Welcome on the web site of ecological fonctioning of tropical and temperate soils research group (FEST)

FEST is one of the 2 team of the Soils in the Critical Zone department of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (UMR iEES Paris)

FEST is one of the 3 teams of the Soil-Plant Ecology Department (ECOSP). The main objective of FEST is to better understand the interactions between the soil biological actors (soil engineers, such as earthworms and termites, as well as root systems), the water cycle, and the major biogeochemical cycles (mainly C, N, and Si) in response to global changes (climate, land use, biodiversity loss, artificialization). The team also aims to study the impact of these interactions on plant development, including their ability to withstand environmental constraints, and the ecosystem services that arise from this, in alignment with the scientific priorities of the ECOSP department.

Ours thematics : biodiversity, water dynamics, biochemical cycling of the soil

Our team is specialized in soil ecology (the role of bioturbation and root systems), pedology (processes of soil formation and evolution), and soil physics ((bio)structure and (bio)porosity, water dynamics in soils), as well as soil chemistry (biogeochemical cycles, C storage, and nutrient fluxes).


Our studies are mainly carried out in France and Southeast Asia, where two researchers are working in deputation, and numerous missions have been carried out, within the framework of the Chrey Bak observatory (Cambodia) and the Bac Giang experimental station (Vietnam). Our secondary fields of work include Tunisia, Morocco, Brazil, and Chile. The environments studied are natural, cultivated, and urban (grasslands, rice fields, agroforestry sites, mangroves, reconstructed soils, and heavily anthropized soils).

This research is carried out within the framework of ANR projects (e.g., U2Worm, ECOTERM, as well as the Alamod, CrosyeN, and TropEcos programs of the PEPR FairCarbon and in the PEPR SOLUBIOD and Sustainable Cities and Innovative Buildings (VDBI) programs), European projects (e.g., ORCASA, StarFarm), or comes from various funding sources such as ADEME, ANSES, the Adour Garonne Water Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (REASOL), and IRD (LMI LEAD).

The activities of the FEST team meet the needs of societies to better preserve their environment, sustainably manage their natural resources, and define sustainable agricultural practices in productive ecosystems, relying on the solutions nature offers us (in accordance with SDG Goals 2 “Zero Hunger,” 15 and 14 “Life on Land and Life Below Water,” 13 “Climate Action,” and 6 “Clean Water and Sanitation,” and within the framework of the international 4p1000 initiative).

As part of the Doctoral School 129 “Environmental Sciences,” the members of the FEST team are involved in various training activities:

  • In France, by hosting Master’s 1 and 2 interns and teaching at Sorbonne University (Master SDUEE) and at CNAM (Paris).

•      Abroad, through the training of students and teaching at the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH) and at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC).