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The Habitats Guide published by Quæ
Key words
French Southern Territories, conservation, habitat guide, publication
Cartovege: the Habitats Guide has been published
"Cartovege is a fine spatial ecology project, co-constructed by scientists and managers to rapidly propose concrete solutions to conservation issues," emphasised Diane Espel as she brought the first phase of to a close the project at the end of November 2023. A post-doctoral researcher in remote sensing and ecological modelling, Diane was already showing us, with infectious passion, the first plates of their future publication, based on Cartovege's very first work, which consisted of listing and describing precisely the types of habitats on Possession Island in the Crozet archipelago.
A year and a lot of work later, the team is proud to announce the publication of the first Guide of the Natural Terrestrial Habitats of the French Southern Territories.
Between science and the beauty of the Earth, a unique book
Packed with hitherto unpublished knowledge and beautifully illustrated, the 202-page book is available from Quæ editions. Although the paper version is subject to a charge, the project is maintaining its sharing policy with a free digital version (pdf format, in French).
Presenting the 46 types of vegetated (or non-vegetated), native or exotic habitats, the book is now a common reference for all scientists and managers in the French Southern Territories for a variety of applications, such as monitoring changes in sub-Antarctic vegetation, implementing measures to combat exotic and harmful species or modelling habitats favorable to heritage plant and animal species.
Just as importantly, this guide will also enable interoperability between scientific programmes and consistency in the data collected, thereby promoting understanding of ecosystems, conservation issues and hence decision-making.
🖱️ Order the Habitats Guide from Quæ Editions
Habitat type sheet.
News from Cartovege2 coming soon
Building on its expertise in the Crozet archipelago and transposing its work to the Saint Paul and Amsterdam islands, Cartovege2 is making excellent progress in the field, where Diane Espel is based for the 2024 sampling campaign.
"To get a feel for the atmosphere and the ecological issues at stake," while awaiting her return and her news, she invites us to watch a Brut media documentary on the rat and mouse eradication operation carried out during the austral winter of 2024 on the island of Amsterdam as part of the RECI (Restoration of Island Ecosystems in the Indian Ocean) project, to which Cartovege2 is contributing. In order to observe the effects of this rodent eradication operation on vegetation and albatross colonies in particular, Cartovege2 has already inventoried the many habitats on the island of Amsterdam and programmed very high-resolution satellite acquisitions, in particular with the Pléiades and Pléiades NEO satellites.
In this video, in which the journalist asks about the impressive resources deployed on this island at the end of the world, he shares his discovery of this unique living heritage and the importance of preserving it.