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LAMBS Luc

Research chemist-ecologist at CNRS (French National Scientific Research Center)

mail : Luc LAMBS

Campus MARVIG
EcoLab
29 Rue Jeanne Marvig
BP 24349
31055 Toulouse cedex 4
FRANCE
Tel : +33 (0)5-62-26-99-94
Fax : +33 (0)5-62-26-99-99

Water-Plant linkages (ecohydrology), mixing of ground and river waters, functional studies on riparian and mangrove forests from 1999 to now.

Before, from 1984 to 1998, I was studying the metal - ion-ligand in biofluids for the French Medical Research Center (INSERM).

Main topics and tools

  • Study of tree water consumption (sap flux), and their adaptation to changes in water availability
  • Determination of water and sap origin by isotopic tracing (18O and Deuterium)
  • Understanding of the sap path in tree (extraction, coloration)
  • Determination of the tree age and growth rate (denchronologic study, 14C determination)

Geographical area under study

  • South France : Garonne, Adour, Tech, Drac rivers and their riparian forests
  • Algeria : Tafna river bassin
  • Inde, Nepal: rivers
  • Guyane : rivers and mangrove
  • Mayotte: mangrove

Research subject

The aim of my research program is to understand the relation between plants and water resources, especially for trees in wet areas, such as temperate riparian forests, and tropical mangrove or swamp forests. This study will improve our knowledge of the water cycle for these vegetation types, especially through study of their demand for ground water resources and their role in buffering floods . Their adaptation to low water level and to drought (climate change) is also studied. More recently in Mayotte, we started to focus work on bio-remediation, mainly on how the upper part of the mangrove can clean domestic waste waters.

Our functional studies begin with a hydrologic check-up of these wet areas. For this purpose, we determine the different available waters (ground water, river water, sea water, rainfalls) and their chemical characteristics (through isotopic and other chemical tracers). We use these data to calculate the mixing of different water sources, and how these change during the growing season. The next step is to measure the water uptake by the trees and see the evolution over the vegetative season and how it is linked with the water hydrograph.

The hyporheic area and the water diffused in the unsaturated soil are important buffers for water availability, and it is where the tree roots can develop, finding both the needed moisture and ions. This hiding part is also the more important place for biogeochemical processes that affect water quality, due to the soil bacterial and fungal activities are boosted by forest-derived organic carbon, and can denitrify excess N and remove other chemical pollutants.

Other activities

  • Member of scientific section 68 at the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse
  • EcoLab representative for the Oberservatoire Midi –Pyrénées : http://www.obs-mip.fr/omp/
  • scientist in charge for the new isotopic platform for the Ecology of Toulouse
  • reviewer for the Journals : Rapid Comm in Mass Spectrometry, J Exp Botany, Hydrological Process, J Hydrology, Plant & Soil
  • executive member of the French Stable Isotope Society : http://sfis.snv.jussieu.fr/

Last students

  • 2007-8 – Anaïs Saenger (Master2, UPS-INP-Ensat, co dir avec F. Fromard) Root absorption of mangrove trees and their impact on water quality.
  • 2006-9 –Mélanie Herteman (Thèse, Université Paul Sabatier, co-direction avec F. Fromard and J. Sanchez-Peres) Mangrove and bioremediation 2007 - Haozhou Zhang (Master, ENSIACET) Isotopic tracing and hydro chemical analyses of the Garonne river and its tributaries, from the Pyrénées until the Lot river.
  • 2006-8 - Mohamed Labiod (Thèse, Université de Tlemcen DZ) White poplar and hydrologic cycle in the Tafna basin.
  • 2006 – Jean-Baptiste Perret (Master en co-direction avec T. Gauquelin, UPS) Wood sectorisation and water uptake for two Juniperius, comparison with the white poplar.
  • 2005 - Mélanie Herteman (Master en co-direction avec F. Fromard et E. Muller, UPS) Mangrove dynamic in Guyane : regeneration of Avicennia stands and water dynamic.
  • 2004 - Erika Juhel (DEA, UPS) Isotopic study of the Garonne rive and water consumption of white willows
  • 2002 - Mathieu Loubiat (DEA, UPS) Growing rate of Populus nigra and Salix alba in function of the water availabilities
  • 2001 - Jean-Pierre Loudes (DESU, UPS) Hydrologic study in the Garonne flood plain and its consequence on the growth of hybrid poplar
  • 1999- Marie Berthelot (DEA, UPS) Water isotopic characteristics from the alluvial water until the xylem sap in riparian trees

Projects or contrats

  • 2008-2011 : Projet Science et Gouvernance, Eaux et Territoires CEMAGREF/CNRS/MEDAD, Eau du territoire et territoire de l’eau : implications of the fluvial dynamic restitution and restoration to the society of natural services, http://eau-territoire.blogspot.com/
  • 2007-2008 : Project CNRS/EDD Ingéniérie Ecologique, Use of bioremediation ability of the mangrove trees for the treatment of domestic waste water in Mayotte, Indian Ocean (project responsible)
  • 2006-2008 : SIEAM Mayotte, the use of the mangrove forest as a help for the cleaning of waste water
  • 2003-4 : PNEC- Guyane, Dynamic of Amazon river inputs and influence on mangrove forest
  • 2000-2003 FLOBAR, Floodplain Biodiversity and Restoration : Integrated natural science and socio-economic approaches to catchments management. http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/flobar2/

Publications

  • Lambs L., Muller E. and Fromard F. (2008). Mangrove trees growing in a very saline condition but not using seawater Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 22 : 2835-2843
  • Lambs L., Juhel E., Muller E., Chifflot V. et A. Gavaland (2008). Mesures de flux de sève durant un été caniculaire sur des merisiers dans le sud-ouest de la France. Forêt-Entreprise 182 :60-63
  • M. Labiod, A. Haddad, R. Bouhraoua, K. M. Anouar, L. Lambs (2007). Devenir du peuplier blanc dans le Nord-Ouest algérien. Diagnostic sanitaire de quelques peuplements sur la région de Tlemcen. Forêt Méditérranéenne 28: 255-262
  • L. Lambs, E. Muller and F. Fromard (2007). The Guianese paradox : how can the freshwater outflow from the Amazon increase the salinity of the Guianan shore ? J. Hydrology 342 : 88-96
  • D. Gibert, J.-L. Le Mouël, L. Lambs, F. Nicollin, F. Perrier and T. Ogawa (2006). Sap flow and daily electric potential variations in a tree trunk. Plant Science 171 : 572-584
  • L. Lambs, M. Loubiat, J. Girel, J. Tissier, J-P Peltier and G. Marigo (2006) Survival and adaptation of Populus nigra to drier conditions after damming of an alpine river, southeast France. Annal Forest Sciences 63 : 377-385
  • L. Lambs , K. Balakrishna ,F. Brunet and J.L. Probst (2005) Oxygen and Hydrogen isotopic composition of Major Indian rivers : a first global assessment. Hydrol. Process 19 : 3345-3355
  • L. Lambs (2004) Interactions between groundwater and surface water at river banks and the confluence of rivers, Journal of Hydrology 288 : 312-326
  • J. Tissier, L. Lambs, J-P Peltier and G. Marigo (2004) Relationships between hydraulic traits and habitat preference for six Acer species occurring in the French Alps”, Annals of Forest Science 61 : 81-86.
  • L. Lambs and J. Trajkovic (2004) Circulation et stock d’eau dans le bois de peuplier. Forêt Entreprise 160 : 62-64.
  • E. Muller and L. Lambs (2004) Variation journalière de la consommation d’eau des peupliers en vallée de Garonne. Forêt Entreprise 160 : 59-61.
  • L. Lambs (2003) “Mélange des eaux de la nappe phréatique et de la rivière”Actualité Chimique Sept-Aout p 48-50
  • L. Lambs, M. Loubiat and W. Richardson (2003) The use of stable isotopes to evaluate water mixing and water use by flood plain trees along the Garonne river, Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies 39, 4:301-310
  • L.Lambs and E. Muller (2002) Sap flow and water transfer measurements in poplar and willow, Annals of Forest Science 59 : 301-315
  • L. Lambs, and M. Berthelot (2002) Monitoring water from the underground to the tree : first results with a new sap extractor on a riparian woodland, Plant and Soil 242 : 197-207
  • L. Lambs, J.-P. Loudes and M. Berthelot (2002) The use of the stable oxygen isotope (O18) to follow the water distribution and absorption in riparian woodlands, Nukleotika 47 : 115-155
  • F.M.R. Hughes , W.M. Adams , E. Muller, C. Nilsson, K.S. Richards, N. Barsoum, H. DÈcamps, R. Foussadier, J. Girel, H. Guilloy, A. Hayes, M. Johansson, L. Lambs, G. Pautou, J.-L. Peiry, M. Perrow, F. Vautier and M. Winfield (2001) The importance of different scale processes for the restoration of floodplain woodlands, Regulated. Rivers : Res. Mgmt. 17 : 325-345
  • L. Lambs (2000) Correlation of conductivity and stable isotope 18O for the assessment of water origin in river system, Chemical Geology 161 : 161-170
  • E. Tabacchi, L. Lambs, H. Guilloy, A.M. Planty-Tabacchi, E. Muller and H. Decamps (2000) Impact of riparian vegetation on hydrological processes, Hydrological Processes, Special Issues on Relationships between Hydrology and Ecology14 : 2959-2976

Previous Publications (chemistry)

  • S. Gaubert, L. Lambs and G. Berthon (1996), Copper-histidine and –NSAID complexes in Fenton chemistry, Therapeutic Uses of Trace Elements, ed . by Nève et al., Plenum Press, p.139-144
  • J. Randall-Simpson, L. Lambs and G. Berthon (1996), Influence of histidine on hydroxyl radical production by the copper(II)/ascorbate system, Metal Ions in Biology and Medecine, J. Libbey Ed., Eurotext Paris, vol. 4, p.152-155.
  • N. Gnonlonfoun, S. El Mardi, L. Lambs et G. Berthon (1996), Copper(II) binary complexes equilibria with [S]- and [R]-2-benzylamino-methylpyrrolidines under physiological conditions, Inorg. Chim. Acta, 247, 175-181.
  • G. Berthon and L. Lambs (1995), Speciation studies in relation to the bioavailability and drug activity of tetracyclines, in Handbook on "Metal-Ligand Interactions in Biological Fluids", G. Berthon Ed., Marcel Dekker Inc. New York, vol. I-2, p.1252-1265.
  • P. Maestre, L. Lambs, J.P. Thouvenot and G. Berthon (1994), Copper-ligand interactions and physiological free radical processes. Part II. Influence of Cu(II) ions on Cu(I)-driven °OH generation and comparison with their effects on Fe(II)-driven °OH production, Free Rad. Res. Comms., 20, 205-218.
  • M. Jezowska-Bojczuk, L. Lambs, H. Kozlowski and G. Berthon (1993), Metal ion-tetracycline interactions in biological fluids. Part 10. Structural investigations on Cu(II) complexes of tetracycline, oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline, 4-demethyl-amino-tetracycline and 6-desoxy-6demethyl-tetracycline, and discussion of their binding modes, Inorg. Chem., 32, 428-437.
  • P. Maestre, L. Lambs, J.P. Thouvenot and G. Berthon (1992), Copper-ligand interactions and physiological free radical processes. pH-dependent influence of Cu(II) ions on Fe(II)-driven OH. Generation, Free Rad. Res. Comms., 15, 305-317.
  • N. Gnonlonfoun, L. Lambs et G. Berthon (1992), A quantitative investigation of proton- and lead(II)-dithioerythritol complex equilibria under physiological conditions, Talanta, 39, 397-403.
  • L. Lambs, B. Decock-Le Révérend, H. Kozlowski and G. Berthon (1988), Metal ion-tetracycline interactions in biological fluids. Part 9. Circular dichroism spectra of calcium and magnesium complexes with tetracycline, oxytetracycline, doxycycline and chlortetracycline, and discussion of their binding modes, Inorg. Chem., 27, 3001-3012.
  • L. Lambs, M. Venturini, B. Decock-Le Révérend, H. Kozlowski and G. Berthon (1988), Metal ion-tetracycline interactions in biological fluids. Part 8. Potentiometric and spectroscopic studies on the formation of Ca(II) and Mg(II) complexes with 4-dedimethyl-amino-tetracycline and 6-desoxy-6-demethyl-tetracycline, J. Inorg. Biochem., 33, 193-210.
  • L. Lambs and G. Berthon (1988), Metal ion-tetracycline interactions in biological fluids. Part 7. Quantitative investigation of methacycline complexes with Ca(II), Mg(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions, and assessment of their biological significance, Inorg. Chim. Acta, Bioinorg. Chem., 151, 33-43.
  • L. Lambs and G. Berthon (1987), Influence of the 6-substitued methylene group on tetracycline coordination with Ca(II) and Mg(II) ions, and implications for drug bioavailability, Rec. Trav. Chim. Pays Bas, 106, 394.
  • M. Brion, L. Lambs and G. Berthon (1986), Metal ion-tetracycline interactions in biological fluids. Part 6. Formation of copper (II) complexes tetracycline and some of its derivatives and appraisal of their biological significance, Inorg. Chim. Acta, Bioinorg. Chem., 123, 61-68.
  • M. Brion, L. Lambs and G. Berthon (1985), Metal ion-tetracycline interactions in biological fluids. Part 5. Formation of zinc complexes with tetracycline and some of its derivatives and assessment of their biological significance, Agents & Actions, 17, 229-242.
  • M. Brion, L. Lambs and G. Berthon (1985), Do tetracyclines have any influence on zinc and copper bioavailabilities at blood therapeutic levels?, Rev. Port. Quim., 27, 394-396.
  • L. Lambs, M. Brion, and G. Berthon (1985), Metal ion-tetracycline interactions in biological fluids. Part 4. Potential influence of Ca(II) and Mg(II) ions on the bioavailability of chlortetracycline and demethyl-chlortetracycline, as expected from their computer-simulated distributions in blood plasma, Inorg. Chim. Acta, Bioinorg. Chem., 106, 151-158.
  • L. Lambs, M. Brion, and G. Berthon (1984), Metal ion-tetracycline interactions in biological fluids. Part 3. Formation of mixed-metal ternary complexes of tetracycline, oxytetracycline, doxycycline and minocycline with calcium and magnesium, and their involvment in the bioavailability of these antiobitics in blood plasma, Agents Actions, 14, 743-750.
  • G. Berthon, M. Brion and L. Lambs (1983), Metal ion-tetracycline interactions in biological fluids. Part 2. Potentiometric study of magnesium complexes with tetracycline, oxytetracycline, doxycycline and minocycline, and discussion of their posssible influence on the bioavailabiliy of these antibiotics in blood plasma, J. Inorg. Biochem., 19, 1-18.
  • G. Berthon, M. Brion, L. Lambs and JB Fourtillan (1982), Etude quantitative des équilibres de coordination de la Doxycline avec le proton et les ions Ca(II) et Mg(II) dans les conditions physiologiques. Application à l’étude de la biodisponibilité de l’antibiotique dans le fluide gastro-intestinal et le plasma sanguin, J. Chim. Phys., 79, 677-686.