Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Background and Aims: In rain forests, sapling survival is highly dependent on the regulation of trunk slenderness (height/diameter ratio): shade-intolerant species have to grow in height as fast as possible to reach the canopy but also have to withstand mechanical loadings (wind and their own weight) to avoid buckling. Recent studies suggest that mechanosensing is essential to control tree dimensions and stability-related morphogenesis. Differences in species slenderness have been observed among rainforest trees; the present study thus investigates whether species with different slenderness and growth habits exhibit differences in mechanosensitivity. Methods: Recent studies have led to a model of mechanosensing (sum-of-strains model) that predicts a quantitative relationship between the applied sum of longitudinal strains and the plant's responses in the case of a single bending. Saplings of five different neotropical species (Eperua falcata, E. grandiflora, Tachigali melinonii, Symphonia globulifera and Bauhinia guianensis) were subjected to a regimen of controlled mechanical loading phases (bending) alternating with still phases over a period of 2 months. Mechanical loading was controlled in terms of strains and the five species were subjected to the same range of sum of strains. The application of the sum-of-strain model led to a dose-response curve for each species. Dose-response curves were then compared between tested species. Key Results: The model of mechanosensing (sum-of-strain model) applied in the case of multiple bending as long as the bending frequency was low. A comparison of dose-response curves for each species demonstrated differences in the stimulus threshold, suggesting two groups of responses among the species. Interestingly, the liana species B. guianensis exhibited a higher threshold than other Leguminosae species tested. Conclusions: This study provides a conceptual framework to study variability in plant mechanosensing and demonstrated interspecific variability in mechanosensing.
ISSN: 0305-7364

halsde-00454145
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/halsde-00454145
DOI : 10.1093/aob/mcp286

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : Plant litter diversity effects on decomposition rates are frequently reported, but with a strong bias towards temperate ecosystems. Altered decomposition and nutrient recycling with changing litter diversity may be particularly important in tree species-rich tropical rainforests on nutrient-poor soils. Using 28 different mixtures of leaf litter from 16 Amazonian rainforest tree species, we tested the hypothesis that litter mixture effects on decomposition increase with increasing functional litter diversity. Litter mixtures and all single litter species were exposed in the field for 9 months using custom-made microcosms with soil fauna access. In order to test the hypothesis that the long-term presence of tree species contributing to the litter mixtures increases mixture effects on decomposition, microcosms were installed in a plantation at sites including the respective tree species composition and in a nearby natural forest where these tree species are absent. We found that mixture decomposition deviated from predictions based on single species, with predominantly synergistic effects. Functional litter diversity, defined as either richness, evenness, or divergence based on a wide range of chemical traits, did not explain the observed litter mixture effects. However, synergistic effects in litter mixtures increased with the long-term presence of tree species contributing to these mixtures as the home field advantage hypothesis assumes. Our data suggest that complementarity effects on mixed litter decomposition may emerge through long-term interactions between aboveground and belowground biota.
ISSN: 0029-8549

hal-01032393
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032393
DOI : 10.1007/s00442-011-1966-4

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Royal Society, The
Résumé : International audience
Bathymodiolin mussels occur at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, where they thrive thanks to symbiotic associations with chemotrophic bacteria. Closely related genera Idas and Adipicola are associated with organic falls, ecosystems that have been suggested as potential evolutionary 'stepping stones' in the colonization of deeper and more sulphide-rich environments. Such a scenario should result from specializations to given environments from species with larger ecological niches. This study provides molecular-based evidence for the existence of two mussel species found both on sunken wood and bones. Each species specifically harbours one bacterial phylotype corresponding to thioautotrophic bacteria related to other bathymodiolin symbionts. Phylogenetic patterns between hosts and symbionts are partially congruent. However, active endocytosis and occurrences of minor symbiont lineages within species which are not their usual host suggest an environmental or horizontal rather than strictly vertical transmission of symbionts. Although the bacteria are close relatives, their localization is intracellular in one mussel species and extracellular in the other, suggesting that habitat choice is independent of the symbiont localization. The variation of bacterial densities in host tissues is related to the substrate on which specimens were sampled and could explain the abilities of host species to adapt to various substrates.
ISSN: 0950-1193

hal-00755293
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00755293
DOI : 10.1098/rspb.2008.1101

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Philodendron acutatum (Araceae) is a hemiepiphyte common to the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil. In two localities, we studied the species’ breeding system and associations with flower-visiting insects, along with an analysis of its floral scent composition. The fruit set of self-incompatible P. acutatum was high, more than 90%, and inflorescences were exclusively pollinated by one species of scarab beetle, Cyclocephala celata (Scarabaeidae, Dynastinae). Pollinators are drawn toward the inflorescences at dusk by strong floral fragrancesgiven off during the female phase of anthesis, along with endogenous heating of the spadix, whose temperatures were recorded at more than 11C above ambient air. Two other species of flower-visiting Cyclocephala were also consistently recovered in blacklight trappings during the flowering period of P. acutatum. The fact that only C. celata was found in association with P. acutatum suggests a local reproductivedependence of the plant to this scarab beetle species. Dihydro-b-ionone and 2-hydroxy-5-methyl-3-hexanone, a rare volatile molecule so far unreported as a floral compound, together accounted for more than 97% of the unique scent composition of P. acutatum and might be involved in specific attraction of C. celata.
International Journal of Plant Sciences

hal-01094225
https://hal-agroparistech.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01094225
DOI : 10.1086/654846

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Royal Society, The
Résumé : International audience
Many studies have focused on the impacts of climate change on biological assemblages, yet little is known about how climate interacts with other major anthropogenic influences on biodiversity, such as habitat disturbance. Using a unique global database of 1128 local ant assemblages , we examined whether climate mediates the effects of habitat disturbance on assemblage structure at a global scale. Species richness and evenness were associated positively with temperature, and negatively with disturbance. However, the interaction among temperature, precipitation and disturbance shaped species richness and evenness. The effect was manifested through a failure of species richness to increase substantially with temperature in transformed habitats at low precipitation. At low precipitation levels, evenness increased with temperature in undisturbed sites, peaked at medium temperatures in disturbed sites and remained low in transformed sites. In warmer climates with lower rainfall, the effects of increasing disturbance on species richness and evenness were akin to decreases in temperature of up to 98C. Anthropogenic disturbance and ongoing climate change may interact in complicated ways to shape the structure of assemblages, with hot, arid environments likely to be at greatest risk.
ISSN: 0962-8452

hal-01323255
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01323255
DOI : 10.1098/rspb.2015.0418

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : In habitat mosaics, plant populations face environmental heterogeneity over short geographical distances. Such steep environmental gradients can induce ecological divergence. Lowland rainforests of the Guiana Shield are characterized by sharp, short-distance environmental variations related to topography and soil characteristics (from waterlogged bottomlands on hydromorphic soils to well-drained terra firme on ferralitic soils). Continuous plant populations distributed along such gradients are an interesting system to study intrapopulation divergence at highly local scales. This study tested (1) whether conspecific populations growing in different habitats diverge at functional traits, and (2) whether they diverge in the same way as congeneric species having different habitat preferences. Phenotypic differentiation was studied within continuous populations occupying different habitats for two congeneric, sympatric, and ecologically divergent tree species (Eperua falcata and E. grandiflora, Fabaceae). Over 3000 seeds collected from three habitats were germinated and grown in a common garden experiment, and 23 morphological, biomass, resource allocation and physiological traits were measured. In both species, seedling populations native of different habitats displayed phenotypic divergence for several traits (including seedling growth, biomass allocation, leaf chemistry, photosynthesis and carbon isotope composition). This may occur through heritable genetic variation or other maternally inherited effects. For a sub-set of traits, the intraspecific divergence associated with environmental variation coincided with interspecific divergence. The results indicate that mother trees from different habitats transmit divergent trait values to their progeny, and suggest that local environmental variation selects for different trait optima even at a very local spatial scale. Traits for which differentiation within species follows the same pattern as differentiation between species indicate that the same ecological processes underlie intra- and interspecific variation.
ISSN: 0305-7364

hal-01032430
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032430
DOI : 10.1093/aob/mct176

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD MDPI
Résumé : International audience
The future of tropical managed forests is threatened by climate change. In anticipation of the increase in the frequency of drought episodes predicted by climatic models for intertropical regions, it is essential to study commercial trees' resilience and vulnerability to water stress by identifying potential interaction effects between selective logging and stress due to a lack of water. Focusing on 14 species representing a potential or acknowledged commercial interest for wood production in the Guiana Shield, a joint model coupling growth and mortality for each species was parametrized, including a climatic variable related to water stress and the quantity of aboveground biomass lost after logging. For the vast majority of the species, water stress had a negative impact on growth rate, while the impact of logging was positive. The opposite results were observed for the mortality. Combining results from growth and mortality models, we generate vulnerability profiles and ranking from species apparently quite resistant to water stress (Chrysophyllum spp., Goupia glabra Aubl., Qualea rosea Aubl.), even under logging pressure, to highly vulnerable species (Sterculia spp.). In light of our results, forest managers in the Guiana Shield may want to conduct (i) a conservation strategy of the most vulnerable species and (ii) a diversification of the logged species. Conservation of the already-adapted species may also be considered as the most certain way to protect the tropical forests under future climates.
ISSN: 1999-4907

hal-01315432
https://hal-sde.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01315432
DOI : 10.3390/f7050105

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD CSIRO Publishing
Résumé :  
Leaf traits of tropical tree species display an important inter-specific diversity, as detected for instance in the large range of values of leaf mass : area ratio (LMA). They also demonstrate a large irradiance-elicited plasticity, but there is still debate whether this plasticity differs among species. To address this question, leaf traits were recorded on saplings from 12 rainforest tree species in French Guiana, grown under approximately 5, 10 and 20% relative irradiance. Fifteen structural and physiological leaf traits related to photosynthesis were measured. The irradiance-elicited plasticity was quantified using a relative distance plasticity index. A large inter-specific diversity was detected for all leaf traits. A principal component analysis opposed species with a large mass-based photosynthesis, respiration, N content and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency, to species with a large leaf mass : area ratio, LMA. The two pioneer species used in this study displayed the largest photosynthetic capacity (and lowest LMA) and ranked at one end of the species continuum. Relative irradiance affected almost all traits with the exception of mass-based photosynthesis.Aweak interaction was found between species and relative irradiance and the species ranking was maintained among relative irradiance treatments for the majority of the traits. A principal component analysis of the values of relative-distance plasticity index failed to reveal any consistent patterns of traits or species.Weconcluded that irradiance-elicited plasticity of leaf traits was similar among species irrespective ofLMA and successional status, despite the occurrence of a large inter-specific diversity for the investigated traits
ISSN: 1445-4408

hal-01032129
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032129
DOI : 10.1071/FP09119

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The functioning of the Manche-à-Eau lagoon and of its mangrove environment with the population of marine fish of Guadeloupe has been studied since 1983, and particularly in the 2000s. This ecosystem supports a stable fish assemblage structure because of its twice a day turnover (14.8%) of marine water. It is a favorable and important site for the reproduction (38%) and growth (46%) of a large number of species. The life cycle of these fish species share, for the most part, an ecophase in the mangrove in brackish water and a marine ecophase outside the lagoon. The mangrove plays a vital role in the retention of continental nutrients. This facilitates the trophic exploitation of vegetal and animal detritus bases by the fish in high population density. The majority of populations present individuals reaching length at least 40% from the known maximum length for the species, although only 38.1% have individuals longer than 300 mm. The mangrove aids in the spawning activity of fish species (41% to 58% of the total abundance) and in the reproductive (maturation, migration) process (58% in density and 70% in biomass). The sedentary species lay their eggs in the mangrove, whereas the temporary species stay there during their trophic ecophase or after a genesic migration from the sea to assure sexual maturation for both sexes in the species.
Proceedings of the 61st Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
Gosier, Guadeloupe

hal-00755780
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00755780
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00755780/document
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00755780/file/GCFI_61_2009_307-312.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
We assessed the occurrence of algae in five species of tank-bromeliads found in contrasting environmental sites in a Neotropical, primary rainforest around the Nouragues Research Station, French Guiana. The distributions of both algal abundance and biomass were examined based on physical parameters, the morphological characteristics of bromeliad species and with regard to the structure of other aquatic microbial communities held in the tanks. Algae were retrieved in all of the bromeliad species with mean densities ranging from ∼10(2) to 10(4) cells/mL. Their biomass was positively correlated to light exposure and bacterial biomass. Algae represented a tiny component of the detrital food web in shaded bromeliads but accounted for up to 30 percent of the living microbial carbon in the tanks of Catopsis berteroniana, located in a highly exposed area. Thus, while nutrient supplies are believed to originate from wind-borne particles and trapped insects (i.e., allochtonous organic matter), our results indicate that primary producers (i.e., autochtonous organic matter) are present in this insectivorous bromeliad. Using a 24-h incubation of size-fractionated and manipulated samples from this plant, we evaluated the impact of mosquito foraging on algae, other microorganisms and rotifers. The prey assemblages were greatly altered by the predation of mosquito larvae. Grazing losses indicated that the dominant algal taxon, Bumilleriopsis sp., like protozoa and rotifers, is a significant part of the diet of mosquito larvae. We conclude that algae are a relevant functional community of the aquatic food web in C. berteroniana and might form the basis of a complementary non-detrital food web.
ISSN: 1932-6203

hal-00819161
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00819161
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00819161/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00819161/file/Brouard2011_AreAlgae.pdf
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0020129

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : [b]1.[/b] Plant functional traits, in particular specific leaf area (SLA), wood density and seed mass, are often good predictors of individual tree growth rates within communities. Individuals and species with high SLA, low wood density and small seeds tend to have faster growth rates.[br/][br/][b]2.[/b] If community-level relationships between traits and growth have general predictive value, then similar relationships should also be observed in analyses that integrate across taxa, biogeographic regions and environments. Such global consistency would imply that traits could serve as valuable proxies for the complex suite of factors that determine growth rate, and, therefore, could underpin a new generation of robust dynamic vegetation models. Alternatively, growth rates may depend more strongly on the local environment or growth–trait relationships may vary along environmental gradients.[br/][br/][b]3.[/b] We tested these alternative hypotheses using data on 27 352 juvenile trees, representing 278 species from 27 sites on all forested continents, and extensive functional trait data, 38% of which were obtained at the same sites at which growth was assessed. Data on potential evapotranspiration (PET), which summarizes the joint ecological effects of temperature and precipitation, were obtained from a global data base.[br/][br/][b]4.[/b] We estimated size-standardized relative height growth rates (SGR) for all species, then related them to functional traits and PET using mixed-effect models for the fastest growing species and for all species together.[br/][br/][b]5.[/b] Both the mean and 95th percentile SGR were more strongly associated with functional traits than with PET. PET was unrelated to SGR at the global scale. SGR increased with increasing SLA and decreased with increasing wood density and seed mass, but these traits explained only 3.1% of the variation in SGR. SGR–trait relationships were consistently weak across families and biogeographic zones, and over a range of tree statures. Thus, the most widely studied functional traits in plant ecology were poor predictors of tree growth over large scales.[br/][br/][b]6.[/b] Synthesis. We conclude that these functional traits alone may be unsuitable for predicting growth of trees over broad scales. Determining the functional traits that predict vital rates under specific environmental conditions may generate more insight than a monolithic global relationship can offer.
ISSN: 0022-0477

hal-01204226
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01204226
DOI : 10.1111/1365-2745.12401
PRODINRA : 307144

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We sought transversotrematid trematodes from French Polynesian fishes by examining 304 individual scaled fishes of 53 species from seven families known to harbour the family elsewhere. A single species was found at two locations in the Tuamotus Archipelago on two species of Chaetodontidae (Chaetodon auriga and Chaetodon ephippium) and one species of Lutjanidae (Lutjanus gibbus). The species closely resembles Transversotrema borboleta Hunter & Cribb, 2012 from chaetodontids and lutjanids of the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) but differs from it consistently in 8 base positions of ITS2 rDNA. This level of variation exceeds that between some clearly morphologically distinct pairs of species of Transversotrema and the form from French Polynesia is thus interpreted as a distinct, though cryptic, species and named Transversotrema polynesiae n. sp. The new species forms part of a complex of species, here characterised as the T. borboleta complex, associated with chaetodontids and lutjanids in the tropical Indo-West Pacific. Most of the putative species within this complex are yet to be described. Comparison of identical numbers of matched samples of fishes from French Polynesia, Heron Island (southern GBR) and Lizard Island (northern GBR) revealed 1, 4 and 10 species of Transversotrema respectively suggesting that the French Polynesian fauna is depauperate for this family. In addition to those species apparently missing from suitable hosts in French Polynesia, several species from further west infect fishes (especially Nemipteridae) that are themselves absent from French Polynesia. This dramatic east–west decline in richness contrasts strongly with what is known for monogeneans, which appear to maintain their richness over the same scale, and is more precipitate than is known for other groups of trematodes. The decline might be explained in part by the absence of the as yet unknown first intermediate hosts in French Polynesia. However, we predict that it is explained by other life cycle traits. We hypothesise that the characters of large short-lived cercariae, short-lived miracidia, the absence in the life-cycle of second intermediate hosts that are capable of transporting the species, and definitive and first intermediate hosts that have limited vagility combine to give marine Transversotrematidae limited dispersal capacity and a propensity for localised speciation.
ISSN: 1383-5769

hal-01333467
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01333467
DOI : 10.1016/j.parint.2013.11.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer
Résumé : International audience
The aim of this chapter is to provide a general overview of the main ecological aspects of Anthozoan-Symbiodinium mutualisms in the Mediterranean Sea. There are reports of at least twelve species of symbiotic anthozans in the basin. These anthozoans establish symbiotic relations with Symbiodinium Temperate A and B2 (Symbiodinium psygmophilum), corresponding to the only two species of Symbiodinium described in the region. A synthesis of the trophic and biochemical aspects of the interaction between Symbiodinum and their cnidarian hosts is given to contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms that maintain this special association. Finally, current knowledge about the ecological importance of this interaction in engineering species is examined. This review is framed to highlight the ecological importance of this symbiotic relationship in ecosystem construction and maintenance on an enclosed, temperate marine basin.
The Cnidaria, Past, Present and Future

ISBN : 978-3-319-31303-0
hal-01546929
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01546929
DOI : 10.1007/978-3-319-31305-4_24

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Inter-Research
Résumé : Precise knowledge of lifetime migrations is vital in exploited fish species, since all essential habitats must be protected to maintain sustainable stock levels. The present study used multi-element otolith fingerprints of the gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata (L.) to discriminate its main juvenile and adult habitats in the Languedoc-Roussillon region (Gulf of Lions, northwest Mediterranean) and infer the lifetime migrations of 12 individuals from the area (11 from the present day and 1 from the Roman era). This allowed for the first time the identification of key habitats for the successful completion of the species' life cycle in the Gulf of Lions, and the connectivity between them. Our results revealed that lagoon use by S. aurata is probably ancient (>2500 yr) and confirmed its current commonness. Yet, although most observed migration patterns were in accordance with the migratory behavior previously described for the species, strong inter-individual variations and new patterns in habitat use were detected. At the juvenile stage, a preference for shallow lagoons with low salinities was evidenced. Nevertheless, the first year of life can also be successfully completed in marine conditions. At the adult stage, lagoon use was shown to occur until at least age 4 yr, with periods of lagoon residency of up to 11 mo in a year, often including winter months. Because overwintering in the lagoons was previously thought to be impossible for S. aurata due to low temperatures, this finding has important implications for future stock management, especially since the species breeds in winter.
Marine Ecology Progress Series

hal-00682003
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00682003
DOI : 10.3354/meps09444

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé :  
A closed depression is defined as a geomorphologic element where a sediment depository is encircled by hillslopes. Despite the fact that closed depressions are often the only stagnant water points in many European landscapes, few ecological researches on their plant assemblages have been done. The main goal of this study was to give first results of the environmental factors responsible for the vegetation composition, richness and rarity in the closed depressions of the Lorraine biogeographical district (Belgium, France and grand-duche de Luxembourg). We surveyed for plant presence 85 forest and 77 grassland closed depressions. For each site, wetland area, local environmental factors and regional connectivities registered. For each species, the Ellenberg values were compiled. To investigate the main source of variation in species composition and in species richness (including richness in rare species), Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling analyses and Generalized Linear Models were respectively used. Species pools in forest (forest and preforest species) and in grassland (bog plants, pioneers, helophytes) were quite different. In both landscapes, a gradient from plants typical of basic high-productive soils to plants typical of acid low-productive soils reflects a shared successional gradient. The accumulation of organic matter allowed the establishment of Sphagnum spp., which slowly acidified the soil and thus acted as ecosystem engineers for the arrival of bog plants. Moreover, the species composition was additionally driven by the plant light tolerance in forests and by the plant water requirements in grasslands. Mechanisms of species accumulation (increase in species richness) were different in forests and in grasslands: respectively related to the plant light tolerance and to the wetland area. At the regional level, the averaged soil productivity was negatively related to the richness in rare species. Indeed, perennial highly-competitive plants such as Glyceria spp., Iris pseudacorus or Urtica dioica impeded the establishment of smaller and rarer species. At the habitat level, isolated closed depressions (due to either low connectivity or low grazing pressure) have more habitat rare species, giving evidences of dispersal limitation in plant assemblages of closed depressions.
ISSN: 0960-3115

hal-01032125
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032125
DOI : 10.1007/s10531-007-9227-x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Despite the increasing dominance of turf algae in coral reefs, few studies have investigated their physiological and ecological responses to changes in abiotic factors. We tested the effects of depth and ultraviolet radiation on turf algae at different levels of successional stages using two experiments. Depth-related differences were found for all turf algal communities, characterized by a higher amount of the cyanobacteria taxon Dichothrix and the red filamentous genera Poly-/Herposiphonia in the shallow and the appearance of oscillating cyanobacteria in deeper waters. In the first experiment, cross-depth transplantation of 153 days old communities influenced percentage cover, biomass and taxa composition. Downward transplantation lowered overall biomass and abundance of the foraminifera Sorites, whereas the crustose green alga Pringsheimiella and filamentous cyanobacteria colonized the communities. A nearly reverse pattern was observed in upward transplanted communities. Overall we distinguished between sensitive taxa, like Oscillatoria, and taxa able to acclimate to alterations in their environment, like Pringsheimiella, Poly/Herposiphonia and Dichothrix. In the second experiment, algae grown for 285 days at 5 m were exposed together with a set of sterile settlement tiles to three UVR regimes at 2 m for 22 days. UVR had no effect on turf algal communities regardless of successional stage. This study highlights the presence of high light and UV tolerant species. The high UV tolerance of turf communities may confer a competitive advantage over other more sensitive coral reef biota, such as corals. This study demonstrates that turf algae are dynamic communities exhibiting species-specific resistance to environmental changes.
ISSN: 0022-0981

hal-01333486
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01333486
DOI : 10.1016/j.jembe.2014.07.017

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Ecological Society of America
Résumé : Herbivory is viewed as a major driver of plant evolution and the mostimportant energy pathway from plants to higher trophic levels. Therefore, understandingpatterns of herbivory on plants remains a key focus in evolution and ecology. Theevolutionary impacts of leaf herbivory include altering plant fitness, local adaptation, theevolution of defenses, and the diversification of plants as well as natural enemies. Leafherbivory also impacts ecological processes such as plant productivity, communitycomposition, and ecosystem nutrient cycling. Understanding the impact of herbivory onthese ecological and evolutionary processes requires species-specific, as opposed tocommunity-level, measures of herbivory. In addition, species-specific data enables the use ofmodern comparative methods to account for phylogenetic non-independence. Althoughhundreds of studies have measured natural rates of leaf consumption, we are unaware of anyaccessible compilation of these data. We created such a data set to provide the raw dataneeded to test general hypotheses relating to plant–herbivore interactions and to test theinfluence of biotic and abiotic factors on herbivory rates across large spatial scales. A largerepository will make this endeavor more efficient and robust. In total, we compiled 2641population-level measures for either annual or daily rates of leaf herbivory across 1145 speciesof vascular plants collected from 189 studies. All damage measures represent naturaloccurrences of herbivory that span numerous angiosperm, gymnosperm, and fern species. Toenable researchers to explore the causes of variation in herbivory and how these mightinteract, we added information about the study sites including: geolocation, climateclassification, habitat descriptions (e.g., seashore, grassland, forest, agricultural fields), andplant trait information concerning growth form and duration (e.g., annual vs. perennial). Wealso included extensive details of the methodology used to measure leaf damage, includingseasons and months of sampling, age of leaves, and the method used to estimate percentagearea missing. We anticipate that these data will make it possible to test important hypothesesin the plant–herbivore literature, including the plant apparency hypothesis, the latitudinalherbivorydefense hypothesis, the resource availability hypothesis, and the macroevolutionaryescalation of defense hypothesis.
ISSN: 0012-9658

hal-01601627
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01601627
DOI : 10.1890/13-1741.1
PRODINRA : 397136
PUBMED : 24870043

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Ants figure prominently among the worst invasive species because of their enormous ecological and economic impacts. However, it remains to be investigated which species would be behaviourally dominant when confronted with another invasive ant species, should two species be introduced in the same area. In the future, many regions might have suitable environmental conditions for several invasive ant species, as predicted under climate change scenarios. Here, we explored interactions among several highly invasive ant species, which have been shown to have overlapping suitable areas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance in interference competition of seven of the world's worst invasive ant species (Anoplolepis gracilipes, Paratrechina longicornis, Myrmica rubra, Linepithema humile, Lasius neglectus, Wasmannia auropunctata and Pheidole megacephala). We conducted pairwise confrontations, testing the behaviour of each species against each of the six other species (in total 21 dyadic confrontations). We used single worker confrontations and group interactions of 10 versus 10 individuals to establish a dominance hierarchy among these invasive ant species. We discovered two different behavioural strategies among these invasive ants: three species displayed evasive or indifferent behaviour when individuals or groups were confronted (A. gracilipes, Pa. longicornis, M. rubra), while the four remaining species were highly aggressive during encounters and formed a linear dominance hierarchy. These findings contrast with the widespread view that invasive ants form a homogeneous group of species displaying the `invasive syndrome', which includes generally aggressive behaviour. The dominance hierarchy among the four aggressive species may be used to predict the outcome of future competitive interactions under some circumstances. Yet, the existence of several behavioural strategies renders such a prediction less straightforward.
ISSN: 1387-3547

hal-01444816
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01444816
DOI : 10.1007/s10530-015-0892-5

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Despite the unique nature of endemic species, their origin and population history remain poorly studied. We investigated the population history of 28 coral reef fish species, close related, from the Gambier and Marquesas Islands, from five families, with range size varying from widespread to small-range endemic. We analyzed both mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data using neutrality test and Bayesian analysis (EBSP and ABC). We found evidence for demographic expansions for most species (24 of 28), irrespective of range size, reproduction strategy or archipelago. The timing of the expansions varied greatly among species, from 8,000 to 2,000,000 years ago. The typical hypothesis for reef fish that links population expansions to the Last Glacial Maximum fit for 14 of the 24 demographic expansions. We propose two evolutionary processes that could lead to expansions older than the LGM: (a) we are retrieving the signature of an old colonization process for widespread, large-range endemic and paleoendemic species or (b) speciation; the expansion reflects the birth of the species for neoendemic species. We show for the first time that the demographic histories of endemic and widespread reef fish are not distinctly different and suggest that a number of processes drive endemism.
ISSN: 2045-2322

hal-01469339
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01469339
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01469339/document
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01469339/file/population%20expansions.pdf
DOI : 10.1038/srep40519

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The teleost suborder Notothenioidei is restricted to the Southern Ocean and has been described as a species flock spanning the whole of it. Within the suborder, the subfamily Trematominae is important for coastal Antarctic ecosystems. The eleven Trematomus species occupy a large range of ecological niches. The genus is monophyletic if the genus Pagothenia (two additional species) and Cryothenia amphitreta. also nested within it, are included. Although the Trematominae have received much interest, the relationships among these fourteen species are still unclear. Several recent studies have tried to resolve these interrelationships; however no complete and clear picture has emerged, probably because of the use of a low number of insufficiently variable markers. The only common results places T. scotti as the sister-group of the rest of the subfamily and T. loennbergi close to T. lepidorhinus. We use here more variable markers. Four nuclear markers, two of which are new, and a mitochondrial marker for the biggest trematomine sampling ever gathered (14 species, 78 specimens). We found that several nuclear haplotypes are shared by several species (mostly in very closely related species). The haplotype patterns coupled with the cytogenetics of the subfamily suggest that a phenomenon of incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) is likely to be at play. Using a calibration linked to fossil evidence, we evaluate the relative ages of each clade within the Trematominae to assess the proximity of the speciation events to one another. The main trematomine diversification was recent and sudden.
ISSN: 1055-7903

hal-01544915
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01544915
DOI : 10.1016/j.ympev.2012.05.032