Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé :
How Quaternary climatic and geological disturbances influenced the composition of Neotropical forests is hotly debated. Rain fall and temperature changes during and/or immediately after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are thought to have strongly affected the geographical distribution and local abundance of tree species. The paucity of the fossil records in Neotropical forests prevents a direct reconstruction of such processes. To describe community-level historical trends in forest composition, we turned therefore to inferential methods based on the reconstruction of past demographic changes. In particular, we modelled the history of rainforests in the Eastern Guiana Shield over a time scale of several thousand generations, through the application of Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods to diversity data at nuclear and chloroplast loci in eight species or subspecies of rainforest trees. Depending on the species and on the method applied, we detected population contraction, expansion or stability, with a general trend in favour of stability or expansion, with changes presumably having occurred during or after the LGM. These findings suggest that Guiana Shield rain forests have globally persisted, while expanding, through the Quaternary, but that different species have experienced different demographic events, with a trend towards the increase in frequency of light-demanding, disturbance-associated species.
ISSN: 0962-1083

hal-01512150
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01512150
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01512150/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01512150/file/Barthe_et_al-_%7B0B6A8C5E-DDFF-4C4E-822C-4E7BC22A6C9B%7D.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/mec.13949

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Studies on the periodicity of wood formation provide essential data on tree age and factors related to the control of tree growth. The aim of this work was to investigate the cambial phenology and its relation with leaf phenology and climatic seasonality in two tropical rainforest species belonging to the genus Parkia known for having a contrasted leaf phenology. From wood samples collected at 15 day intervals from April 2009 to February 2012 in five trees of both species, we quantified cambial activity by counting layers of cells in cambial zone, enlarging cells zone and wall thickening cells zone from wood prepared anatomical micro sections. In the same time, we observed leaf shedding behaviors in the crown of the studied trees. In both species, cambial activity was significantly reduced during leafless period. However, the cambial activity of P. velutina was not affected by seasonality while in P. nitida, we found a significant positive effect of the dry season on cambial activity. This diminution of activity associated to leaf shedding occurred annually during the dry season in P. nitida whereas the trees were not synchronous in time for P. velutina. On the contrary that is often admitted, the rest cambial period can be independent of environmental restriction such as dry season. Leaf phenology remains the best proxy to estimate cambial activity.
ISSN: 0931-1890

hal-01135166
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01135166
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01135166/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01135166/file/Art_Morel_al_Seasonal_variations_phenological_traits_2015.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s00468-015-1177-4

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Linnean Society of London
Résumé : International audience
The circumscription of Salicaceae has recently been enlarged to include a majority of the species formerly placed in the polyphyletic tropical family Flacourtiaceae. Several studies have reported a peculiar and infrequently formed multilayered structure of tension wood in four of the tropical genera. Tension wood is a tissue produced by trees to restore their vertical orientation, and most studies have focused on trees developing tension wood by means of cellulose-rich, gelatinous fibres, as is known in Populus L. and Salix L. (Salicaceae s.s.). This study aims to determine if the multilayered structure of tension wood is an anatomical characteristic common in other Salicaceae, and if so, how its distribution correlates to phylogenetic relationships. Therefore, we studied the tension wood of 14 genera of Salicaceae as well as two genera of Achariaceae, one genus of Goupiaceae, and one genus of Lacistemataceae, families closely related to Salicaceae or formerly placed in Flacourtiaceae. Opposite wood and tension wood were compared with light microscopy and 3D Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy. The results indicate that a multilayered structure of tension wood is common in the family except in Salix, Populus, and one of their closest relatives, Idesia polycarpa Maxim. We suggest that tension wood may be a useful anatomical character in understanding phylogenetic relationships in Salicaceae. Further investigation is still needed on the tension wood of several other putatively close relatives of Salix and Populus, in particular Bennettiodendron Merr., Macrohasseltia L.O.Williams and Itoa Hemsl.
ISSN: 0024-4074

hal-01392845
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01392845
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01392845/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01392845/file/GhislainEtAl2016_MultylayerTWSalicaceae_Bot_Jsur the_Lin_Soc_HALssfig.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/boj.12471

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Questions: Several studies have described aggregated spatial patterns in tropical tree species. This study investigates aggregate dynamics of Vouacapoua americana (Aublet), a climax species whose spatial pattern is not simply related to light and soil conditions or to its short seed dispersal range. Location: Two rain forest sites: Nouragues and Paracou, in the Guiana Shield. Methods: We described the spatial pattern of tree locations and spatial autocorrelation of tree diameters, using statistics derived from Ripley's K. We particularly used methods to define analysis subplots according to local density or local mean diameter. We investigated relationships between spatial distributions of adults and saplings. Results: At both sites, populations of Vouacapoua demonstrated several nested levels of aggregation. Tree diameters were spatially autocorrelated, revealing the existence of clusters with similar diameters. In the largest aggregates, tree diameters declined from the centre to the edge. Regeneration was aggregated and occurred mainly at cluster edges and around rare isolated trees, and sapling densities and basal area of adults were negatively correlated. We show that long-distance dispersal events are rare. Conclusions: Environmental factors and seed dispersal only explain part of the observed spatial patterns. We provide two main hypotheses about Vouacapoua population dynamics. First, the lack of regeneration in aggregate centres results in the ageing of existing aggregates. We suggest that this lack of recruitment close to mature trees is due to a Janzen-Connell effect. However, aggregates can continue to grow along colonization fronts. Second, long-distance dispersal events allow the formation of new clusters and play a crucial role in the colonization process. We investigate aggregate dynamics of Vouacapoua americana (Aublet) whose spatial pattern is not simply related to environmental conditions or to its seed dispersal. Regeneration does not occur in centers of aggregate of adults. We suggest that rare long-distance dispersal events and density-dependence predation of seeds and seedlings play a crucial role in formation of new clusters and structuration of larger aggregates.
ISSN: 1100-9233

hal-01502642
https://hal-agroparistech.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01502642
DOI : 10.1111/jvs.12080

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : Geomorphic landscape features have been suggested as indicators of forest diversity. However, their explanatory power has not yet been explicitly tested at a regional scale in tropical rainforest. We used forest inventories conducted according to a stratified sampling design (3,132 plots in 111 transects at 33 sites) and holistic multi-scale geomorphological mapping derived from a Shuttle Radar Topography Mission digital elevation model to describe and explain spatial patterns in floristic composition across French Guiana (80,000 km2). We measured and identified 123,906 trees with DBH C20 cm and used constrained and unconstrained ordinations to analyze variations in the abundance of 221 taxa and 51 families. Variance partitioning and variograms were used to detect spatial patterns in species composition, compare the explanatory power of spatial and environmentalfactors, and select the variables that best explain forest composition. Strong floristic patterns corresponded to a major latitudinal gradient and significant sub-regional floristic structure. Geomorphological landscapes shaped by historic climate fluctuations and major geological events successfully captured these patterns and explained the variation in abundance of 80 taxa, corresponding to 65 % of the inventoried trees. Our findings suggest that long-term forest dynamics are under substantial ‘‘geomorphographic control’’. A geomorphological perspective on landscapes that incorporates current and past environmental filters and historical biogeographical processes could thus be used more systematically in tropical regions for regional planning and forest conservation
ISSN: 0960-3115

hal-01204224
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01204224
DOI : 10.1007/s10531-014-0854-8
PRODINRA : 295767

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : In this paper we report a study of the mating system and gene flow of Sextonia rubra, a hermaphroditic, insect pollinated tropical tree species with a geographic distribution in the Guyana Plateau and the Amazon. Using five microsatellites we analysed 428 seeds of 27 open pollinated families at the experimental site "Paracou" in French Guiana. We observed, compared to other tropical tree species, a high level of genetic diversity. We estimated parameters of the mating system and gene flow by using the mixed mating model and the TwoGenerapproach. The estimated multilocus outcrossing rate, tm, was 0.992 indicating nearly complete outcrossing. A significant level of biparental inbreeding and a small proportion of full-sibs were estimated for the 27 seed arrays. The differentiation of allelic frequencies among the pollen pools was ΦFT = 0.061. We estimated mean pollen dispersal distances between 65 m and 89 m according to the dispersal models used. The joint estimation of pollen dispersal and density of reproductive trees gave an effective density estimate of 2.1-2.2 trees/ha
Silvae genetica

hal-01031483
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01031483

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : In the tropical rainforest of Amazonia, the factors driving the evolution of tree species remain poorly understood, and the relative influence of neutral and adaptive processes is continuously debated. In particular, local habitat patchiness draws much attention, as profound changes in the structure and composition of forest communities occur among micro-habitats. Thus, micro-environmental variations related to topography have frequently been invoked as drivers of adaptive radiation leading to sympatric speciation in Neotropical trees. On one hand, the hypothesis of local adaptation has never been investigated at the intra-specific level, i.e. within species currently undergoing population differentiation; on the other hand, many tree species are genetically structured over local scales due to neutral processes, mainly limited gene flow (caused by restricted pollen and seed dispersal). In this study, I used populations of a common tree species of the Guiana Shield - Eperua falcata (Fabaceae) - to study how neutral and adaptive processes shape the distribution of genetic diversity across forest landscapes characterized by local micro-habitat patchiness. I asked three main questions by combining both phenotypic (quantitative genetics) and molecular (population genetics) approaches: 1) How is the genetic diversity structured in forest landscapes of French Guiana? 2) Which evolutionary drivers are relevant to explain the structure of genetic diversity at local scale? 3) Does local adaptation contribute to structure genetic diversity within continuous populations?
En forêt tropicale humide Amazonienne, les facteurs gouvernant l'évolution des espèces d'arbres restent peu connus et continuellement débattus. En particulier, les micro-variations environnementales attirent beaucoup d'attention car elles induisent de profondes modifications de structure et composition des communautés. Les variations micro-environnementales associées à la topographie ont couramment été évoquées comme facteur de radiations adaptatives chez les espèces d'arbres. Cependant, l'hypothèse de l'adaptation locale n'a jamais été testée au niveau intra-spécifique chez les arbres de forêt amazonienne alors que l'on sait que la diversité génétique des arbres tropicaux est couramment structurée à faibles échelles spatiales par des processus neutres (en particulier du fait de restrictions de flux de gènes). Dans cette étude, j'ai étudié le processus de différentiation génétique d'une espèce d'arbre (Eperua falcata, Fabaceae) dans les paysages forestiers de Guyane française grâce à la combinaison d'une approche phénotypique (génétique quantitative) et d'une approche moléculaire (génétique des populations). Je me suis attachée à répondre à trois questions principales : 1) Comment se distribue la diversité génétique dans les paysages forestiers de Guyane française ? 2) Quelles forces évolutives sont impliquées dans le processus de différentiation génétique à faible échelle spatiale ? 3) Est-ce que le processus d'adaptation locale contribue à structurer la diversité génétique à faible échelle spatiale ?
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00967318

NNT : 2013LORR0188
tel-00967318
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00967318
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00967318/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00967318/file/THESE_Louise_Brousseau.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : The extent of gene dispersal is a fundamental factor of the population and evolutionary dynamics of tropical tree species, but directly monitoring seed and pollen movement is a difficult task. However, indirect estimates of historical gene dispersal can be obtained from the fine-scale spatial genetic structure of populations at drift-dispersal equilibrium. Using an approach that is based on the slope of the regression of pairwise kinship coefficients on spatial distance and estimates of the effective population density, we compare indirect gene dispersal estimates of sympatric populations of 10 tropical tree species. We re-analysed 26 data sets consisting of mapped allozyme, SSR (simple sequence repeat), RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA) or AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) genotypes from two rainforest sites in French Guiana. Gene dispersal estimates were obtained for at least one marker in each species, although the estimation procedure failed under insufficient marker polymorphism, limited sample size, or inappropriate sampling area. Estimates generally suffered low precision and were affected by assumptions regarding the effective population density. Averaging estimates over data sets, the extent of gene dispersal ranged from 150 m to 1200 m according to species. Smaller gene dispersal estimates were obtained in species with heavy diaspores, which are presumably not well dispersed, and in populations with high local adult density. We suggest that limited seed dispersal could indirectly limit effective pollen dispersal by creating higher local tree densities, thereby increasing the positive correlation between pollen and seed dispersal distances. We discuss the potential and limitations of our indirect estimation procedure and suggest guidelines for future studies
ISSN: 0962-1083

hal-01031603
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01031603
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02785.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Decreasing growth rate (Feeley et al., 2007) and large die-back due to drought (Phillips et al., 2009) suggest that tropical forests are suffering recent climate changes. Forest vulnerability to external factors (e.g. air pollution, acid rain) is widely studied in northern countries, while only a few attempts have investigated crown integrity in the Tropics. The method needs to be generic enough to account for the large number of species and crown shapes encountered in tropical forests. In the present study, we developed and tested a novel field method that estimates crown fragmentation (main branch mortality (MB) and secondary branch mortality (SB)), liana infestation (LI) and crown position (CP) in the canopy. The relationship between crown fragmentation and annual growth rate (agr) was investigated through multiple regression. Six out of eight canopy tree species showed significant growth decline with increasing crown fragmentation. Higher probability of death was also found in trees with severe crown fragmentation. The capacity of such crown assessment to depict tree vitality in a forest stand is discussed along with potential applications in both forest science and management
ISSN: 0378-1127

halsde-00611465
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/halsde-00611465
DOI : 10.1016/j.foreco.2010.10.025

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The tropical rainforest of Amazonia is one of the most species-rich ecosystems on earth, with an estimated 16000 tree species. Due to this high diversity, botanical identification of trees in the Amazon is difficult, even to genus, often requiring the assistance of parataxonomists or taxonomic specialists. Advances in informatics tools offer a promising opportunity to develop user-friendly electronic keys to improve Amazonian tree identification.Here, we introduce an original multi-access electronic key for the identification of 389 tree genera occurring in French Guiana terra-firme forests, based on a set of 79 morphological characters related to vegetative, floral and fruit characters. Its purpose is to help Amazonian tree identification and to support the dissemination of botanical knowledge to non-specialists, including forest workers, students and researchers from other scientific disciplines.The electronic key is accessible with the free access software Xper², and the database is publicly available on figshare: https://figshare.com/s/75d890b7d707e0ffc9bf
ISSN: 1314-2011

hal-01392306
https://hal-sde.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01392306
DOI : 10.3897/phytokeys.68.8707

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : Wood specific gravity (WSG) is a strong predictor of tree performance across environmental gradients. Yet it remains unclear how anatomical elements linked to different wood functions contribute to variation in WSG in branches and roots across tropical forests. [br/][br/]We examined WSG and wood anatomy in white sand, clay terra firme and seasonally flooded forests in French Guiana, spanning broad environmental gradients found throughout Amazonia. We measured 15 traits relating to branches and small woody roots in 113 species representing the 15 most abundant species in each habitat and representative species from seven monophyletic lineages occurring in all habitats. [br/][br/]Fiber traits appear to be major determinants of WSG, independent of vessel traits, in branches and roots. Fiber traits and branch and root WSG increased from seasonally flooded species to clay terra firme species and lastly to white sand species. Branch and root wood traits were strongly phylogenetically constrained. Lineages differed in wood design, but exhibited similar variation in wood structure across habitats. [br/][br/]We conclude that tropical trees can invest differently in support and transport to respond to environmental conditions. Wind disturbance and drought stress represent significant filters driving tree distribution of Amazonian forests; hence we suggest that biophysical explanations should receive more attention.
ISSN: 0028-646X

hal-01195075
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01195075
PRODINRA : 269680
PUBMED : 24329812

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé :   Diffusion du document : INRA Antilles-Guyane, UMR ECOFOG, F97387 Kourou, Guyane (France) Diplôme : DEA
il s'agit d'un type de produit dont les métadonnées ne correspondent pas aux métadonnées attendues dans les autres types de produit : DISSERTATION
This work on tropic al humid forest of Paracou includes 16 permanent sample plots covering a total surface of 119 hectares. Ten hectares of them are taken up by floodplains which characteristic is a continuous no-deep underground water level with phases of strong surface water logging. Three items have been studied : (i) Checking that during dry season the maps of the underground water level including its limits are reliable, (ii) Characterising the most suitable ecological niches for certain species, (iii) Additional updating the floodplains characterisation by precisely analysing the chemical soil content as well as the physiological reaction of the Symphonia Globulifera . Checking the underground water level in dry season enabled to put down to a quite good measurement reliability by GIS. The classification ecological of species proposed in this work is based on the relative density in floodplain and drain soil very similar to that which concerns a surface located ten or more kilometres further. This lets us assess that this classification is of a good reliability as long as the climate conditions are quite similar to ours in Paracou. Furthermore the presence of pneumatophores in the Symphonia Globulifera is a good biological criterion as long as it shows a long time ground moisture saturation. By analysing the life litter and the soil we mentioned that the leaf content and the soil content indicate a better nutritional value (phosphorus, calcium and potassium) in the floodplains. For phosphorus the relation between the life litter and the soil results put forward that the Olsen method gives a better explanation of the real phosphorus availability for the trees.
Le dispositif de recherche sur la forêt tropicale humide de Paracou est composé de 16 parcelles permanentes couvrant au total 119 ha, dont 10 ha sont occupés par des bas-fonds, caractérisés par l'existence permanente d'une nappe peu profonde et par des périodes de fort engorgement en surface. Notre étude avait trois objectifs : (i) vérifier la fiabilité des cartes de la profondeur de nappe en saison sèche, qui délimitent ces bas-fonds, (ii) caractériser les préférences écologiques de quelques espèces et (iii) compléter la caractérisation des bas-fonds par l'analyse de la richesse chimique du sol et l'étude de la réaction physiologique du Symphonia globulifera. La vérification sur la profondeur de nappe en saison sèche a montré que les imprécisions des cartes étaient d'ampleur limitée, sans incidence forte par rapport à l'ensemble des données. Le classement écologique des espèces proposé dans cette étude, basé sur leurs densités relatives dans les bas-fonds et hors des bas-fonds, est très similaire à celui présenté par une autre étude, dans un dispositif situé à plusieurs dizaines de kilomètres. Cela suggère que ce classement a une bonne validité, tant que les conditions climatiques ne diffèrent pas trop de celles rencontrées à Paracou. Par ailleurs, la présence des pneumatophores du Symphonia globulifera est un bon critère biologique signalant un engorgement hydrique prolongé du sol. Au niveau des analyses de la litière et du sol, les teneurs foliaires et les teneurs dans le sol semblent indiquer que la nutrition en phosphore, calcium et potassium est meilleure en bas-fonds. Au niveau de la méthode de mesure du phosphore assimilable, les relations entre les résultats de la litière et celles du sol suggèrent que la méthode d'Olsen rend mieux compte de la disponibilité effective du phosphore pour les arbres de la forêt tropicale humide que la méthode de Duchaufour.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01189229

hal-01189229
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01189229
PRODINRA : 17050

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé :  
1. Relationships between tropical rain forest biomass and environmental factors have been determined at regional scales, e.g. the Amazon Basin, but the reasons for the high variability in forest biomass at local scales are poorly understood. Interactions between topography, soil properties, tree growth and mortality rates, and treefalls are a likely reason for this variability. 2. We used repeated measurements of permanent plots in lowland rain forest in French Guiana to evaluate these relationships. The plots sampled topographic gradients from hilltops to slopes to bottomlands, with accompanying variation in soil waterlogging along these gradients. Biomass was calculated for >175 tree species in the plots, along with biomass productivity and recruitment rates. Mortality was determined as standing dead and treefalls. 3. Treefall rates were twice as high in bottomlands as on hilltops, and tree recruitment rates, radial growth rates and the abundance of light-demanding tree species were also higher. 4. In the bottomlands, the mean wood density was 10% lower than on hilltops, the basal area 29% lower and the height:diameter ratio of trees was lower, collectively resulting in a total woody biomass that was 43% lower in bottomlands than on hilltops. 5. Biomass productivity was 9% lower in bottomlands than on hilltops, even though soil Olsen P concentrations were higher in bottomlands. 6. Synthesis. Along a topographic gradient from hilltops to bottomlands there were higher rates of treefall, which decreased the stand basal area and favoured lower allocation to height growth and recruitment of light-demanding species with low wood density. The resultant large variation in tree biomass along the gradient shows the importance of determining site characteristics and including these characteristics when scaling up biomass estimates from stand to local or regional scales.
ISSN: 0022-0477

hal-01032100
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032100

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé :  
Animals, especially insects, are principal pollen vectors of tropical trees and have behavior patterns that affect gene dispersal. Here, we explore complex pollination systems using a new simulation model Eco-Gene and considering, among other factors, flowering synchrony, spatial distribution of trees, degree of selfing, population densities, pollinator flight distances, pollen deposition, and pollinator response to floral display size. Sensitivity analyses using two contrasting tree data sets (Jacaranda copaia and Dipteryx odorata) determined the importance of each parameter on three response variables: the proportion of seeds from self-pollination, effective population size, and pollen dispersal. Spatial considerations and attractiveness of floral displays were prominent features determining the population genetic result of pollinators, and some biological implications of the results are discussed.
ISSN: 0006-3606

hal-01032091
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032091
DOI : 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2004.tb00309.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The tropical rainforest of Amazonia is one of the most species-rich ecosystems on earth, with an estimated 16000 tree species. Due to this high diversity, botanical identification of trees in the Amazon is difficult, even to genus, often requiring the assistance of parataxonomists or taxonomic specialists. Advances in informatics tools offer a promising opportunity to develop user-friendly electronic keys to improve Amazonian tree identification.Here, we introduce an original multi-access electronic key for the identification of 389 tree genera occurring in French Guiana terra-firme forests, based on a set of 79 morphological characters related to vegetative, floral and fruit characters. Its purpose is to help Amazonian tree identification and to support the dissemination of botanical knowledge to non-specialists, including forest workers, students and researchers from other scientific disciplines.The electronic key is accessible with the free access software Xper², and the database is publicly available on figshare: https://figshare.com/s/75d890b7d707e0ffc9bf (doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.2682550).
ISSN: 1314-2011

hal-01369143
https://hal-sde.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01369143
DOI : 10.3897/phytokeys.68.8707

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Tropical forests are a biodiversity hotspot, with the coexistence of numerous species until a fine spatial scale. Particularly, 16.000 tree species coexist in Amazonia, 1.800 in Frenche Guiana and between 120 and more than 200 tree species per hectare. However, there are some uncertainties in maintaining diversity in regard to global changes. Hence before predicting the diversity evolution face of global changes, fundamental studies are needed to understand which assembly processes are involved in the maintenance of diversity. These fundamental studies still relevant given the lack of consensus on the relative importance of assembly processes. This thesis is a continuation of these fundamental studies, using innovative integrative approach, at multi-scale, to address three types of diversity: taxonomic diversity, functional and phylogenetic. Our results challenge the importance of environmental filtering for hydrological and chemical properties of soils, versus the importance of biotic interactions on community assembly. Furthermore, our results suggest that species distributions could be affected by forest dynamics related to falling trees and therefore by light availability. Finally, we have highlighted the importance of dispersal limitation on community assembly.
Les forêts tropicales représentent un ‘hotspot’ de diversité avec un nombre considérable d’espèces qui coexistent jusqu’à une échelle locale fine. Plus particulièrement, 16 000 espèces d’arbres coexistent en Amazonie, 1 800 en Guyane française et entre 120 et plus de 200 espèces d’arbres par hectare. Cependant, le maintien de cette diversité face aux changements globaux actuels et à venir (qu’ils soient anthropiques ou climatiques…) est incertain. Avant de pouvoir prédire l’évolution de la diversité face aux changements globaux, un travail fondamental est nécessaire afin de comprendre les processus d’assemblage des communautés, processus qui maintiennent cette diversité. Ce travail est réalisé depuis de nombreuses années en écologie et reste d’actualité vu l’absence de consensus quant à l’importance relative des processus d’assemblage. Cette thèse s’inscrit dans la continuité de ce travail fondamental en utilisant une approche intégrative innovante, qui aborde de manière multi-échelle trois types de diversité : diversité taxonomique, fonctionnelle et phylogénétique. Nos résultats questionnent sur l'importance du filtrage environnemental quant aux propriétés hydrologiques et chimiques des sols, et sur celle des interactions biotiques dans l’assemblage de la communauté étudiée. Par ailleurs, nos résultats suggèrent que les distributions d’espèces puissent être influencées par la dynamique forestière en lien avec les chutes d’arbres et donc avec la disponibilité en lumière. Enfin, nous avons mis en évidence l’importance de la limitation de dispersion.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01418447

NNT : 2016YANE0003
tel-01418447
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01418447
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01418447/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01418447/file/these.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Ecological Society of America
Résumé : Herbivores are often implicated in the generation of the extraordinarily diverse tropical flora. One hypothesis linking enemies to plant diversification posits that the evolution of novel defenses allows plants to escape their enemies and expand their ranges. When range expansion involves entering a new habitat type, this could accelerate defense evolution if habitats contain different assemblages of herbivores and/or divergent resource availabilities that affect plant defense allocation. We evaluated this hypothesis by investigating two sister habitat specialist ecotypes of Protium subserratum (Burseraceae), a common Amazonian tree that occurs in white-sand and terra firme forests. We collected insect herbivores feeding on the plants, assessed whether growth differences between habitats were genetically based using a reciprocal transplant experiment, and sampled multiple populations of both lineages for defense chemistry. Protium subserratum plants were attacked mainly by chrysomelid beetles and cicadellid hemipterans. Assemblages of insect herbivores were dissimilar between populations of ecotypes from different habitats, as well as from the same habitat 100 km distant. Populations from terra firme habitats grew significantly faster than white-sand populations; they were taller, produced more leaf area, and had more chlorophyll. White-sand populations expressed more dry mass of secondary compounds and accumulated more flavone glycosides and oxidized terpenes, whereas terra firme populations produced a coumaroylquinic acid that was absent from white-sand populations. We interpret these results as strong evidence that herbivores and resource availability select for divergent types and amounts of defense investment in white-sand and terra firme lineages of Protium subserratum, which may contribute to habitat-mediated speciation in these trees.
ISSN: 0012-9658

hal-01032403
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032403
DOI : 10.1890/12-1920.1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé :  
The complex structure of tree bark reflects its many functions, which include structural support as well as defence against fire, pests and pathogens. Thick bark, however, might limit respiration by the living tissues of the trunk. Nevertheless, little research has addressed community-level variation in bark thickness, and to the best of our knowledge, no one has tested multiple hypotheses to explain variation in bark thickness. We conducted an extensive survey of bark thickness within and among species of trees in the tropical rain forests of French Guiana. Trunk bark thickness increased by 1.2 mm per 10 cm increase in stem diameter, and varied widely at all taxonomic levels. Mean trunk bark thickness was 4.5 mm (range: 0.5-29 mm), which was less that found in two Amazonian rain forests in previous studies. This survey of bark thickness should be of use for forest management since tree survival through fire is strongly predicted by bark thickness. We combined the survey data with multiple datasets to test several functional hypotheses proposed to explain variation in bark thickness. We found bark to provide an average of 10% of the flexural rigidity of tree stems, which was substantially less than that found in the only other study of bark stiffness. Bark thickness was uncorrelated with species' association with fire-prone habitats, suggesting that the influence of fire on bark thickness does not extend into moist Forests. There was also little evidence that bark thickness is affected by its function as a defence against herbivory. Nor was there evidence that thick bark limits trunk respiration. A re-analysis of previously collected anatomical data indicated that variation in rhytidome (non-conducting outer bark) thickness explains much of the variation in overall bark thickness. As rhytidome is primarily involved in protecting the living tissues of the trunk, we suggest that bark thickness is driven mostly by its defensive function. Functional explanations for the variation in bark thickness were not clear-cut. Nevertheless, this study provides a foundation for further investigation of the functional bases of bark in tropical trees.
ISSN: 0269-8463

hal-01032124
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032124
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2010.01736.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag/EDP Sciences
Résumé : International audience
We present a plant trait database covering autecology for rain forest trees of French Guiana. The database comprises more than thirty traits including autecology (e.g., habitat associations and reproductive phenology), wood structure (e.g., density and tension characteristics) and physiology at the whole plant (e.g., carbon and nitrogen isotopes) and leaf level (e.g., specific leaf area, photosynthetic capacity). The current database describes traits for about nine hundred species from three hundred genera in one hundred families. For more than sixty species, data on twelve morphological and ecophysiological traits are provided for individual plants under different environmental conditions and at different ontogenetic stages. The database is thus unique in permitting intraspecific analyses, such as the effects of ontogenetic stages or environmental conditions on trait values and their relationships.
ISSN: 1286-4560

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-00884130
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00884130
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00884130/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00884130/file/hal-00884130.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Ethnobotany Research and Applications
Résumé :  
We examined the limitations of parataxonomic inventories for developing management plans for woody plant resources in tropical rain forests of southwestern Amazonia. Using compilations of herbarium labels, forest personnel interviews and published species descriptions, we assessed the accuracy of common names as parataxonomic units (PUs). We identified 384 common names for 310 harvested woody plant species in the Brazilian state of Acre, of which only 50% were unique to a single taxonomic species. About 10% of common names referred to more than one species, more than half of which included multiple genera. For the 106 species from the Acre sample common to the MAP region including Madre de Dios, Peru and Pando, Bolivia, we identified 198 common names. Splitting was much more frequent in this sample, with more than 80% of species having more than one common name. When the Acre sample was expanded to 131 species from the Brazilian Amazon region, including the states of Amazonas and Para, we identified 740 common names, with nearly 90% of species being represented by more than one common name. Errors and inaccuracy of parataxonomy may contribute to market instability if product orders can not be homogenized within regional markets, and to unsustainable harvests if species are mistakenly lumped into single parataxonomic units. We discuss several programs currently being implemented by our collaborative team in the region to address this issue, including field guides based on digital photography, field courses, and workshops featuring discussions between regional inventory personnel and botanists.
Ethnobotany Research and Applications

hal-01032130
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032130