Long term study of mixed forest of Pinus halepensis and Quercus ilex 55. Currently focused on carbon and water cycles, with routine measurements at the soil, plant, and ecosystem levels. Ecosystem manipulation consists in rainfall reduction and irrigation. Site is composed of : - a main enclosed area of 80x80 m ; - a 16 m tower supporting weather and eddy covariance measurements (ICOS level 2) - four 25x25 m plots (two inside and two outside the enclosed area) for 30% rainfall exclusion (with gutters), irrigation, control, and control with reversed gutters. In all plots, measurements are carried out for soil moisture, sap flow, stem diameter growth, leaf area index, litterfall, leaf water potential, and soil respiration.

The ambition of the XYLOSYLVE platform is twofold, to constitute a visible forest research facility for setting up innovative forestry practices and to build a scientific infrastructure of national and international interest for terrestrial ecology. XYLOSYLVE is an ensemble of three long-term complementary field experiments and laboratory facilities associated with. Each experiment is spatially distinct from the other but all are co-located in the INRA Hermitage area close from Bordeaux city. The experiments are designed to testing forest management alternatives dedicated to biomass and wood production in Atlantic conditions as follows: 1) Three large plots (8ha) are manipulated according to three management alternatives (Pine-Eucalypt mixture, pure enhanced Pine variety and environment-friendly Pine standard) and equipped with automated instrumentations for monitoring biogeochemistry in the different compartments of ecosystems (soil, soil solution, vegetation, atmosphere). The equipment and protocols implemented are installed in collaboration with the ICOS project according to common quality assurance standards (ICOS site Class 3). These 3 plots are not replicated here. 2) A fully randomised 4-blocks experiment includes the same three treatments than above and 5 additional treatments including various levels of species mixture, fertilisation, soil preparation and legumes introduction. The 32 plots are further split according to no till - deep tillage to a total of 64 subplots each covering 0.12 ha to a total of approximately 40ha. 3) The third experiment includes 2 levels of fertilisation (control - full annual NPK inputs), 2 levels of irrigation (control (rainfall) - daily irrigation at PET) and 2 species (local Pine species - Eucalypt hybrid) replicated in four blocks and covering an area of 8 ha (plot unit ~0.25ha). XYlosylve serve as a long term research and experimental site for temperate planted forest systems in close connection with a regional network of forest experimental sites where feasibility of new forest management alternatives is evaluated. The interest of XYLOSYLVE is double: - Allow the long term monitoring of the functioning of biophysics and biogeochemistry of new forest ecosystems with high production potential. Offer to the scientific community and to the forest-based industry a common platform to gather scientific data and wood samples and test ecosystems to better understand their dynamics and their environmental impacts; - Assess durability and environmental performance of various management options for dendro-biomass production systems (symbiotic nitrogen fixation, phosphorus uptake, long term fertility, water and energy use efficiency, evaluation of vulnerability to biotic risks /insects, pathogens/ and abiotic risks/wind, drought/ …).