Nancy Forest- MOS Case Study
It belongs to the research infrastructure IN-SYLVA France. The site is part of the M.O.S. network (Manipulation of Soil Organic Matter) hich includes 18 experimental sites, all located in lowland production forests in the northern half of France. It is composed of 6 beech sites, 6 oak sites and 6 Douglas fir sites. The stands were selected to cover an age just before their maximum annual increment (MAI), i.e. between 30 and 60 years of age. At the time installation (november 2013), NIRS spectra and soil analyses have been performed every 20 m to assign the random block design, thus taking soil heterogeneity into account, before starting the treatments.
Objectives
Then both sites were designed to reveal the long-term effects of intense biomass exports on soil fertility and biodiversity (macro-, meso- and micro-fauna), tree growth and health.
Local focus
Forest management practices whithin the framework of global changes, especially the consequencies of an increased demand of wood for energy, bio-products which may have a strong impact on the fonctionning of forest ecosystems through an increased harvest of wood (includings branches and leaves), and an increased mechanisation. Local and national stakeholders have been involved into the BENCHMARK workshop in december.
