Aims and Philosophy of the CoffeeFlux Collaborative Platform The aim of Coffee-Flux is to assess carbon, nutrients, water and sediment Ecosystem Services (ES) at the scale of a coffee agroforestry watershed and additional experiments. Observation, experimentation, modelling and remote-sensing are combined, collecting data and calibrating models locally, then upscaling to larger regions. The project has been running continuously since 2009, in order to encompass seasonal and inter-annual fluctuations of coffee productivity and ecosystem services. Coffee-flux is a platform where collaborative research on coffee agroforestry is promoted: data are being shared between collaborators and positive interactions are enhanced. The philosophy is to concentrate several investigations on one specific site and for several years, to share a useful common experimental database, to develop modelling and to publish results in highly-ranked scientific journals. Applied research is also highly encouraged (e.g. C-Neutral certification, NAMA, Agronomy, etc.). Coffee-Flux benefits from infrastructure, easy access from CATIE and very good security, ready to welcome complementary scientific investigations and collaborations. The project is wide open to complementary projects, scientists and of course to students. The core data base is for sharing.

The site comprises three distincts experimental set-ups: (1) a long-term (>10 years) partial throughfall exclusion experiment replicated three times and crossed with a thinning (-30% basal area) experiment aimed at simulating long-term precipitation decrease in accordance with climate change scenario for the Mediterranean area (-30% of precipitation), (2) a total rainfall exclusion experiment using a mobile roof has been set up to simulate extreme drought events and modify precipitation seasonality, and (3) an eddy-covariance flux tower running continuously since 2001 to measure seasonal variations in ecosystem functioning and year-to-year flux responses to drought and climate.

The Itatinga site is a long-term experimentation (started in 2008) that focus mainly on eucalyptus plantations. Our specific objectives are: - To understand the biogeochemical functioning of these fast-growing Eucalyptus plantations, and in particular the coupling between water, carbon, and nutrients cycles; - To use this information to develop eco-physiological models simulating the growth and balance of water, carbon and mineral elements of plantations; - To spatialize models from ground maps, satellite images and meteorological data; - To evaluate the environmental impacts and sustainability of plantations (impacts on water resources, soil fertility, regional climate. The experiment is located in Brazil, in the state of Sao Paulo. It is located at an average altitude of 800 m. Longitude / latitude 48°43'40.60''W / 22°58'4.50 ''S with an average annual temperature of 19.6 ° C and rainfall of the order of 1350 mm/year. The soil of the experiment is a ferralsol made of 72% sand, 15% clay, 3% silt. The site equipment includes a flux tower in a clonal Eucalyptus plantation, where nutrient cycles are also monitored. It also includes clonal tests, experimental plots that aim to study the effects of partial exclusion of rainfall and potassium fertilization on the cycles of mineral elements, carbon and water, and finally experimental plots comparing the ecophysiological / biogeochemical functioning of monospecific and plurispecific plantations. This study of the impact of tree diversity on the functioning of forest ecosystems is conducted on high-growing exotic species (mixture of Eucalyptus grandis and Acacia mangium) and on native species of Mata Atlântica (biome in which is located the Itatinga site). themes : Biogeochemistry of forest plantations, Ecological intensification of tropical forest plantations.

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.