The infrastructure is an experiment aimed at determining the carbon, water, energy and nutrient balances of short rotation forests dedicated to biomass and wood production. The infrastructure comprises two sites located in Cestas and Salles. The Salles site (60 ha plot of pine forest), is fully operational since 2000 with an eddy flux tower (CO2, H2O, heat, radiation), nitrogen wet and dry depositions, soil moisture, micrometeorological and ancillary measurements. It is connected to the main power and satellite data transmission. The Cestas site is in construction. It will be composed of (1) a set of 32 plots organized into complete randomized blocks where forest management alternatives are compared and (2) a set of four large plots (10-12 ha) designed for carbon, nitrogen and water fluxes monitoring to be launched in 2012.
