The savannah project: its soils

Soil survey, Wayabo Savannah, Kourou, French Guiana, O. Claessens

Over the past two months, fieldwork has begun on the investigation of the soils in the "savannah" section of the LIFE + Cap DOM project.

Equipped with an auger, a GPS, a wooden travelling-box and many litres of water, the GEPOG project manager visited all the chosen survey points to obtain soil samples. The analysis of soil cores (1.20m deep) will determine the different soil types in relation to the vegetation sampled by the botanist, and a fortiori the bird populations observed in the area.

Manufacturing the sample boxes, Cayenne, French Guiana, GEPOG

20 cm by 20 cm, soil samples are taken from all parts and stored in small paper boxes, 800 of which have been manufactured enthusiastically by volunteers, layouts, scissors and staplers in hand, over several working days in the premises of GEPOG.

The fieldwork having just finished, these 800 samples now need to be analyzed !

Anna Stier
Project leader
LIFE+ CAP DOM