THIS PROPOSAL RELATES TO THE COMPONENT SUGGESTED BY THE MACAULAY INSTITUTE AND THE HILL FARMING RESEARCH ORGANISATION. SEPARATE BUT LINKED PROPOSALS ARE BEING SUBMITTED BY THE AGRICULTURAL INSTIUTE, KENSEALY RESEARCH CENTRE, EIRE AND THE ARISTOTELIAN UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI, GREECE. THE STUDIES DESCRIBED HERE ARE ALSO BEING CO-ORDINATED WITH OTHER STUDIES IN THE UK AND IN FRANCE.

THE ESTABLISHEMENT PHASE OF A MAN-MADE ECOSYSTEM IS LIKELY TO ADVERSELY AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT. AS A RESULT THE MAJOR EMPHASIS HERE IS UPON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF TREES INTO PERMANENT PASTURE AND ON THE DETAILED QUANTIFICATION OF THESE PROCESSES, E.G. ROOT DEVELOPMENT AND NUTRIENT RELEASE, KNOWN TO BE CRITICAL IN ADVERSE EFFECTS ON BIOGEOCHEMICAL AND WATER CYCLES IN ECOSYSTEMS. THE PROPOSAL INVOLVES LABORATORY AND FIELD STUDIES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTUAL AND QUANTITATIVE MODELS TO SYNTHETIZE THE COMPONENTS OF THE PROJECT.