The objectives of the project are the development and evaluation of a set of generic tools and methods designed for estimating and simulating fluxes and stocks of carbon on the scale of a landscape comprising various types of ecosystem (crops, forests and abandoned land), and the application of these tools and methods to a pilot area of 50 km x 50 km.

The project focuses on the methodologies of the transition from ecosystem to landscape and region, on the one hand, and, on the other, on the scientific question of the relative effects of climate and human activities on carbon and water balance.

The pilot area of the study will be a 50 km x 50 km area south-west of Toulouse, in which the experimental sites will be located. The approach selected is based on the modelling of soil organic matter trends and ecosystem functioning, the collection of field data and the use of satellite data. In addition to the development of new models and methods, the project will lead to the assessment of trends in land use and vegetation in the pilot area in the course of the last two or three decades and of their consequences for the carbon balance.