[en] Carbon budgets and mean residence times were estimated in four hypothetical ecosystems. The greatest uncertainties in the estimations lie in the calculation of fluxes to and from the field layer. A parametrisation method based on multiple criteria, synthesising a wide range of empirical knowledge on ecosystem behaviour, proved to be useful both in the estimation of unknown parameters, to demonstrate model sensitivity, and to identify processes where our current knowledge is limited. The parameterizations derived from the study of the hypothetical systems were used to estimate site-specific carbon and water budgets for four ecosystems located within the Oskarshamn study-area. Measured soil respiration was used to calibrate the simulations. An analysis of the simulated carbon fluxes indicated that two of the ecosystems, namely the grassland and the spruce forest, were net sources of carbon dioxide, while the alder and the pine forest were net sinks of CO₂. In the former case, this was interpreted as a result of recent drainage of the organogenic soils and the concurrent increase in decomposition. The results from the study conformed rather well with results from a previous study on carbon budgets from the Oskarshamn study area