Observation and Experimentation Systems for Environmental Research (SOERE, AllEnvi label) are network of sites devoted to the long term study of environment. Information Systems are developed by the INRA EcoInformatic Group in order to manage data collected from the SOERE and others long-term observatory sites coordinated or jointly coordinated by INRA (F-ORE-T: forest ecosystems; ACBB: grassland and field crop agroecosystems; PRO, soils and impact of organic waste products; OLA, Observatoire des LACs alpins). The process of development of a SOERE Information System is based on a collaborative approach involving a core group of informatics engineers located in INRA Infosol Service Unit and partners from the SOERE. The whole Information System is composed by a core software component (the kernel), common to all IS, and plugins specific to the different types of data (Climate, Flux, Phytoplankton, Zooplankton...). Each IS is accessible through specific web interfaces. All components are based on Java technologies.

This SOERE aims at understanding and modelling the dynamics and ecological functioning of lake ecosystems affected by local and global forcing factors. Four peri -alpine lakes (Lakes Geneva , Annecy, Bourget, Aiguebelette) and their watersheds are monitored. These systems represent important natural resources and meet key societal demands (drinking water, fishing, tourism, biodiversity ... ) . The services provided by the Soere relates to both long-term in situ observation and experimentation. The observatory task is based on logistic, technical and analytical supports for (i) collecting environmental data (physico- chemical and biological), (ii) creating and managing database (ii) organizing the storage of reference biological samples. The accession to the data is possible according to the 'Terms & Conditions of Use' of the Soere Database. The SOERE OLA can provide logistic supports for sampling, in situ measurements and experimentation on Lake Geneva. This service is submitted to validation according to the " Logistic Support Leman" service charter. Other lake sites have joined the SOERE more recently, especially high lakes (sentinel lakes) and a model lake (meromictic), Lake Pavin. The SOERE OLA has Allenvi label.

The SOERE-ACBB is a set of three platforms involving long-term (> 20 yrs) field experiments initiated in 2005-2009. Long-term studies are carried out on biogeochemical cycles and functional biodiversity (flora and fauna) in agroecosystems as affected by land use, management practices and climate change. The SOERE-ACBB covers three land use and climatic regions in France: temporary grassland, permanent grassland and arable land. The main hypothesis tested is that the evolution of the systems in response to anthropogenic disturbances and land use management is strongly linked to the dynamics of quantitative and qualitative composition of soil organic matter (SOM) and vegetation diversity. SOERE-ACBB is unique in enabling analysis of feedback loops between management practices, biogeochemical cycles and biodiversity by offering opportunities for simultaneous study of interactions between SOM dynamics, microbial communities and vegetation under various management practices of agroecosystems. The platforms are designed to characterize the trajectories of key variables of the systems throughout time as changes occur – elements such as carbon, phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen and the diversity of plants and organisms in the soil – over years or decades. The platform’s instrumentation continuously quantifies a broad range of physical, chemical and biological variables: climate forcing variables, physical conditions in soil, water fluxes and quality, carbon and nitrogen storage in soil, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), floral, faunal and microbial diversity. The ability to monitor quantitative and qualitative changes in SOM over time will allow scientists to relate the overall evolution to energy balance and resource elements. Although SOERE-ACBB is a national infrastructure, scientists from other countries are welcome and can benefit from the acquired experience and knowledge. SOERE-ACBB has been involved in many international projects such as the Global Research Alliance and the International soil warming experiment network and is still a partner in a number of ongoing projects such as ExpeER, AnimalChange, Ecofinders and Multisward.

Each site has three common treatments: a control (C), a compacted treatment (T), a compacted and decompacted treatment (D), and more specific ones, locally decompacted soil (P) at Azerailles 54, and, limed (A) and limed and compacted (CA) at Clermont en Argonne 55. Each treatment plot of 0.25ha is replicated three times (3 blocks). Azerailles site was installed in spring 2007 and Clermont in spring 2008. Since that time monitoring occured for: -mesoclimate: rainfall, air temperature, relative humidity, bulk deposition (continuous recording) - soil climate: soil moisture (TDR Trase system (5 replicates at 15 and 60 cm depth) in one replicate of C and T (recorded each four hours) - water table: 2 piezometers in each replicate of treatments (Divers hourly recorded); monthly sampling using specific devices for Redox problems - weakly fixed soil water: cup lysimeters inserted at 15 and 60 cm depth (4 replicates in one block for C and T treatments) + teatments A and CA at Clermont en Argonne. Automate for constant vacuum at 700hP. Monthly collection for chemical analysis - soil gas: specific captors installed at 5, 10, 20, 35, 50 and 70 cm depth in each C and T treatments of the 3 blocks in the 2 sites. Monthly collection for chemical analysis (N, CO2, CH4, N2O, O2) -soil solid phase: soil morphology, soils physics, chemistry and biology (pro parte) were initialy described. Soil physical parameters (strengh, bulk density, hydraulic conductivity, swelling/shrinkage, porosity...), chemistry (C, N, exchangeable cations, P) and biology (earthworms) are perediodicaly investigated (each year for physics; 2/3 years for chemistry and biology). vegetation: both understorey and oak plantation were annually observed soil biology: earthworms are periodically observed

The Barbeau research facility is located in a 33-ha forest located nearby the Fontainebleau forest. Barbeau is a mature sessile Oak stand with a Hornbeam understory. Since 2005, a monitoring facility has continuously been measuring : - the exchanges of carbon and water vapour between the forest ecosystem and the atmosphere (through the eddy covariance (EC) methodology, installed at the top of a 35-m “flux” tower, and through organ-scale photosynthesis and respiration set-ups; 30-min time step) - the atmosphere and forest microclimates (above and within the canopy, including incoming, absorbed and reflected radiations in several spectral bands, temperatures, humidity; 30-min time step) - key variables for understanding forest functioning (e.g. tree diameter / biomass growth and soil water content on a hourly to weekly basis, tree organs nutrient contents on a seasonal basis, leaf area index on an annual basis etc.) The instruments are co-located in a 2500-m² fenced area. However, the monitored “footprints” of sole instruments ranges from a few cm3soil (e.g. measurements of soil temperature) up to hectares (e.g. integrated measurements of co2 and h2o exchanges with the EC method). Beside this ensemble of continuously monitored variables, spatial surveys of the stand characteristics (e.g. tree growth, soil properties and C/N contents, soil respiration, leaf area) and large-scale experiments (e.g. 13C-enriched CO2 labelling) are regularly conducted in Barbeau.

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 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/ …).

The site of Colmar is part of the French national network SOERE PRO (System of Observation and Experimentation for Environmental Research on Organic Residue Recycling). The objectives of the site of Colmar are to characterize the agronomic value of organic residues and their environmental impacts, in a long-term field experiment. It has been initiated in 2001 (INRA / SMRA68 / ADEME / Agence de l’Eau Rhin-Meuse partnership). The experimental site is located in Colmar (Alsace, France) with a continental climate. The soil is a calcisoil (surface layer: 24% clay, 69% silt, 7% sand / 2.4 % organic matter / pH 8.3). The trial is composed of 60 plots of 90 m² (10 m x 9 m) on 2.2 hectares with 4 replicate blocks of 6 organic treatments randomly distributed within each block: Urban sewage sludge, Composted sewage sludge, Biowaste compost, Farmyard manure, Composted Farmyard manure, Control without organic amendment. The organic amendments are spread every 2 years on the same nitrogen rate of 170 kg/ha. The different treatments received 2 levels of additional mineral fertilizer: without or optimum mineral fertilization. The crops rotation is corn maize / winter wheat / sugar beet / malting barley. Site and plots are equipped for continuous monitoring of meteorological data, soil humidity, water tension and temperature. One plot of each treatment is equipped with wick lysimeters to a depth of 0.45 m. Since 2009, six large lysimeters (4m² and 1m deep, bare soil) complete the field experiment, with 2 replicates of 3 organic treatments: Urban sewage sludge, Composted sewage sludge and Control without organic amendment. They are also equipped to measure the hydrodynamic balance: soil humidity, water tension, temperature, volume of leachate. A Large set of variables mainly including nutrients and pollutants (trace elements, PAH, PCB), are monitored on different compartments of the agro-system: organic amendments physico-chemical and biochemical characteristics, soils analytical characteristics per layer, crop yields, plants quality, rainwater chemical composition, leachate, microbial biomass and activities. Data will be stored in a common database specifically developed for the SOERE PRO network and connected with other SOERE. Soils, organic amendments and plants samples are kept in collection and available for further measurements.

Rubberflux is a flux tower site aiming at providing a complete picture of CO2, water and energy budget of a rubber tree plantation using the eddy-covariance (EC) method combined with ground-based measurements of carbon/water stocks and flux among the different components of the ecosystem. This approach allows quantifying flux (NEE an ETR), partitioning them among tree organs, soil, understorey vegetation (etc.…), and eventually understanding the interactions with climate and the availability of soil resources (water, nutrients). This is a common approach to 3 other flux tower sites on tropical tree plantations managed by CIRAD’s researchers within the umbrella of the SOERE F-ORE-T network. The Rubberflux site is located in Thailand, about 140km east of Bangkok. It was set-up in 2006 in a 12 years rubber plantation of the Chachoengsao Rubber Research Centre (CRRC), a research facility of the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand (RRIT). The collaboration with CRRC staff has also permitted to implement studies on a chronosequence of rubber plantations. A CIRAD’s researcher has been permanently based in Thailand since then to ensure the functioning of the site in collaboration with the staff of CRRC and a research team from Kasetsart University (KU). The research works conducted on the Rubberflux site have been funded by CIRAD and KU with substantial contribution of the Thai Research Fund (TRF), the SOERE FORET and the French Embassy in Thailand.