Éditeur(s) : Université des Antilles Études caribéennes
Résumé : L’exploitation commerciale des produits forestiers non ligneux a animé et anime encore au plan international les débats sur la gestion durable des forêts, notamment par son apport en matière de conservation, d’amélioration des conditions d’existence des populations locales et de gestion participative. Cependant, l’exploitation commerciale des PFNL soulève la problématique de la durabilité tant au plan écologique, économique que sociopolitique. La présente recherche traite de cette problématique en prenant comme PFNL d’illustration le raphia dans la forêt marécageuse Hlanzoun. Elle vise à analyser la durabilité socio-économique et environnementale de l’exploitation du raphia dans la forêt marécageuse « Hlanzoun ». La méthodologie utilisée est une combinaison d’approches quantitatives et qualitatives. Les outils d’analyse de données utilisés sont entre autre, la statistique descriptive, l’analyse filière des revenus d’exploitation et des valeurs ajoutées et l’analyse du système socio-écologique. Nos résultats montrent que le raphia est une plante à usages multiples. Que ce soit les feuilles, les fibres, la sève ou le tronc, tout ou presque peut être valorisé sur le raphia. Au niveau des villages riverains du Hlanzoun l’exploitation de la sève du raphia et sa transformation en alcool alimentaire est de loin le type d’usage qui procure le plus de revenu malgré le fait que les autres types d’usages mobilisent un nombre plus important d’acteurs. L’exploitation commerciale de ce PFNL se déploie suivant une organisation relativement simple et avec des caractéristiques propres à la plupart des activités de la petite production marchande des économies sous-développées en crise. Cette exploitation est essentiellement articulée autour des coupeurs/collecteurs, des intermédiaires commerciaux, des agents de transformation/conditionnement et des consommateurs des produits finis. La contribution annuelle totale de la filière raphia au développement a été estimée à 192 429 633 Fr. CFA (environ 385 000 dollar) et les revenus d’exploitation de tous les acteurs ont un signe positif malgré le faible niveau de technologie et de formation. Le raphia apporte donc des revenus relativement importants aux divers acteurs en dépit des handicaps de la filière et du déficit d’équité dans la répartition des richesses produites. Au plan de la gouvernance, on note un déficit d’instances, de règles et de procédures, dont l’effectivité et la légitimité sont clairement établies. Cet état de chose laisse le parc à raphia dans un régime d’accès « libre » mais seulement pour les riverains ; nous nous retrouvons donc en présence d’un système de cueillette, caractérisé par l’exploitation de plants immatures et la surexploitation, mettant en péril la capacité de renouvellement de la ressource et même l’avenir de la filière. On note cependant un effort de contrôle de l’accès des non riverains et des tentatives d’adaptation des riverains. En effet, le nombre d’exploitants est passé de 148 à 92 entre 2008 et 2010 et le nombre de pieds de raphia saignés est passé de 15 452 à 8 832 durant la même période. Au total, l’exploitation du raphia dans le Hlanzoun s’inscrit dans un environnement défavorable par rapport aux exigences de développement durable d’une filière de PFNL. Mais les divers acteurs sont à présent conscients de la nécessité d’agir pour une meilleure réglementation de l’accès et de l’exploitation.
The commercial use of non woody forest products is a crucial issue in the international debate on the sustainable management of forests. These products are supposed to contribute to conservation by improving local populations’ livelihood and their involvement in forest management. This study lies within the scope of two South-South Cooperation projects (PSC 22P07 and PSC 03T08) implemented by the CEBEDES NGO with the financial support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It aims at analyzing the socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of the raffia stands management in the swamp forest "Hlanzoun ". This small forest is located in one of Benin southern Wetlands in the municipality of Zogbodomey.The methodology to assess raffia socioeconomic performances relies on the estimation of the values added within the raffia value chains. Stakeholders at every segment of the value chains have been surveyed on the incomes obtained out of raffia. The methodology to assess the sustainability of the management relies on a simple indicator measuring the ratio of younger to elder palms. Palms in stands have been counted according to their age group. The survey confirms that raffia is a multi-purpose plant used for its leaves, fibers, sap and trunk. In villages at the borders of the Hlanzoun forest, harvesting the raffia sap on standing palms and processing it into alcohol are a major income generating activity. Alcohol is then marketed through a network of collectors, wholesalers and petty traders up to the consumers. The contribution of raffia to local and regional development was estimated by the total incomes generated at 192.429.633 F CFA. All stakeholders earn positive and significant incomes in spite of the low level of technology and skills, but traders receive a large share of the wealth produced. As regard to governance, "free" access only concerns residents and efforts are made to control the access of non-residents. One notes a deficit of legitimated authorities, rules and procedures for a sustainable use: Restrictions on the harvest of immature palms are not anymore enforced and it endangers the renewal capacity of the resource. But at the same time, the number of operators seems to be decreasing (from 148 to 92 between 2008 and 2010, whereas the number of harvested raffia palms decreased from 15,452 to 8,832 during the same period). A self-regulation might occur, due to the fact that a livelihood of local people relies on a diversity of income generating activities. In total, the operation of Raffia in Hlazoun is in an unfavorable environment with the requirements of sustainable development in a sector of NTFF. But the various actors are now aware of the need for action to better regulate access and operation.
Bénin

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
urn:doi:10.4000/etudescaribeennes.5556
http://journals.openedition.org/etudescaribeennes/5556

Résumé : The slides were taken on collecting trips sponsored by the William L. Bryant Foundation, where books, music and art indigenous to the regions were gathered. The are organized by geographical location.
A stream running through a forest in the North East of Jamaica. Plants include bamboos, dasheens (taros), and plantains or bananas. Slide labeled Jam. stream NE.
Jamaica -- Caribbean region

Droits : All rights to images are held by the respective holding institution. This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. For permission to reproduce images and/or for copyright information contact Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, FL 32816 phone (407) 823-2576, email: speccoll@mail.ucf.edu
CFM1972_01a
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00030860/00001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Résumé : Devil's gardens are one of the most remarkable mutualistic associations between ants and plants. Myrmelachista ants eliminate all vegetation from around their host plants, resulting in wide forest clearings which have intrigued scientists from the start. Despite their noticeability, here we report the discovery of devil's gardens in remote highland cloud forests of the Eastern Amazon, more than 2000 km away from their nearest known analogues in Western Amazonia. We describe the ecological characteristics of these gardens and consider what factors could have produced the geographic isolation of Eastern Amazonian devil's gardens. Three hypotheses are investigated: (1) the host plant distribution restricts the distribution of the mutualism, (2) the ecological tolerances of Myrmelachista explain the isolation, and (3) the devil's gardens of the Eastern Amazon constitute relicts from ancient forest refugia. The distribution of the possible associated myrmecophytes and previously described ecological ranges of devil's gardens cannot explain their ecological restriction to cloud forests in Eastern Amazonia, but our discovery is consistent with the biogeographic refuge hypothesis (i.e. highlands along the Amazon Basin constitute refugia for humid forests that spread during the Cenozoic). Our finding opens exciting perspectives for comparative studies of the origin, ecology and evolutionary history of this ant-plant mutualism.
ISSN: 0266-4674

hal-01532640
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01532640
DOI : 10.1017/S0266467416000195
PRODINRA : 384619

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : The allocation and cycling of carbon (C) within forests is an important component of the biospheric C cycle, but is particularly understudied within tropical forests. We synthesise reported and unpublished results from three lowland rainforest sites in Amazonia (in the regions of Manaus, Tapajos and Caxiuana), all major sites of the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Programme (LBA). We attempt a comprehensive synthesis of the C stocks, nutrient status and, particularly, the allocation and internal C dynamics of all three sites. The calculated net primary productivities (NPP) are 10.1 +/- 1.4 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1) (Manaus), 14.4 +/- 1.3 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1) (Tapajos) and 10.0 +/- 1.2 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1) (Caxiuana). All errors bars report standard errors. Soil and leaf nutrient analyses indicate that Tapajos has significantly more plant-available phosphorus and calcium. Autotrophic respiration at all three sites (14.9-21.4 Mg C ha yr(-1)) is more challenging to measure, with the largest component and greatest source of uncertainty being leaf dark respiration. Comparison of measured soil respiration with that predicted from C cycling measurements provides an independent constraint. It shows general good agreement at all three sites, with perhaps some evidence for measured soil respiration being less than expected. Twenty to thirty percent of fixed C is allocated belowground. Comparison of gross primary productivity (GPP), derived from ecosystem flux measurements with that derived from component studies (NPP plus autotrophic respiration) provides an additional crosscheck. The two approaches are in good agreement, giving increased confidence in both approaches to estimating GPP. The ecosystem carbon-use efficiency (CUEs), the ratio of NPP to GPP, is similar at Manaus (0.34 +/- 0.10) and Caxiuana (0.32 +/- 0.07), but may be higher at Tapajos (0.49 +/- 0.16), although the difference is not significant. Old growth or infertile tropical forests may have low CUE compared with recently disturbed and/or fertile forests.
ISSN: 1354-1013

hal-01032150
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032150
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01780.x

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 Wiley
Résumé : 1. Trade-offs among functional traits reveal major plant strategies that can give insight into species distributions and ecosystem processes. However, current identification of plant strategies lacks the integration of root structural traits together with leaf and stem traits. 2. We examined correlations among 14 traits representing leaf, stem and woody root tissues. Traits were measured on 1084 individuals representing 758 Neotropical tree species, across 13 sites representative of the environmental variation encompassed by three widespread habitats (seasonally flooded, clay terra firme and white-sand forests) at opposite ends of Amazonia (French Guiana and Peru). 3. Woody root traits were closely aligned with stem traits, but not with leaf traits. Altogether leaf, stem and woody root traits delineated two orthogonal axes of functional trade-offs: a first axis defined by leaf traits, corresponding to a leaf economics spectrum, and a second axis defined by covarying stem and woody root traits, corresponding to a wood economics spectrum. These axes remained consistent when accounting for species evolutionary history with phylogenetically independent contrasts. 4. Despite the strong species turnover across sites, the covariation among root and stem structural traits as well as their orthogonality to leaf traits were strongly consistent across habitats and regions. 5. We conclude that root structural traits mirrored stem traits rather than leaf traits in Neotropical trees. Leaf and wood traits define an integrated whole-plant strategy in lowland South American forests that may contribute to a more complete understanding of plant responses to global changes in both correlative and modelling approaches. We suggest further meta-analyses in expanded environmental and geographic zones to determine the generality of this pattern.
ISSN: 0269-8463

hal-01032415
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032415
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02020.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : The area of forest plantations is increasing worldwide helping to meet timber demand and protect natural forests. However, with global change, monospecific plantations are increasingly vulnerable to abiotic and biotic disturbances. As an adaption measure we need to move to plantations that are more diverse in genotypes, species, and structure, with a design underpinned by science. TreeDivNet, a global network of tree diversity experiments, responds to this need by assessing the advantages and disadvantages of mixed species plantations. The network currently consists of 18 experiments, distributed over 36 sites and five ecoregions. With plantations 1-15 years old, TreeDivNet can already provide relevant data for forest policy and management. In this paper, we highlight some early results on the carbon sequestration and pest resistance potential of more diverse plantations. Finally, suggestions are made for new, innovative experiments in understudied regions to complement the existing network.
ISSN: 0044-7447

hal-01204232
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01204232
DOI : 10.1007/s13280-015-0685-1
PRODINRA : 324368
PUBMED : 26264716

Éditeur(s) : s.n. ( London )
Résumé : Inset maps: "A draught of the harbour of Port Antonio & St. Francis on the north east coast of Jamaica" ; "A draught of Port Royal or Kingston Harbour in Jamaica."
Numbered "N⁰64."
Shows boundaries, roads, forests, plantations and settlements.
Relief shown pictorially, water depth by soundings.
London meridian.
Island of Jamaica.
(Funding) Funded in part by the University of Florida, the Florida Heritage Project of the State University Libraries of Florida, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and the U.S. Department of Education's TICFIA granting program.
(Statement of Responsibility) by Eman. Bowen.
England -- London
Jamaica
Jamaica

Droits : This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact Digital Services (UFDC@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
43216717
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00081600/00001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : The patterns of the distribution of fungal species and their potential interactions with trees remain understudied in Neotropical rainforests, which harbor more than 16,000 tree species, mostly dominated by endomycorrhizal trees. Our hypothesis was that tree species shape the non-mycorrhizal fungal assemblages in soil and litter and that the diversity of fungal communities in these two compartments is partly dependent on the coverage of trees in the Neotropical rainforest. In French Guiana, a long-term plantation and a natural forest were selected to test this hypothesis. Fungal ITS1 regions were sequenced from soil and litter samples from within the vicinity of tree species. A broad range of fungal taxa was found, with 42 orders and 14 classes.Significant spatial heterogeneity in the fungal communities was found without strong variation in the species richness and evenness among the tree plots. However, tree species shaped the fungal assemblages in the soil and litter, explaining up to 18 % of the variation among the communities in the natural forest.These results demonstrate that vegetation cover has an important effect on the structure of fungal assemblages inhabiting the soil and litter in Amazonian forests, illustrating the relative impact of deterministic processes on fungal community structures in these highly diverse ecosystems.
ISSN: 0095-3628

hal-01595373
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01595373
DOI : 10.1007/s00248-016-0839-0
PRODINRA : 395655
PUBMED : 27645139

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : White-sand forests represent natural laboratories of evolution over their long history throughout Amazonia and the Guiana Shield and pose significant physiological challenges to the plants and animals they host. The study of diversification in plant lineages comprising species endemic to white-sand forest can therefore give insights into processes of evolution and community assembly in tropical forests. In this article, we synthesize recent studies of white-sand forests to integrate patterns of plant species distribution with processes of lineage diversification and community assembly in the white-sand flora. We contrast lineages that have radiated uniquely in these habitats (e.g., Pagamea, Rubiaceae), with cosmopolitan lineages comprising specialists to white-sand forests and other habitats that may have arisen via ecological speciation across habitat gradients (e.g., Protium, Burseraceae). In both cases, similar suites of functional traits have evolved, including investment in dense, long-lived tissues that are well-defended structurally and chemically. White-sand endemics, therefore, play an important role in biodiversity conservation because they represent unique combinations of functional and phylogenetic diversity. Furthermore, white-sand endemics may respond differently than other tropical forest plant species to contemporary global changes because they comprise resilient functional types that may better withstand increased drought, temperature, and invasions of exotic pests in these regions.
ISSN: 0006-3606

hal-01531635
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01531635
DOI : 10.1111/btp.12301
PRODINRA : 353397

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
Forest successional processes following disturbance take decades to play out, even in tropical forests. Nonetheless, records of vegetation change in this ecosystem are scarce, increasing the importance of the chronosequence approach to study forest recovery. However, this approach requires accurate dating of secondary forests, which until now was a difficult and/or expensive task. Cecropia is a widespread and abundant pioneer tree genus of the Neotropics. Here we propose and validate a rapid and straightforward method to estimate the age of secondary forest patches based on morphological observations of Cecropia trees. We found that Cecropia-inferred ages were highly correlated with known ages of the forest. We also demonstrate that Cecropia can be used to accurately date disturbances and propose twenty-one species distributed all over the geographical range of the genus as potential secondary forest chronometer species. Our method is limited in applicability by the maximal longevity of Cecropia individuals. Although the oldest chronosequence used in this study was 20 years old, we argue that at least for the first four decades after disturbance, the method described in this study provides very accurate estimations of secondary forest ages. The age of pioneer trees provides not only information needed to calculate the recovery of carbon stocks that would help to improve forest management, but also provides information needed to characterize the initial floristic composition and the rates of species remigration into secondary forest. Our contribution shows how successional studies can be reliably and inexpensively extended without the need to obtain forest ages based on expensive or potentially inaccurate data across the Neotropics.
ISSN: 1932-6203

halsde-00757518
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/halsde-00757518
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0042643
PUBMED : 22916144

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
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.
7th INTECOL International Wetland Conference
Utrecht, Netherlands

hal-01032381
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032381

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : Question: To establish a habitat classification based on functional group co-occurrence that may help the drawing up of conservation plans. Location: Riverine forest fragments in the Grand-duché de Luxembourg, Europe. Methods: Forest fragments were surveyed for their abundance of vascular plants. These were clustered into emergent groups according to 14 life-traits related 10 plant dispersal, establishment and persistence. Forest fragments were classified according to similar distribution of the identified emergent groups. Environmental factors were related to the emergent group richness in each forest type using generalized linear models. Results: Contrary to former species centred classification, only two groups of forests, each with clearly different emergent group composition and conservation requirements. Were detected: (1) swamp forests characterized by anemogamous perennials, annuals and hydrochorous perennials and (2) moist forests characterized by barochorous perennials, small geophytes and zoochorous phanerophytes. From a conservation point of view, priority should he given to large swamp forest with intact flooding regimes his is in accordance with the high wind and water dispersal capacities of their typical emergent groups. For the moist forests. conservation priorities should he high forest connectivity and historical continuity since dispersal and establishment of their characteristic emergent groups arc highly limited. Conclusions: The described methodology, situated at an intermediate integration level between the individual species and whole community descriptors. takes advantage of both conservation plans built for single species and the synthetic power of bread ecological measures.
ISSN: 1402-2001

hal-01031884
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01031884

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : 1. Functional traits are posited to explain interspecific differences in performance, but these relationships are difficult to describe for long-lived organisms such as trees, which exhibit strong ontogenetic changes in demographic rates. Here, we use a size-dependent model of tree growth to test the extent to which of 17 functional traits related to leaf and stem economics, adult stature and seed size predict the ontogenetic trajectory of tree growth.[br/] 2. We used a Bayesian modelling framework to parameterize and contrast three size-dependent diameter growth models using 16 years of census data from 5524 individuals of 50 rain forest tree species: a size-dependent model, a size-dependent model with species-specific parameters and a size-dependent model based on functional traits.[br/] 3. Most species showed clear hump-shaped ontogenetic growth trajectories and, across species, maximum growth rate varied nearly tenfold, from 0.58 to 5.51 mm year(-1). Most species attained their maximum growth at 60% of their maximum size, whereas the magnitude of ontogenetic changes in growth rate varied widely among species.[br/] 4. The Trait-Model provided the best compromise between explained variance and model parsimony and needed considerably fewer parameters than the model with species terms.[br/] 5. Stem economics and adult stature largely explained interspecific differences in growth strategy. Maximum absolute diameter growth rates increased with increasing adult stature and leaf delta(13)C and decreased with increasing wood density. Species with light wood had the greatest potential to modulate their growth, resulting in hump-shaped ontogenetic growth curves. Seed size and leaf economics, generally thought to be of paramount importance for plant performance, had no significant relationships with the growth parameters.[br/] 6. Synthesis. Our modelling approach offers a promising way to link demographic parameters to their functional determinants and hence to predict growth trajectories in species-rich communities with little parameter inflation, bridging the gap between functional ecology and population demography.
ISSN: 0022-0477

hal-01032387
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032387
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01883.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : Functional aspects of biodiversity were investigated in a lowland tropical rainforest in French Guyana (5°2'N, annual precipitation 2200 mm). We assessed leaf '15N as a presumptive indicator of symbiotic N2 fixation, and leaf and wood cellulose '13C as an indicator of leaf intrinsic water-use efficiency (CO2 assimilation rate/leaf conductance for water vapour) in dominant trees of 21 species selected for their representativeness in the forest cover, their ecological strategy (pioneers or late successional stage species, shade tolerance) or their potential ability for N2 fixation. Similar measurements were made in trees of native species growing in a nearby plantation after severe perturbation (clear cutting, mechanical soil disturbance). Bulk soil '15N was spatially quite uniform in the forest (range 3-5‰), whereas average leaf '15N ranged from m0.3‰ to 3.5‰ in the different species. Three species only, Diplotropis purpurea, Recordoxylon speciosum (Fabaceae), and Sclerolobium melinonii (Caesalpiniaceae), had root bacterial nodules, which was also associated with leaf N concentrations higher than 20 mg gm1. Although nodulated trees displayed significantly lower leaf '15N values than non-nodulated trees, leaf '15N did not prove a straightforward indicator of symbiotic fixation, since there was a clear overlap of '15N values for nodulated and non-nodulated species at the lower end of the '15N range. Perturbation did not markedly affect the difference '15Nsoil m '15Nleaf, and thus the isotopic data provide no evidence of an alteration in the different N acquisition patterns. Extremely large interspecific differences in sunlit leaf '13C were observed in the forest (average values from m31.4 to m26.7‰), corresponding to intrinsic water-use efficiencies (ratio CO2 assimilation rate/leaf conductance for water vapour) varying over a threefold range. Wood cellulose '13C was positively related to total leaf '13C, the former values being 2-3‰ higher than the latter ones. Leaf '13C was not related to leaf '15N at either intraspecific or interspecific levels. '13C of sunlit leaves was highest in shade hemitolerant emergent species and was lower in heliophilic, but also in shade-tolerant species. For a given species, leaf '13C did not differ between the pristine forest and the disturbed plantation conditions. Our results are not in accord with the concept of existence of functional types of species characterized by common suites of traits underlying niche differentiation; rather, they support the hypothesis that each trait leads to a separate grouping of species.
ISSN: 0029-8549

hal-01032378
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032378
DOI : 10.1007/s004420050593

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 Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
The importance of secondary tropical forests regarding the maintenance of soil fauna abundance and diversity is poorly known. The aims of this study were (1) to describe soil fauna abundance and diversity and (2) to assess the determinants of soil fauna abundance and diversity in two stands of a tropical semi-evergreen secondary forest. Soil macrofauna and microarthropod abundance and soil macrofauna diversity were described at two sites developed on different soils and with different site histories: (1) a natural secondary stand (natural forest) under two dominant tree species, Pisonia subcordata and Bursera simaruba, and (2) a planted secondary forest (planted forest) under three tree species, B. simaruba, Swietenia macrophylla, and Tabebuia heterophylla. The effects of both soil and main tree species' litter quality were assessed to explain soil fauna abundance and diversity. The abundance of soil macrofauna was significantly higher in the soil under the planted forest, and soil fauna communities were contrasted between the two sites. In the planted forest, a soil-dwelling macrofauna community developed (mainly consisting of the anecic earthworm Polypheretima elongata). In the natural forest, soil macrofauna and microarthropod communities were located at the soil surface. The effect of plant litter quality varied according to each dominant tree species and was superimposed to soil effect. The lowest macrofauna abundance was associated with B. simaruba in the natural forest. T. heterophylla supported a much greater macrofauna community than the two other tree species studied at the same soil, and it appears likely that this is due to the palatability of its leaves compared with the other trees (low lignin, tannins, soluble phenols).
ISSN: 0178-2762

hal-00495371
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00495371
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00495371/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00495371/file/Loranger-Merciris_et_al._2007.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s00374-007-0199-5

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : Decomposing litter provides critical nutrients for plants, particularly in nutrient-poor ecosystems such as tropical forests. We hypothesised that decomposing litter improves the performance of a variety of tropical tree seedlings, and that this litter effect varies depending on the species of litter present in litter mixtures. We addressed these hypotheses with a large pot experiment manipulating a range of different litter mixtures of contrasting quality and using seedlings of four tree species from the Amazonian forest of French Guiana. In contrast to our initial hypothesis, decomposing litter had either neutral or negative impacts on seedling growth, despite strongly different growth rates, biomass allocation patterns and leaf and root traits among tree species. Tree species varied in their responses to litter additions, which were further modified by species identity of the added litter. Our data show litter species-specific effects on growth, biomass allocation and leaf and root traits of tropical tree seedlings. These results suggest that a net nutrient release from decomposing litter does not necessarily improve tree seedling growth, even under nutrient-limiting conditions. In conclusion, litter layer composition may affect seedling establishment and recruitment success beyond litter-derived plant nutrient availability, which may contribute to tree species composition and dynamics in the studied tropical forest.
ISSN: 1435-8603

hal-01032421
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032421
DOI : 10.1111/j.1438-8677.2011.00534.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : In the Amazon basin and the Guiana Shield, white-sand (WS) forests are recognized as a low-resource habitat often composed by a distinct flora with many edaphic endemic plants. Small patches of nutrient-poor white-sand forests can pose a series of challenges to plants and animals. For plants, these challenges have been shown to function as strong filters that in turn drive taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic plant composition. However, very little is known about animal communities in WS forest and the effect that low-resource availability may have on higher trophic levels. Here, we investigate the diversity of both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of three Lepidoptera families' (Nymphalidae, Saturniidae, and Sphingidae) assemblages between low-resource (White-Sand Forest) and two adjacent high-resource habitats, terra firme clay and seasonally flooded forests. We found no clear effect of habitat type on taxonomic composition although butterfly and moth species abundance differed among the three contrasted habitats. The WS forest Lepidoptera community is significantly more phylogenetically overdispersed than expected by chance. We suggest that these low-resource habitats filter the number of plant lineages which, in turn, creates a bottom-up control structuring Lepidoptera phylogenetic structure. We recommend long-term sampling on Lepidoptera community both at larval and adult stages that may complement this study and test hypotheses linking herbivore phylogenetic structure to plant resource availability and trophic cascade theory.
ISSN: 0006-3606

hal-01532550
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01532550
DOI : 10.1111/btp.12294
PRODINRA : 353400

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Fayard/Arthème
Résumé : La biomécanique des plantes est née d'une approche interdisciplinaire. Elle regroupe ainsi des biologistes, des forestiers ou des agronomes, et des mécaniciens (des matériaux et des structures et plus récemment des fluides). Elle s'intéresse à la façon dont les plantes se portent et croissent. En particulier comment les plantes terrestres croissent en hauteur " contre " la gravité et dans le vent ; mais aussi comment les plantes aquatiques et les algues se développent dans les courants.
Aux Origines des Plantes

hal-00795935
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795935
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795935/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795935/file/BiomA_canique_plantes_Fournier_Moulia_Gril.pdf