and anthropogenic inputs

Establishing how plankton communities answer to terrigeneous and anthropogenic inputs.

Determining the fate of metals in the trophic food web and identifying potential bioindicators.

Modelling water circulation, particulate and dissolved material transport and biogeochemical cycling.

VALORISATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

It is now fully acknowledged that environmental alterations due to human activities may have strong economic consequences. Therefore, sustainable management unavoidably relies on the very existence of reliable tools for environmental diagnosis and prediction. Beside its scientific motives, Camelia has a strong potential to provide decision-makers with such tools for managing environmental issues.
The Camelia Research Unit generates the scientific basis for establishing adapted environmental management tools and develops approaches (hydrodynamic modelling, particle transport, biological functioning) that provide synthetic views on the ongoing evolution of tropical coastal ecosystems.

AVAILABLE FACILITIES

The IRD Centre in Noumea has got significant logistic and analytical facilities. Sea going facilities are made of several small boats and the 27 m long Alis R.V., the latter being strongly equipped for scientific work.
Regarding analysis the marine chemistry laboratory and the Chemistry Service Unit benefit from various modern equipments (Nutrient auto-analyser, AA graphite furnace spectrometer, ICP-OES, scintillation analyser, etc.) together with a fully qualified technical staff.
Furthermore, some ocean sciences disciplines have their own scientific equipment (Doppler current meter, multiparameter probes, RoxAnn acoustic classificator, benthic microsensors, etc.). The Camelia UR further benefits from the development of a 2 and 3D circulation model that has been used to simulate particle transport and biogeochemical cycling processes.
Facilities include up to date computer equipment (several workstations and a Linux Opteron Cluster for CFD computing), softs and internet connections. Accommodation facilities may be provided on site for collaborative actions.

PARTICIPANTS

Direction : Fichez R. (biogeochemistry). Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille, Station Marine d'Endoume, rue de la batterie de Lions, 13007 Marseille, France. (33) 04 91 04 16 00 E-mail : fichez@noumea.ird.nc

Local direction : Dupouy C. (optical oceanography). Centre IRD de Nouméa, BP A5, 98848 Nouméa Cedex, Nouvelle-Calédonie (687) 26 07 29 E-mail : cecile.dupouy@noumea.ird.nc

IRD Scientists:
Douillet P. (hydrodynamics). Dupouy-Douchement C. (optical oceanography). Fernandez J.M. (geochemistry). Le Borgne R. (plankton production). Marchand C. (mangrove geochemistry). Mari X. (biogeochemistry, microbiology). Ouillon S. (sediment transport). Pringault O. (microbial ecology). Rochelle Newall E. (microbial ecology). Torréton J.-P. (microbial ecology).

PhD thesis under progress:
Dirberg G. (remote sensing). Hochard S. (biogeochemistry).

Engineers and Technicians:
Belhandouz A. (geochemistry, IRD). Breau L. (ecotoxicology). Chifflet S. (chemistry, IRD). Derex P. (computers). Di Mattéo A. (sedimentology, IRD). Dolbecq M. (geochemistry). Gérard P. (chemistry, IRD). Lamoureux J.P. (hydrodynamics, sediment transport, IRD). Lefebvre J.P. (particle dynamics, IRD). Lefèvre J. (CFD computing, IRD). Legendre R. (hydrodynamics). Moreton B. (geochemistry). Senia J. (ecotoxicology).

National Programs:
Programme National Environnement Côtier (PNEC), Chantier Nouvelle-Calédonie. Programme National d’EcoTOXicologie (PNETOX). Programme National ECosphere COntinentale (ECCO).

Foreign collaborations:
ANSTO (Australia), CSIRO (Australia) James Cook University (Australia) University of the South Pacific (Fiji), IAEA (Monaco)