The main objective of the PHARE team is to understand the mechanisms controlling the adaptation of trees to a changing environment.

The environmental factors are drought, air pollution, gravity, wind and elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentrations.

The mechanisms are those involved in the development of trees, their functioning and the diversity of their responses. A mechanistic and integrative approach is followed by successively tackling the formation, properties and functions of the different compartments (roots, wood, stems, and leaves) at all scales (from the cell to the entire tree).

The study of the phenotypic plasticity (at the individual scale) is completed by the study of the genetic diversity through the quantification of differences between genotypes, populations, and species.

Specific techniques and facilities are used: gene expression (qPCR), QTL detection, leaf gas exchanges, analytical chemistry, isotopic mass spectrometry, electron microscopy, controlled greenhouses for temperature and CO₂ concentration with robot-based irrigation, phytotrons enabling the fumigation with ozone and elevated CO₂, kinematics by in vivo imagery under infrared light, experiments in nursery and forest, measuring devices such as X-ray tomography and Terrestrial-Lidar.