Drought ForC Monitoring Committee meeting - November 2024: major advances and new prospects

Review of actions in 2024

 Recruitment and resources: 3 new recruits have joined the team. The 11-member monitoring committee continues to work together on a six-monthly basis, with quarterly interim meetings of the heads of the various Work Packages (WPs).
    Sampling campaign: A vast collection of soil cores was used to quantify root biomass, carbon stocks and nutrient concentrations at several national ICOS and AnaEE infrastructure sites.
    Sites and equipment: 7 measurement sites are involved, including 5 with the ICOS label. Sap flow sensors will soon be installed at O3HP and Montiers thanks to co-funding from AnaEE France.
    Innovative technologies: Heating systems using heating cables have been developed and will be put into service in 2025.

Progress on data and modelling

 A data management plan has been submitted and a data scientist will be recruited by FairCarboN to strengthen data interoperability.
    Modelling and projections: 13 forestry models will be used to validate predictions of future climate and to understand the interactions between climate and nutritional resources.
    Carbon studies: WP3 focuses on soil carbon fluxes, with analyses of respiration and litter decomposition planned for 2025.

Collaborations and associated projects
The Drought ForC project continues to strengthen its collaboration with ALAMOD to adjust the requirements of climate models and to participate actively in Virtual Research Environments (VRE).

Doctoral research
Jeanne Poughon is continuing her PhD on the relationship between net aerial primary productivity (ANPP), gross photosynthesis (GPP) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP), with analyses of carbon fluxes at ICOS sites.

Focus on carbon allocation
Jean-Marc Limousin presents his work on carbon allocation in tree biomass, with sampling planned for 2025 to study the impact of drought and tree structure.

These advances are essential for a better understanding of the complex interactions between forest ecosystems, drought and carbon storage, in order to better anticipate and manage future environmental challenges.

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