Main project
A total rainfall exclusion experiment has been designed to simulate the effect of an extreme climatic event on the functioning and the vulnerability of the ecosystem. In 2007, a mobile rainfall shelter was installed 1m above the canopy in order to modify rainfall seasonality by removing all the precipitation during a 6-month period (ANR project Drought+). The 20 x 15 m rainfall shelter moves along two 60 m rails to cover alternatively 3 plots of 20m each : two droughted plots are situated at either ends of the railing, while the middle plot is a standby position for the shelter when it does not rain. This design allows to cover the rainfall exclusion plots only during the rain events without modifying the forest microclimate.
A late autumn drought was simulated in 2008 by removing all the precipitation from July to December, and an early spring drought was simulated in 2009 by excluding the precipitation from February to July. The experimental set-up will next be used to simulate an extreme drought event until tree or at least branch mortality happens.
Continuous measurement
SF : Sapflow
Ts / Tsol : Soil and trunc temperature
SWC : Soil relative humidity
DBH : Trunk circonference
Discrete measurements
- LAI
- DBH : Trunk diameter of circunference (annual)
- LIT : Litterfall (monthly)
- PHENO : Phenology (weekly March -July)
- C : Shoot and leaf growth (annual)
- PB : Leaf water potential (monthly in spring, summer, automn)
- pS : Photosynthesis
- Res : Respiration : soil, trunk, leaves
- CH : Chemistry of green leaves and litterfall
- Delta13C of leaves
Funding
| Date | Project | Origin |
| 2007 – 2010 | Drought+ | ANR Milieu et climat N°ANR-06-VULN-003-01, France |
Selected publications