ACBB
SOERE ACBB in Estrées-Mons

SOERE ACBB in Estrées-Mons

A long-term observatory on biogeochemical cycles

Presentation

The SOERE (Système d'Observation et d'Expérimentation sur le long terme pour la Recherche en Environnement) ACBB (Agro-écosystème, Cycle Bio-géochimique et Biodiversité) GC (Grandes Cultures), is part of a network of 3 sites in France, focusing on the assessment of the environmental impacts of Agro-ecosystems.

At the INRAE Estrées-Mons site (80), we are studying field crop agro-ecosystems (peas, rapeseed, wheat, barley, corn, sugar beet, alfalfa), as well as the introduction of an energy crop, switchgrass. The soil and climate conditions are typical of the northern European cereal-growing basin (deep loam soil and semi-oceanic climate). The system is run in partnership with the EU GCIE, which carries out the cultivation practices on the plots.

The experimental plot (latitude 49.8738, longitude 3.0317) was planted in 2010, covering an area of 22 ha. It is a long-term system, planned for at least 20 years.

Objectives

The eight cropping systems studied implement different anthropogenic forcing variables through cropping practices (ploughing / no-till, straw restitution / export, origin and level of nitrogen fertilization, gradient of phytosanitary inputs) in order to take into account their impacts on the dynamics of biogeochemical cycles and consequences on water, air or biodiversity, and ultimately assess their environmental impacts.
Experimental methods

The SOERE ACBB Grande culture's main crop rotation is a 6-year cereal rotation representative of the region's crops, with spring peas / rapeseed / wheat / spring barley / corn or sugar beet / wheat. For treatment T6, this rotation alternates with 6 years of switchgrass, a perennial crop dedicated to biomass production. For T5, following the first rotation, which revealed a very poor nitrogen balance, 2 years of alfalfa replaced the first 2 crops in the rotation.

These treatments were constructed so that they could be compared 2 by 2: T1 vc T2, T2 vs T3, T1 vs R4, T1 vs T6, T4 vs T5, T5 vs T8, T7 vs T8.

Finally, in 2016, treatments T7 and T8 were created alongside the initial treatments, in order to evaluate systems without chemical inputs.