Context Presentation
The ECONECT project began in early 2020, with the objective to develop a communication infrastructure allowing the remote monitoring of autonomous, connected, and versatile systems to measure the responses of bioindicator organisms to chemical contamination, habitat degradation and global warming.
Three sentinel systems are considered:(1) the connected hive, allowing to monitor the dynamics of bee colonies (colony mass, temperature and location of the bee cluster, foraging traffic, etc.) and the cognitive capacities of bees; (2) the connected bird-feeder to submit individually monitored tits to behavioral tests to assess their cognitive abilities; (3) the aquacosm, a floating enclosure allowing the measurement of eco-markers in an aquatic environment (growth dynamics of phototrophic biofilms, relative importance of autotrophic and heterotrophic processes within the ecosystem ...).
In 2022, a network of 12 sentinel stations will be deployed in the Zone Atelier Pyrénées-Garonne (PYGAR). Each station will be characterized by a spatial analysis of land use and the quality of habitats and by the measurement of concentrations of chemical contaminants (trace metal elements, PAHs, pesticides) in different compartments of the environment. Participatory science protocols will be used to supplement the available data set and to assist in the interpretation of observed trends, while providing environmental education opportunities for the public.
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Keywords
Environmental sensor; Bioindicator; Animal cognition; Chemical status; Landscape integrity; Artificial intelligence
Scientific goals
• to design a communicating infrastructure to collect data from different sensors in the field;
• to develop automated tools for the real-time analysis of collected data, for extracting their ecological significance;
• to examine the relevance of our sentinel systems to assess the quality of the environment, particularly in terms of chemical status and landscape integrity.
Contact
arnaud.elger_at_univ-tlse3.fr
