A specialization in Tropical Forest Ecology starting at the AgroParisTech tropical campus in French Guiana and continued in Montpellier, before the individual thesis project throughout the world.
The specialization in Tropical Forest Ecology at AgroParisTech is delivered at campuses in Kourou (French Guiana, South America), and Montpellier (France mainland). First semester courses start in Kourou (September/October to December), then continue in Montpellier (January to February). Thesis project implementation location depends on thesis topic.
French Guiana hosts the largest tropical European forest and the Joint Research Unit Ecology of Guianan Forests (Ecofog). Montpellier is home to Agropolis, France’s largest cluster in tropical research and education, including AgroParisTech, Montpellier University and Bioversity International. At both sites, tropical research institutions like IRD, Cirad and CNRS provide a large network of teaching experts and thesis fieldwork opportunities.
The program covers tropical forest ecology extensively, from fundamental evolutionary and functional ecology to biodiversity to ecological applications for forest conservation, exploitation, and ecological restoration, rehabilitation or reclamation. The program adopts an integrative, reflexive, and cross discipline perspective thanks to some developments in ecology-humanities connexions.
The specialization mixes training in scientific and operative methods and tools and cognitive learning. Learning methods combine classroom lectures, fieldwork (in French Guiana and during the thesis project), and problem-oriented approaches.
Main aims
- Graduate individuals who
- have a thorough understanding of the features of tropical ecosystems containing trees, including forests
- are able to selectively apply ecological theories, knowledge and models to sustainably manage ecosystems at low latitudes,
- Develop students’ intellectual, practical, reflexive, numeracy, communication, information and communication technology (ICT), interpersonal / teamwork, self-management and professional development skills, in a tropical-specific context,
- Equip students for a career in global forestry and more generally natural resources managements, and other professions requiring an ability to synthesise concepts and ideas and to take a holistic view on the frequent trade-offs between ecosystem services as well as between stakeholders in ecosystems management, at local, national, and global levels.
Semester 3: courses at Kourou
- 2 ECTS
- Kourou
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Elective
- Tool
Content
This course offers a comprehensive exploration of Bayesian statistics with a focus on ecological applications, emphasizing both theoretical concepts and practical coding skills. Key topics include conjugate priors for analytical simplicity, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques for complex m (…) Read more- 2 ECTS
- Kourou
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Compulsory
- Tool
Content
This course is an introduction to various tools useful for processing ecological data, answering scientific questions and writing articles that meet international standards. Students will first become familiar with the R software, used with the RStudio interface. Other tools will then be introduc (…) Read more- 5 ECTS
- Kourou
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Compulsory
- Environmental sciences
Content
This course is divided in three parts intended to provide students with the fundamental and required concepts, tools and practical skills in the fields of botany, plant architecture and functional ecology. Archi-Bota-Systematics (2 ECTS) Understanding how plants dev (…) Read more- 2 ECTS
- Kourou
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Elective
- Tool
Content
This course introduces the fundamental properties of linear models, essential tools in ecological research. Students will learn to select appropriate models for specific questions, write model equations and assumptions, and fit models in R to interpret results. The course covers one-way and two-w (…) Read more- 2 ECTS
- Kourou
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Compulsory
- Tool
Content
This course provides an introduction to supervised and unsupervised statistical learning techniques used in data analysis. In supervised learning, you will explore methods for regression and classification, such as K-Nearest Neighbors, where models are trained using labeled data to make predictio (…) Read more- 5 ECTS
- Montpellier, Kourou
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Compulsory
- Integrative/inter/transdisciplinary, Environmental sciences, Humanities, Tool
Content
This module prepares students to the design, planning and implementation of a research project in general. The academic training is applied to the building of the student’s individual thesis project (module Thesis). Such preparation is all (…) Read more- 2 ECTS
- Kourou
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Elective
- Environmental sciences
Content
This course introduces the species abundance distributions that describe biodiversity and the underlying ecological and statistical models. Measures of diversity are then discussed in detail: neutral, phylogenetic, functional diversity and their partitioning. A general theory of diversity measure (…) Read more- 2 ECTS
- Kourou
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Elective
- Integrative/inter/transdisciplinary
Content
This course provides students with the basics of conservation in the tropics. It will therefore introduce the notions of: Ethics and policies of conservation management; Fragmentation of tropical forests and design of protected areas; and Species conservation in complex environments, the actors i (…) Read more- 2 ECTS
- Kourou
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Compulsory
- Environmental sciences
Content
This course presents the community aspect of forest structure and dynamics in the tropics. It reviews general concepts of community ecology, measuring biodiversity, and explores major hypotheses attempting to explain large-scale vascular plant diversity patterns and tree coexistence mechanisms. T (…) Read moreSemester 3: courses at Montpellier
- 2.5 ECTS
- Montpellier
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Elective
- Humanities
Content
Businesses play a central role today in the dynamics of ecosystem degradation, and are therefore increasingly called upon to contribute to their protection. How then can we improve the consideration of biodiversity issues by businesses and the involvement of businesses in the management of ecosys (…) Read more- 2.5 ECTS
- Montpellier
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Compulsory
- Integrative/inter/transdisciplinary
Content
In this course, ecological engineering is considered inclusively as the implementation of the application of principles of, and knowledge on the functioning and structure of ecosystems, including their self-organization capacity, for the creation of systems or the management and restoration of ec (…) Read more- 2.5 ECTS
- Montpellier
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Elective
- Humanities, Integrative/inter/transdisciplinary, Tool
Content
Sound understanding of the structure and functioning of ecosystems is a key contribution to the identification of sustainable management schemes for tropical ecosystems. However, scientists, experts and managers should not miss how far knowledge and instruments are partial and biased, referring t (…) Read more- 2.5 ECTS
- Montpellier, E-learning
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Elective
- Tool
Content
This module is targeted at any student whether with limited or advanced command of the French language. Target activities and grammar are adjusted to the student’s initial level in French and are designed according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL). Stud (…) Read more- 2.5 ECTS
- Montpellier
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Elective
- Environmental sciences, Tool
Content
Tropical forests are diverse and some of them have among the densest biomasses in the world. Their study is a challenge due to poor accessibility, adverse atmospheric conditions, often complex vegetation physiognomy, and a lack of funding in many tropical countries. Meanwhile there is a growing a (…) Read more- 2.5 ECTS
- Montpellier
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Elective
- Tool
Content
Objectives Provide basis for the conception, functioning and potential applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the management of environmental resources and forests. Bring practical experience of a GIS software for the conception, design and (…) Read more- 2.5 ECTS
- Montpellier
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Elective
- Humanities
Content
Presentation of the main paradigms and trains of thought necessary for the understanding of environmental policies and the tools used both at international level and in the context of the southern hemisphere. Presentation of key figures in the international aren (…) Read more- 5 ECTS
- Montpellier, Kourou
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Compulsory
- Integrative/inter/transdisciplinary, Environmental sciences, Humanities, Tool
Content
This module prepares students to the design, planning and implementation of a research project in general. The academic training is applied to the building of the student’s individual thesis project (module Thesis). Such preparation is all (…) Read more- 2.5 ECTS
- Montpellier
- Year 2
- Semester 3
- Compulsory
- Integrative/inter/transdisciplinary
Content
Land-use change in the tropics is responsible for 10% of human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Tropical forests and tree plantations may be important carbon sinks and provide biomass fuel as a substitute to fossil energy, while reduction of deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) (…) Read moreSemester 4: thesis
- 30 ECTS
- Montpellier, Kourou, Other, Fieldwork site(s)
- Year 2
- Semester 4
- Compulsory
- Environmental sciences, Humanities, Integrative/inter/transdisciplinary, Tool
