Use of the management-oriented silvopastoral model ALWAYS: Calibration and evaluation

The ALWAYS model simulates the biophysical functioning of a silvopastoral plot-here the broad-leaved tree pasture - sheep association - and its management, according to the interactions between the different components of the system. The model was calibrated for two silvopastoral plots with contrasting soil and climate: at Lamartine in central France (wet upland climate), and at Cessous in southern France (a moderate hot and dry Mediterranean climate). The actual plot management recorded in the field was used in the model (and particularly date and number of grazing animals) and the model was run for different time series (from 2 to 100 years) depending on the process we wanted to evaluate, grass and animal production or tree growth. Models outputs were consistent with recorded data on the field and we concluded that the model can correctly simulate the behaviour of a silvopastoral plot in terms of tree growth, grass production, animal grazing and interactions between the different components. It permitted also to make consistent choices and compare different strategies of silvopastoral plots management. The improvement of some biophysical processes that are very simplified in the model is required to produce better accurate predictive values of sward or tree production. But a much more complex model will require more data for its parametrization and more time to run, precluding its use in many situations.