Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The genus Cecropia includes pioneer trees that colonize canopy gaps and cleared areas. It is widely distributed from Mexico to Northern Argentina. Cecropia trees have architecture, which corresponds to the Rauh’s architectural model. In recent studies we have found that C. obtusa/ and C. sciadophylla, in French Guiana, have a strong annual periodicity for growth, branching and flowering processes, with annual emission of 35 nodes for C. obtusa and 25 for C. sciadophylla. Those species show different life histories since C. sciadophylla has longer life expectancy. In addition, C. sciadophylla is found more frequently in forest gaps, although in French Guiana mixed populations are found. The aim of this work was to compare developmental strategies of both species in three different field stations in French Guiana and to determine how these two species coexist during its first years of life. We studied a 20-year old population of /C. sciadophylla/ at Saint Elie’s Road, a 10-year old population of /C. obtusa/ at Paracou’s field station, and a 7-year old mixed population at Counami’s Road. /C. sciadophylla /emits 25 nodes per year in both studied populations, while/ C. obtusa /emits 35 nodes in the monospecific population and 30 nodes in the mixed population. In the monocaule stage, the lower number of nodes emitted by /C. sciadophylla/ compared to /C. obtusa /is compensated with a higher internodal length, which allows finding individuals with similar ages and lengths, but different number of nodes. The branching and flowering processes start on average three years before in /C. obtusa/, however for 12-year old individuals we observed a dominancy of C. sciadophylla over C. obtusa. In the mixed population it is likely that the different life histories would decrease competition effects allowing coexistence of both species during the first stages of life
Botany 2008
Vancouver, Canada

hal-01190209
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01190209
PRODINRA : 182910

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
Plant-ants live in a mutualistic association with host plants known as "myrmecophytes" that provide them with a nesting place and sometimes with extra-floral nectar (EFN) and/or food bodies (FBs); the ants can also attend sap-sucking Hemiptera for their honeydew. In return, plant-ants, like most other arboreal ants, protect their host plants from defoliators. To satisfy their nitrogen requirements, however, some have optimized their ability to capture prey in the restricted environment represented by the crowns of trees by using elaborate hunting techniques. In this study, we investigated the predatory behavior of the ant Azteca andreae which is associated with the myrmecophyte Cecropia obtusa. We noted that up to 8350 ant workers per tree hide side-by-side beneath the leaf margins of their host plant with their mandibles open, waiting for insects to alight. The latter are immediately seized by their extremities, and then spread-eagled; nestmates are recruited to help stretch, carve up and transport prey. This group ambush hunting technique is particularly effective when the underside of the leaves is downy, as is the case for C. obtusa. In this case, the hook-shaped claws of the A. andreae workers and the velvet-like structure of the underside of the leaves combine to act like natural Velcro that is reinforced by the group ambush strategy of the workers, allowing them to capture prey of up to 13,350 times the mean weight of a single worker.
ISSN: 1932-6203

hal-00818187
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00818187
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00818187/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00818187/file/Dejean2010_Arboreal.pdf
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0011331

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
In mutualisms, each interacting species obtains resources from its partner that it would obtain less efficiently if alone, and so derives a net fitness benefit. In exchange for shelter (domatia) and food, mutualistic plant-ants protect their host myrmecophytes from herbivores, encroaching vines and fungal pathogens. Although selective filters enable myrmecophytes to host those ant species most favorable to their fitness, some insects can by-pass these filters, exploiting the rewards supplied whilst providing nothing in return. This is the case in French Guiana for Cecropia obtusa (Cecropiaceae) as Pseudocabima guianalis caterpillars (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) can colonize saplings before the installation of their mutualistic Azteca ants. The caterpillars shelter in the domatia and feed on food bodies (FBs) whose production increases as a result. They delay colonization by ants by weaving a silk shield above the youngest trichilium, where the FBs are produced, blocking access to them. This probable temporal priority effect also allows female moths to lay new eggs on trees that already shelter caterpillars, and so to occupy the niche longer and exploit Cecropia resources before colonization by ants. However, once incipient ant colonies are able to develop, they prevent further colonization by the caterpillars. Although no higher herbivory rates were noted, these caterpillars are ineffective in protecting their host trees from a pathogenic fungus, Fusarium moniliforme (Deuteromycetes), that develops on the trichilium in the absence of mutualistic ants. Therefore, the Cecropia treelets can be parasitized by two often overlooked species: the caterpillars that shelter in the domatia and feed on FBs, delaying colonization by mutualistic ants, and the fungal pathogen that develops on old trichilia. The cost of greater FB production plus the presence of the pathogenic fungus likely affect tree growth.
PLoS ONE

hal-00912399
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00912399
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00912399/document
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0020538
OATAO : 10156

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Ecole nationale du génie rural
Résumé :  
Les forêts hétérogènes guyanaises sont des milieux complexes dont la gestion passe par la compréhension de leur organisation (structure spatiale, horizontale et verticale et diversité spécifique) et de leur dynamique. Dans ce contexte, l'étude des stratégies de développement et d'occupation de l'espace des arbres permet de mieux comprendre comment les différentes espèces exploitent et structurent l'hétérogénéité du milieu. Depuis une trentaine d'années, les travaux menés en architecture végétale ont permis d'établir un contexte méthodologique et conceptuel pour étudier la structure globale de l'arbre et pour comprendre les mécanismes morphologiques qui lui ont donné naissance. Après une présentation de concepts majeurs d'architecture végétale, cet article expose les méthodes employées pour quantifier la structure des arbres et les approches permettant d'intégrer les critères architecturaux dans un diagnostic à l'échelle du peuplement.
ISSN: 0035-2829

hal-01032084
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032084

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Le genre Cecropia regroupe des arbres pionniers, à croissance rapide, qui colonisent les aires défrichées et les milieux ouverts à fort ensoleillement. Leur architecture est relativement simple et conforme au modèle de Rauh. Tout au long de la vie de la plante il est possible de retrouver a posteriori les cicatrices de feuille, d’inflorescences et de branches élaguées. En décrivant les axes noeuds à noeuds il est possible de construire des séquences d’événements ou l’index est le métamère et les variables associées la longueur de l’entre-noeud, la présence de fleurs, de branches, ou de leurs cicatrices. En analysant ces séquences avec des outils statistiques issus de l’analyse des séries temporelles il est possible de mettre en évidence des régularités structurelles (par ex: nombres de noeuds séparant 2 étages de branches) et de proposer une interprétation sur l’organisation dans le temps des processus de croissance, ramification et floraison qui mène à l’édification de l’architecture des représentants de cette espèces. C’est en suivant cette démarche que de récents travaux menés en Guyane française sur C. obtusa et C. sciadophylla ont démontré une forte périodicité annuelle pour les processus de croissance, de floraison et de ramification chez deux espèces. Le fait le plus remarquable est la grande régularité dans le nombre de feuilles émises chaque année avec 35 noeuds pour C. obusa et 25 noeuds pour C. sciadophylla. Cette régularité peut permettre déterminer l’âge d’un individu et de retrouver sa croissance passée. Dans ce travail nous avons voulu aborder la diversité et la plasticité de ces règles de construction en comparant des populations de C. sciadophylla ayant poussé dans des environnements variés en Guyane Française (2 populations) et en Colombie (4 populations). Les résultats montrent que le nombre de feuilles allongées chaque année est remarquablement stable pour l’ensemble des populations et est égal 25. La floraison est annuelle pour la majorité des individus mesurés mais il est cependant possible d’observer 2 floraisons par an chez certains arbres de Guyane. Les paramètres les plus variables concernent l’âge et la hauteur avant la première ramification ou la de la première floraison ainsi que les allométries entre la hauteur et le diamètre. Le lien entre cette variabilité et les conditions environnementales tel que la pluviométrie, la fertilité des sols ou la compétition seront discutés.
La plasticité phénotypique des arbres
Montpellier, France

hal-01190210
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01190210
PRODINRA : 182912

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a neglected disease with a high incidence in French Guiana, mainly in the middle and upper Oyapock basin, where Amerindian and some Brazilian people live. The main goals of this work were (i) to assess the knowledge about leishmaniasis in the different populations of the middle and upper Oyapock basin, (ii) to study the therapeutic strategies adopted by people affected by leishmaniasis and (iii) to document the use of phytotherapeutic remedies for leishmaniasis. Knowledge, attitudes and practices (K.A.P.) related to this disease and its treatments have been studied according to cultural group and geographical settlement. Within the Wayãpi group, the evolution of the knowledge of phytoremedies over the last 20 years has been characterised by literature-based comparisons. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 144 questionnaires were administered in all the villages of the upper Oyapock and Camopi basins. Correspondence analyses were used for multivariate analysis. Plant species were identified at the Cayenne Herbarium (CAY). RESULTS: The biomedical concept of leishmaniasis correlates well with the Teko and Wayãpi concepts of kalasapa and kalasapau. Although the vector of this disease was not correctly identified, the most commonly cited aetiology (74.5%) was vector-borne, and related epidemiological schemes correlate well with the one encountered in French Guiana. Theoretically and practically, health centres were the most commonly used resource for diagnostic in instances of leishmaniasis infection (65.9%), independently of the patient's cultural group, along with the use of pharmaceutical drugs (85.3%). Pharmaceuticals were commonly utilised despite the frequent (51.5%) use of phytotherapeutic remedies, alone or in combination with drugs. The most cited medicinal plant species for the treatment of leishmaniasis included Eleutherine bulbosa (Mill.) Urb. (Iridaceae, cited 14 times), Euterpe oleracea Mart. (Arecaceae, 9), Cecropia obtusa Trecul (Cecropiaceae, 8), Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae, 7), Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Bombacaceae, 6) and Carica papaya L. (Caricaceae, 6). Multiple correspondence analyses demonstrated that the species used in leishmaniasis remedies are more prone to vary by the user's place of residence than by their cultural origin, which indicates that exchange of knowledge about leishmaniasis remedies has occurred across different cultural groups. Literature-based comparisons between the remedies for leishmaniasis used by the Wayãpi during the 1980s showed a striking evolution, both in terms of diversity of species and number of plants used. The large number of species shared with other Guianese groups argues for intercultural exchange and may explain the majority (57.1%) of the newly used species highlighted in our study. CONCLUSIONS: Leishmaniasis is a well-known disease in the studied area. Phytotherapeutic treatments are still in use, although they are not the main source of remedies, and should undergo pharmacological studies to evaluate their potential therapeutic value.
ISSN: 0378-8741

pasteur-00634597
https://hal-riip.archives-ouvertes.fr/pasteur-00634597
DOI : 10.1016/j.jep.2011.07.044
PUBMED : 21816216

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B - Oxford Open Option B
Résumé : Variability of leaf traits related to photosynthesis was assessed in seedlings from 14 tree species growing in the tropical rain forest of French Guiana. Leaf photosynthetic capacity (maximum rate of carboxylation and maximum rate of electron transport) was estimated by fitting a biochemical model of photosynthesis to response curves of net CO2 assimilation rate versus intercellular CO2 mole fraction. Leaf morphology described by leaf mass per unit leaf area (LMA), density and thickness, as well as area- and mass-based nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) concentrations, were recorded on the same leaves. Large interspecific variability was detected in photosynthetic capacity as well as in leaf structure and leaf N and C concentrations. No correlation was found between leaf thickness and density. The correlations between area- and massbased leaf N concentration and photosynthetic capacity were poor. Conversely, the species differed greatly in relativeNallocation to carboxylation and bioenergetics. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that, of the recorded traits, only the computed fraction of total leafNinvested in photosynthesis was tightly correlated to photosynthetic capacity.We also used PCAto test to what extent species with similar shade tolerances displayed converging leaf traits related to photosynthesis. No clear-cut ranking could be detected among the shade-tolerant groups, as confirmed by a one-way ANOVA.We conclude that the large interspecific diversity in photosynthetic capacity was mostly explained by differences in the relative allocation of N to photosynthesis and not by leafNconcentration, and that leaf traits related to photosynthetic capacity did not discriminate shade-tolerance ranking of these tropical tree species.
ISSN: 0829-318X

hal-01031522
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01031522