Participant ID: 5 - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD)
	http://www.cirad.fr/en/index.php

Expertise and experience CIRAD is a French public scientific organization. The mandate is to contribute to the sustainable development of rural areas in tropical and sub tropical regions through development-oriented research in environment, agriculture, forestry, livestock and agribusiness. The centre employs 1800 persons, including 900 senior engineers and researchers, who regularly work in more than 50 countries. The CARBOAFRICA project involves the "Functioning and management of tree-based ecosytems" research unit from the forestry department of CIRAD. This unit has a wide range of skills in ecophysiology, biogeochemical cycles, root systems, silviculture, forest plantation management, and modeling. CIRAD will be active in the studies related to long term observations system and process understanding of carbon fluxes in forest plantations. It will be deeply involved in communication and capacity building activities. It will co-ordonate the WP focusing on refined standards to assessing carbon, water and nutrient budgets for LULUCF-CDM projects. Cirad has a long and extensive experience in running international research projects, including project within the 4, 5 and 6^th FP. Role in this project WP1: Monitoring water, CO2 and energy exchanges over Eucalyptus plantation and savanna; Monitoring climate, soil moisture and temperature at these eddy-covariance sites; Implementing post-processing software, and gap filling procedures for data standardization; Writing publications. WP2: Using eddy-covariance methodology at a savanna site and an Eucalyptus site for monitoring water, CO2 and energy exchanges; Monitoring canopy dynamic (LAI, FAPAR), above- and belowground plant growth, litterfall and fine root turnover, total and heterotrophic soil respiration, leaf photosynthetic capacities at the eddy-covariance sites; Estimating soil carbon budget and SOC dynamic after afforestation from measurements of soil heterotrophic respiration, SOC isotopic composition (13C/12C); Data analysis, modelisation, and writing publications. WP5: Training courses and field works in ecophysiology, nutrient cycles, root dynamics, modelling, CDM projects ; writing training documents; supervision of African students. WP6: WP leader. Litterature review on methods and models to assessing carbon, water and nutrient budgets in forest plantation ecosystem. Coordination of the scientific and field activities. Collecting, analysing data and edition of results ; carbon, water and nutrient budgets assessment ; Proposal and testing of refined standards for assessing these budgets; coupled GIS * G&Y models sofware development; recommandations for CDM projects; writing publications. Principal Investigator and collaborators Jean-Pierre Bouillet, Dr., 25 years of experience in silviculture, soil sciences and biogeochemical cycles, and in the co-ordination of projects and research activities. Yann Nouvellon, Dr., 10 years of experience in ecophysiology and carbon sequestration in forest plantation and prairial ecosystems. Laurent Saint-André, Dr., 10 years of experience in biometry and in forest growth and yield modeling. Olivier Roupsard, Dr., 15 years of of experience in ecophysiology and carbon sequestration within tree-based ecosystems. Christophe Jourdan, Dr., 15 years of experience in root systeme architecture, dynamics, and turn-over within tree-based ecosystems. Jean-Paul Laclau, Dr., 15 years of experience in soil sciences, biogeochemical cycles and forest management. Olivier Hamel, 30 years of experience in general forestry, specialised for 7 years in CDM projects. Philippe Deleporte, 30 years of experience in silviculture, biogeochemical cycles and stand growth and yield modeling. Example publications