Éditeur(s) : Université de Brest
Résumé : The channel-lobe transition zone has been studied in two turbiditic systems: the Amazon channel-mouth lobe complex at the termination of the last eight channel-levee systems and the Neochannel termination, the last active channel of the Petit-Rhone turbidite system. - In the two cases, the internal geometry and stacking pattern of the deposits show a significant control of the configuration (size and shape) of the receiving basins, their morphology (gradients and subtle gradient changes), and their degree of confinement. - The Amazon and Petit-Rhone systems, with lobes built after the Last Glacial Maximum and the ensuing sea-level rise, evidence the major impact of external forcings (climatic events and eustatic variations) that induce variations in sediment fluxes delivered to the deep basin and therefore exert a control on channel-mouth lobes construction. The channel-mouth lobes of the Amazon and Petit-Rhone systems, even if they are located at great distances from the river mouths, at the termination of the turbidite systems and in areas characterised by subtle morphological variations, are both constrained by combined internal (accommodation and compensation) and external factors (post-glacial deconnection between the fluvial system and the deep basin).
La zone de transition chenal-levées/lobes a été étudiée dans 2 systèmes turbiditiques : le complexe de lobes à la terminaison des 8 derniers chenaux de l'éventail de l'Amazone et la terminaison du Néochenal, dernier chenal de l'éventail du Petit-Rhône. - Dans les deux cas, l'agencement des dépôts et leur évolution dans l'espace et le temps révèlent un fort contrôle de la configuration des réceptacles (taille et forme), de la morphologie des fonds (pentes et taux de changement des pentes) et du degré de confinement. - Les systèmes de l'Amazone et du Petit-Rhône, dont les lobes se sont construits à partir du Dernier Maximum Glaciaire et lors de la remontée du niveau marin qui a suivi, ont en outre permis de souligner l'impact majeur, sur la mise en place des lobes terminaux, de certains forçages externes (événements climatiques et variations eustatiques), qui déterminent les variations des flux sédimentaires arrivant au bassin. Ainsi, bien que situés à des distances considérables des sources fluviatiles et dans des zones distales où les variations de relief sont très ténues, les lobes terminaux de ces deux grands systèmes turbiditiques se sont révélés contraints à la fois par des processus internes (processus de compensation) et par des processus externes (déconnexion post-glaciaire du fleuve et du bassin).

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2008/these-6796.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/6796/

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 European Geosciences Union
Résumé : Xylem density is a physical property of wood that varies between individuals, species and environments. It reflects the physiological strategies of trees that lead to growth, survival and reproduction. Measurements of branch xylem density, ρx, were made for 1653 trees representing 598 species, sampled from 87 sites across the Amazon basin. Measured values ranged from 218 kg m−3 for a Cordia sagotii (Boraginaceae) from Mountagne de Tortue, French Guiana to 1130 kg m−3 for an Aiouea sp. (Lauraceae) from Caxiuana, Central Pará, Brazil. Analysis of variance showed significant differences in average ρx across regions and sampled plots as well as significant differences between families, genera and species. A partitioning of the total variance in the dataset showed that species identity (family, genera and species) accounted for 33% with environment (geographic location and plot) accounting for an additional 26%; the remaining "residual" variance accounted for 41% of the total variance. Variations in plot means, were, however, not only accountable by differences in species composition because xylem density of the most widely distributed species in our dataset varied systematically from plot to plot. Thus, as well as having a genetic component, branch xylem density is a plastic trait that, for any given species, varies according to where the tree is growing in a predictable manner. Within the analysed taxa, exceptions to this general rule seem to be pioneer species belonging for example to the Urticaceae whose branch xylem density is more constrained than most species sampled in this study. These patterns of variation of branch xylem density across Amazonia suggest a large functional diversity amongst Amazonian trees which is not well understood.
ISSN: 1726-4170

hal-01032137
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032137

Éditeur(s) : Gauthier-Villars
Résumé : Marine muds deposited on the French Guiana coast mostly originate in the Amazon. Recent sediments are composed of (a) illite (33 %) and chlorite (13 %) of Andean mountain origin; and (b) kaolinite (28 %) and smectite (26 %), principally from the Amazonian lowlands but also from the Guiana Shield. In the coastal mud prism, high-resolution seismic profiles, together with sedimentological, micropaleontological and soil engineering studies, supplemented by C-14 dates, permitted a stratigraphic interpretation of eight cores. Three episodes have been determined on the basis of clay-mineral variations related to Amazonian lowland, Andean and Guiana shield sources. The older episodes 3 (3000-1700 y BP) and 2 (1700-1000 y BP) are predominantly characterized by lowland-derived clays (smectite = 43 %, kaolinite = 26 %) from Amazonian and local sources. The most important event is a reduction of the Andean source, due to successive dry phases which occurred in western Amazonia about 2200 and 1200 y BP, confirming that regional decreases in rainfall, water discharge and erosion were associated with climatic fluctuations. It is suggested that these dry phases (within the last 3000 years) are the consequence of several protracted (10-100 years) periods, during which atmospheric conditions mimicked the present-day ''El Nino Southern Oscillation'' (ENSO) phenomenon. As a result, particulate flux from the ocean decreased, leading to reduced silting of the Guiana coast, In the past 1000 years (episode 1), illite and chlorite have increased, indicating a stronger Andean contribution to the Amazonian continental flux that reaches the ocean. This is the first demonstration that the nature of the coastal marine muds of northern South America reflects climatic changes in the Amazon basin.
Oceanologica Acta (0399-1784) (Gauthier-Villars), 1996 , Vol. 19 , N. 5 , P. 477-487

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00094/20506/18175.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00094/20506/

Résumé : Bacteriological study of abyssal sediments: During the Demeraby mission of the N/O Jean Charcot in the western Atlantic Ocean, a study of the microflora of the digestive tracts of echinoderms (Holothuroidea of various genera, Asteroidea, Echinoidea) was compared with that of the surrounding sediment. The bacterial concentration observed in the digestive tracts of all the animals studied is higher than that in the surrounding sediments. The largest numbers were always found in the most anterior part of the digestive tracts of the holothurians. In some cases, the increase is considerable (7.10 versus 5.2. 10 cells per millilitre): It indicates a proliferation of bacterial cells in the anterior part of the digestive tract. As the sediment moves through the digestive tract, the bacterial level progressively decreases. In the most posterior part, the concentration is, however, always clearly greater than that in the surrounding sediment. In the case of the holothurian of the genus Deima, analysis according to the Adamsonian principle of comparison shows that the microflora isolated from the various parts of the digestive tract is composed of taxonomic groups showing little resemblance to those isolated from the sediment. In the case of the holothurian of the genus Pseudostichopus, no specialisation of the microflora from digestive tract contents appears with respect to that of the ingested sediment. Examination of metabolic activities suggests a juxtaposition of two types of communities: Free sediment - sediment in transit that complement one other in their enzymatic and nutritional behaviour Indeed, the strains of free sediment seem to be rather suitable for hydrolysing and using carbohydrates, while those of enteric communities prefer the hydrolysis of lipids and proteins and the assimilation of fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids, hydroxylic acids and certain amino acids. Moreover, the enteric microflorae possess a greater nutritional versatility that, linked with its total numbers, has a sizeable catabolic potential. .../... -2- Measurements of heterotrophic activity done by means of 14 C glucose tracers make it possible to show that the metabolic activities of the bacterial communities of superficial abyssal sediments vary according to zones. In the Amazon Cone, a clear glucose mineralization gradient over a distance of a few kilometres can be observed. In the abyssal plain of Demerara heterotrophic activities are slowed in relation to those of the superficial sediments of the Cone of the Amazon, even though the bacterial numbers and the depths are of the same order of magnitude in the two zones. The abundant microflorae associated with the various divisions of digestive tract contents of the Deima abyssal holothurian manifest little metabolic activity as regards the glucose. However, the bacterial communities of Pseudostichopus and Psychropotes manifest very strong heterotrophic activities, increasing from the oesophagus towards the cloaca. Current results are too fragmentary to allow us to observe possible physiological specialisation of enteric bacterial communities enabling the facilitation of digestion processes in the host. Conclusion: In the abyssal environment, characterised by poorly developed bacterial communities, microflorae associated with the digestive tract contents of echinoderms have considerably greater cellular concentrations. By means of their enzymatic equipment, these enteric communities, which complement those of the free microflorae of superficial sediments, can participate in the transformation of organic matter in the abyssal area. Study of the dynamics of microbial communities and their heterotrophic activities in shellfish farms: From experiments done on the water in the Arcachon basin, trials to quantify and describe the reactivity potential of bacterial communities were performed. Bacterial communities were defined by direct counts, counts after setting them up for cultivation, structure and diversity of these communities, dosage of AMP, ADP, ATP. Two opposite ecological conditions were considered: Autumn conditions (high temperature) and a winter conditions (low temperature). Tubs of sea water of 6 and 60 litres were enriched either with ammonium chloride or a mixture of amino acids, at about 500 uAtg N.L. The experiments lasted 24 hours, with sampling every 3 hours. The autumn community reacted rapidly (6 hours), the response to the enrichment in organic nitrogen being the highest. The structure of the community has unstable immature stages. On the contrary, during the winter experiment, no response could be perceived. This may mean that the latency phase is greater than 24 hours. The structure of this community has mature stages. In conclusion, bacterial communities react in the same way as macroscopic communities. Stable communities are diversified and correspond to mature stages of the ecosystem; the immature stages are unstable and less diversified. This type of experiment has made it possible to bring to light the rapidity of response of bacterial populations, and can be used to define the stability of a bacterial community in a precise biotope.
ETUDE BACTERIOLOGIQUE DES SEDIMENTS ABYSSAUX RESUME Au cours de la mission DEMERABY du n/o Jean CHARCOT en atlantique occidental , une étude de la microflore des tractus digestifs d'Echinodermes (Holothurides de différents genres, Astérides, Echinides) a été comparée à celle du sédiment environnant. La concentration bactérienne observée dans les tractus digestifs de tous les animaux étudiés est supérieure à celle des sédiments environnants. Les effectifs les plus importants sont toujours observés dans la partie la plus antérieure des tractus digestifs des holothuries. Dans certains cas, l'accroissement est considérable (7.10 contre 5,2. 10 cellules/ml) : il indique une prolifération des cellules bactériennes dans la partie antérieure du tractus digestif. Au.cours de la progression du sédiment dans le tractus digestif, la charge bactérienne décroit progressivement. Dans la partie la plus postérieure, la concentration est cependant toujours nettement supérieure à celle du sédiment environnant-. Dans le cas d'une holothurie du genre Deima, l'analyse selon le principe adansonien de comparaison montre que la microflore isolée des différentes parties du tractus digestif est constituée de groupes taxonomiques présentant peu de ressemblance avec ceux isolés du sédiment. Dans le cas d'une holothurie du genre Pseudostichopus il n'apparait pas de spécialisation de la microflore du contenu du tractus digestif par rapport à celle du sédiment ingéré. ¿ ¿ . L'étude des activités métaboliques suggère une juxtaposition de deux types de communautés : sédiment libre-sédiment en transit qui se complètent dans leur comportement enzymatique et nutritionnel. En effet les souches du sédiment libre semblent être plutôt aptes à hydrolyser et à utiliser les glucides, tandis que celles des communautés entériques portent leur préférence sur l'hydrolyse des lipides et protéines et 1'assimilation des acides gras, acides dicarboxyl iques, hydro'xy-acides et certains acides aminés. D'autre part les microflores entériques possèdent une versatilité nutritionnelle plus importante qui, liée à leurs effectifs, offre une potentialité catabolique non négligeable. .../... -2- Les mesures d'activité hétérotrophe effectuées au moyen de traceurs glucose 14 C permettent de montrer que les activités métaboliques des communautés bactériennes des sédiments abyssaux superficiels varient selon les zones. Dans le Cone de l'Amazone on observe un net gradient de minéralisation du glucose sur une distance de quelques kilomètres. Dans la plaine abyssale de Demerara les activités hétérotrophessont ralenties par rapport à celles des sédiments superficiels du Cone de l'Amazone, bien que les effectifs bactériens et les profondeurs soient du même ordre de grandeur dans ces deux zones. Les abondantes microflores associées aux différentes fractions du contenu du tractus digestif de l'holothurie abyssale Deima ne manifestent que peu d'activités métaboliques vis à vis du glucose. Par contre les communautés . bactériennes de Pseudostichopus et P syahropotes manifestent des activités hétérotrophes très fortes, croissant de 1'oesophage vers le cloaque. Les résultats actuels sont trop fragmentaires pour permettre d'observer une éventuelle spécialisation physiologique des communautés bactériennes entëriques permettant de faciliter les processus de digestion chez l'hôte. Conclusion: dans le milieu abyssal, caractérisé par des communautés bactériennes faiblement développées, les microflores associées aux contenus de tractus digestif des Echinodermes présentent des concentrations cellulaires considérablement plus importantes. Par leurs équipements enzymâtiques ces communautés entëriques complémentaires de ceux des microflores libres des sédiments superficiels, peuvent participer à la transformation des matières organiques du domaine abyssal. ETUDE DE LA DYNAMIQUE DES COMMUNAUTES MICROBIENNES ET DE LEURS ACTIVITES HETEROTROPHES DANS LES PARCS CONCHYLICOLES RESUME A partir d'expérimentations effectuées sur l'eau du bassin d'Arcachon, des essais de quantification et qualification du potentiel de réactivité des communautés bactériennes ont été effectuées. Les communautés bactériennes ont été définies par comptage directs, comptages après mise en culture, structure et diversité de ces communautés, dosage des AMP, ADP, ATP. Deux situations écologiques opposées ont étées considérées . Une situation automnale (température élevée) et une situation hivernale (température faible). Des bacs d'eau de mer de 6 et 60 litres ont été enrichis , soit avec du chlorure d'ammonium, soit avec un mélange d'acides aminés, à environ 500 uAtg N.l" . Les expériences ont duré 24 heures, avec des prélèvements toutes les 3 heures. La communauté automnale réagit rapidement (6 heures), la ' réponse à l'enrichissement en azote organique étant la plus importante. La structure de la communauté présente des stades immatures instables. Au contraire, au cours de l'expérimentation hivernale, aucune réponse n'a pu être perçue. Ceci peut signifier que la phase de latence est supérieure à 24 heures. La structure . de cette communauté présente des stades matures. En Conclusion, les communautés bactériennes réagissent de la même façon que les communautés macroscopiques. Les communautés stables sont diversifiées et correspondent à des stades matures de l'écosystème, les stades immatures sont instables et moins diversifiés. Ce type d'expérience a permi de mettre en évidence la rapidité de réponse des populations bactériennes, et peut être utilisé pour définir la stabilité d'une communauté bactérienne dans un biotope précis.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1981/rapport-1926.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1926/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Institute of Physics: Open Access Journals
Résumé : International audience
The Amazon river basin has been recently affected by extreme climatic events, such as the exceptional drought of 2005, with significant impacts on human activities and ecosystems. In spite of the importance of monitoring freshwater stored and moving in such large river basins, only scarce measurements of river stages and discharges are available and the signatures of extreme drought conditions on surface freshwater dynamics at the basin scale are still poorly known. Here we use continuous multisatellite observations of inundation extent and water levels between 2003 and 2007 to monitor monthly variations of surface water storage at the basin scale. During the 2005 drought, the amount of water stored in the river and floodplains of the Amazon basin was ~130 km3 (~70%) below its 2003-7 average. This represents almost a half of the anomaly of minimum terrestrial water stored in the basin as estimated using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data.
Environmental Research Letters

hal-00779275
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00779275
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00779275/document
DOI : 10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/044010

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : While around 20% of the Amazonian forest has been cleared for pastures and agriculture, one fourth of the remaining forest is dedicated to wood production [1] . Most of these production forests have been or will be selectively harvested for commercial timber, but recent studies show that even soon after logging, harvested stands retain much of their tree-biomass carbon and biodiversity [2,3] . Comparing species richness of various animal taxa among logged and unlogged forests across the tropics, Burivalova et al. [4] found that despite some variability among taxa, biodiversity loss was generally explained by logging intensity (the number of trees extracted). Here, we use a network of 79 permanent sample plots (376 ha total) located at 10 sites across the Amazon Basin [5] to assess the main drivers of time-to-recovery of post-logging tree carbon ( Table S1 ). Recovery time is of direct relevance to policies governing management practices (i.e., allowable volumes cut and cutting cycle lengths), and indirectly to forest-based climate change mitigation interventions.
ISSN: 0960-9822

hal-01536542
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01536542
DOI : 10.1016/j.cub.2015.07.034
PRODINRA : 343217
PUBMED : 26394096

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This study investigated the clinical epidemiology and resistance mechanisms of Acinetobacter baumannii and characterised the clonal diversity of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) during an ICU-associated outbreak at Cayenne Hospital, French Guiana. All non-duplicate A. baumannii isolates from 2008 to 2014 were tested for antibiotic susceptibility by disk diffusion. Multilocus sequence typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and characterisation of carbapenemase-encoding genes were performed on CRAB. Of the 441 A. baumannii isolates, most were from males (54.0%) and were detected mainly from the ICU (30.8%) and medicine wards (21.8%). In the ICU, strains were mainly isolated from the respiratory tract (44.1%) and bloodstream (14.0%), whereas in medicine wards they mainly were from wound/drainage (36.5%) and bloodstream (25.0%). A. baumannii showed the greatest susceptibility to piperacillin/tazobactam (92.7%), imipenem (92.5%), colistin (95.6%) and amikacin (97.2%), being lower in the ICU and medicine wards compared with other wards. An outbreak of OXA-23-producing CRAB occurred in the 13-bed ICU in 2010. CRAB strains were more co-resistant to other antimicrobials compared with non-CRAB. Molecular genetics analysis revealed five sequence types [ST78, ST107 and ST642 and two new STs (ST830 and ST831)]. Analysis of PFGE profiles indicated cross-transmissions of CRAB within the ICU, between the ICU and one medicine ward during transfer of patients, and within that medicine ward. This study provides the first clinical and molecular data of A. baumannii from French Guiana and the Amazon basin. The ICU was the highest risk unit of this nosocomial outbreak of OXA-23-producing CRAB, which could subsequently disseminate within the hospital.
ISSN: 0924-8579

hal-01506828
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01506828
PUBMED : 27236843

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : [b]Aim[/b][br/] Many tropical tree species have poorly delimited taxonomic boundaries and contain undescribed or cryptic species. We examined the genetic structure of a species complex in the tree genus Carapa in the Neotropics in order to evaluate age, geographic patterns of diversity and evolutionary relationships, and to quantify levels of introgression among currently recognized species.[br/] [br/] [b]Location[/b][br/] Lowland moist forests in the Guiana Shield, the Central and Western Amazon Basin, Chocó and Central America.[br/] [br/] [b]Methods[/b][br/] Genetic structure was analysed using seven nuclear simple sequence repeats (nuSSR), five chloroplast SSRs (cpSSR), and two chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) intergenic sequences (trnH-psbA and trnC-ycf6). Bayesian clustering analysis of the SSR data was used to infer population genetic structure and to assign 324 samples to their most likely genetic cluster. Bayesian coalescence analyses were performed on the two cpDNA markers to estimate evolutionary relationships and divergence times.[br/] [br/] [b]Results[/b][br/] Two genetic clusters (nu_guianensis and nu_surinamensis) were detected, which correspond to the Neotropical species C. guianensis (sensu latu) and C. surinamensis. Fourteen cpDNA haplotypes clustered into six haplogroups distributed between the two nuclear genetic clusters. Divergence between the haplogroups was initiated in the Miocene, with some haplotype structure evolving as recently as the Pleistocene. The absence of complete lineage sorting between the nuclear and chloroplast genomes and the presence of hybrid individuals suggest that interspecific reproductive barriers are incomplete. NuSSR diversity was highest in C. guianensis and, within C. guianensis, cpDNA diversity was highest in the Central and Western Amazon Basin. Regional genetic differentiation was strong but did not conform to an isolation-by-distance process or exhibit a phylogeographical signal.[br/] [br/] [b]Main conclusions[/b][br/] The biogeographical history of Neotropical Carapa appears to have been influenced by events that took place during the Neogene. Our results point to an Amazonian centre of origin and diversification of Neotropical Carapa, with subsequent migration to the Pacific coast of South America and Central America. Gene flow apparently occurs among species, and introgression events are supported by inconsistencies between chloroplast and nuclear lineage sorting. The absence of phylogeographical structure may be a result of the ineffectiveness of geographical barriers among populations and of reproductive isolation mechanisms among incipient and cryptic species in this species complex.
ISSN: 0305-0270

hal-01032395
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032395
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02678.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union
Résumé : International audience
The exchanges of carbon, water and energy between the atmosphere and the Amazon basin have global implications for the current and future climate. Here, the global atmospheric inversion system of the Monitoring of Atmospheric Composition and Climate (MACC) service is used to study the seasonal and interannual variations of biogenic CO 2 fluxes in Amazonia during the period 2002–2010. The system assimilated surface measurements of atmospheric CO 2 mole fractions made at more than 100 sites over the globe into an atmospheric transport model. The present study adds measurements from four surface stations located in tropical South America, a region poorly covered by CO 2 observations. The estimates of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) optimized by the inversion are compared to an independent estimate of NEE upscaled from eddy-covariance flux measurements in Amazonia. They are also qualitatively evaluated against reports on the seasonal and interannual variations of the land sink in South America from the scientific literature. We attempt at assessing the impact on NEE of the strong droughts in 2005 and 2010 (due to severe and longer-than-usual dry seasons) and the extreme rainfall conditions registered in 2009. The spatial variations of the seasonal and in-terannual variability of optimized NEE are also investigated. While the inversion supports the assumption of strong spatial heterogeneity of these variations, the results reveal critical limitations of the coarse-resolution transport model, the surface observation network in South America during the recent years and the present knowledge of modelling uncertainties in South America that prevent our inversion from capturing the seasonal patterns of fluxes across Amazonia. However, some patterns from the inversion seem consistent with the anomaly of moisture conditions in 2009.
ISSN: 1680-7316

hal-01557375
https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/hal-01557375
https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/hal-01557375/document
https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/hal-01557375/file/acp-15-8423-2015.pdf
DOI : 10.5194/acp-15-8423-2015-supplement

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : A standardized rapid inventory method providing information on both tree species diversity and aboveground carbon stocks in tropical forests will be an important tool for evaluating efforts to conserve biodiversity and to estimate the carbon emissions that result from deforestation and degradation (REDD). Herein, we contrast five common plot methods differing in shape, size, and effort requirements to estimate tree diversity and aboveground tree biomass (AGB). We simulated the methods across six Neotropical forest sites that represent a broad gradient in forest structure, tree species richness, and floristic composition, and we assessed the relative performance of methods by evaluating the bias and precision of their estimates of AGB and tree diversity. For a given sample of forest area, a several small' (<1ha) sampling strategy led to a smaller coefficient of variation (CV) in the estimate of AGB than a few large' one. The effort (person-days) required to achieve an accurate AGB estimate (<10% CV), however, was greater for the smallest plots (0.1ha) than for a compromise approach using 0.5ha modified Gentry plots, which proved to be the most efficient method to estimate AGB across all forest types. Gentry plots were also the most efficient at providing accurate estimates of tree diversity (<10% CV of Hill number). We recommend the use of the 0.5ha modified Gentry plot method in future rapid inventories, and we discuss a set of criteria that should inform any choice of inventory method.
ISSN: 0006-3606

hal-01032408
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032408
DOI : 10.1111/btp.12006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : Sodium, an element which is needed by animals but often toxic in high concentrations to plants, may be deficient and limit animal abundance in inland continental regions, but may be overabundant and limit plant productivity in coastal regions. Here we present data from 50 independent plots (including leaf data from more than 2480 individual trees) showing that leaves in the Amazon basin uptake high amounts of sodium (Na) in a manner more similar to the essential cation potassium (K) than to the toxic cation aluminium (Al). Leaf Na increases linearly with soil Na concentrations, and there is no apparent mechanism for selective exclusion of Na in comparison to K, a key attribute of halophytes. This indicates that the Amazon basin is broadly non-halophytic and increased sodium concentrations in non-halophyte plants often decrease plant productivity. Total Na concentrations are approximate to 10 times higher in coastal regions than inland regions. Such concentration gradients in nutrients may have been reduced in the past because large animals that were abundant in the Pleistocene have been hypothesized to play a large role in reducing nutrient concentration gradients at continental scales. We use a diffusion model and a Na loss rate based on empirical data to estimate that large animals may have moved significant quantities of Na inland away from coastal regions in the Amazon Basin. Therefore, our simple model suggests that large animals may play an important, yet diminishing, role in maintaining the sodium balance of the planet.
ISSN: 0906-7590

hal-01531615
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01531615
PRODINRA : 349612
DOI : 10.1111/ecog.01589

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : Analysis of new high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles, chirp profiles and previously published sidescan data, together with piston cores on the Danube Fan provide new insight into the recent sedimentation processes in the deep northwestern Black Sea.The latest channel-levee system on the Danube Fan developed probably during the Neoeuxinian lowstand (oxygene isotope stage 2) in a semi-freshwater basin with a water level about 100 m lower than today. Sediment supplied by the Danube was transported to the deep basin through the Viteaz Canyon, which was directly connected to the leveed channel of this system on the middle slope. Channel avulsion was common in the middle fan, as indicated by four main phases of bifurcation. Each phase developed after the same pattern: breaching of the lower and narrower left levee by turbidity currents, building of a unit of High Amplitude Reflection Packets (HARP) by the unchannelized flow while the former channel was abandoned, followed by initiation of a new meandering leveed channel. The northward migration through successive bifurcations is influenced by the asymmetry between levees, hence by the Coriolis effect. In the lower fan where the levees became too low to maintain a stable pathway for the turbiditic flows, channel migration occurred. Locations of HARPs and channels after bifurcation are controlled by the pre-existing bathymetry. Sedimentary deposits are confined between the high levees of unit 0 (the initial phase of the youngest channel-levee system) to the south, and the steep relief of the Dniepr Fan to the north.The HARPs of the most recent phase of avulsion are the most severely constrained by local topography and form a very narrow elongate structure that is at most half as thick as the previous HARPs. Their distal part is not covered by channel-levee systems and is visible both on sidescan mosaics and on chirp profiles and was sampled in core BLKS 98-20.Sea level controlled fan activity but the evolution of the last channel-levee system with several bifurcations during a single sea level lowstand suggests that the primary control of channel avulsion and sand delivery is probably autocyclic.The presence of important HARP sand bodies in the mud-rich Danube Fan is presumed by analogy with a similar seismic facies on the Amazon Fan and indicated by the sands cored in BLKS98-20. However, only drilling of the HARP units could verify this interpretation.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2001-09 , Vol. 179 , N. 1-2 , P. 25-37

Droits : 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2001/publication-474.pdf
DOI:10.1016/S0025-3227(01)00197-9
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/474/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé :  
Positive aboveground biomass trends have been reported from old-growth forests across the Amazon basin and hypothesized to reflect a large-scale response to exterior forcing. The result could, however, be an artefact due to a sampling bias induced by the nature of forest growth dynamics. Here, we characterize statistically the disturbance process in Amazon old-growth forests as recorded in 135 forest plots of the RAINFOR network up to 2006, and other independent research programmes, and explore the consequences of sampling artefacts using a data-based stochastic simulator. Over the observed range of annual aboveground biomass losses, standard statistical tests show that the distribution of biomass losses through mortality follow an exponential or near-identical Weibull probability distribution and not a power law as assumed by others. The simulator was parameterized using both an exponential disturbance probability distribution as well as a mixed exponential-power law distribution to account for potential large-scale blowdown events. In both cases, sampling biases turn out to be too small to explain the gains detected by the extended RAINFOR plot network. This result lends further support to the notion that currently observed biomass gains for intact forests across the Amazon are actually occurring over large scales at the current time, presumably as a response to climate change.
ISSN: 1354-1013

hal-01032162
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032162
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01891.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : The Amazon basin harbors a diverse ecological community that has a critical role in the maintenance of the biosphere. Although plant and animal communities have received much attention, basic information is lacking for fungal or prokaryotic communities. This is despite the fact that recent ecological studies have suggested a prominent role for interactions with soil fungi in structuring the diversity and abundance of tropical rainforest trees. In this study, we characterize soil fungal communities across three major tropical forest types in the western Amazon basin (terra firme, seasonally flooded and white sand) using 454 pyrosequencing. Using these data, we examine the relationship between fungal diversity and tree species richness, and between fungal community composition and tree species composition, soil environment and spatial proximity. We find that the fungal community in these ecosystems is diverse, with high degrees of spatial variability related to forest type. We also find strong correlations between alpha- and beta-diversity of soil fungi and trees. Both fungal and plant community beta-diversity were also correlated with differences in environmental conditions. The correlation between plant and fungal richness was stronger in fungal lineages known for biotrophic strategies (for example, pathogens, mycorrhizas) compared with a lineage known primarily for saprotrophy (yeasts), suggesting that this coupling is, at least in part, due to direct plant-fungal interactions. These data provide a much-needed look at an understudied dimension of the biota in an important ecosystem and supports the hypothesis that fungal communities are involved in the regulation of tropical tree diversity.
ISSN: 1751-7362

hal-01032405
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032405
DOI : 10.1038/ismej.2013.66

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : Over the past three decades, many small-scale floristic studies of white-sand forests across the Amazon basin have been published. Nonetheless, a basin-wide description of both taxonomic and phylogenetic alpha and beta diversity at regional scales has never been achieved. We present a complete floristic analysis of white-sand forests across the Amazon basin including both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity. We found strong regional differences in the signal of phylogenetic community structure with both overall and regional Net Relatedness Index and Nearest Taxon Index values found to be significantly positive leading to a pattern of phylogenetic clustering. Additionally, we found high taxonomic dissimilarity but low phylogenetic dissimilarity in pairwise community comparisons. These results suggest that recent diversification has played an important role in the assembly of white-sand forests causing geographic neo-endemism patterns at the regional scale.
ISSN: 0006-3606

hal-01532549
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01532549
DOI : 10.1111/btp.12298
PRODINRA : 353398

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : Tropical forests contain an important proportion of the carbon stored in terrestrial vegetation, but estimated aboveground biomass (AGB) in tropical forests varies two-fold, with little consensus on the relative importance of climate, soil and forest structure in explaining spatial patterns. Here, we present analyses from a plot network designed to examine differences among contrasting forest habitats (terra firme, seasonally flooded, and white-sand forests) that span the gradient of climate and soil conditions of the Amazon basin. We installed 0.5-ha plots in 74 sites representing the three lowland forest habitats in both Loreto, Peru and French Guiana, and we integrated data describing climate, soil physical and chemical characteristics and stand variables, including local measures of wood specific gravity (WSG). We use a hierarchical model to separate the contributions of stand variables from climate and soil variables in explaining spatial variation in AGB. AGB differed among both habitats and regions, varying from 78 Mg ha−1 in white-sand forest in Peru to 605 Mg ha−1 in terra firme clay forest of French Guiana. Stand variables including tree size and basal area, and to a lesser extent WSG, were strong predictors of spatial variation in AGB. In contrast, soil and climate variables explained little overall variation in AGB, though they did co-vary to a limited extent with stand parameters that explained AGB. Our results suggest that positive feedbacks in forest structure and turnover control AGB in Amazonian forests, with richer soils (Peruvian terra firme and all seasonally flooded habitats) supporting smaller trees with lower wood density and moderate soils (French Guianan terra firme) supporting many larger trees with high wood density. The weak direct relationships we observed between soil and climate variables and AGB suggest that the most appropriate approaches to landscape scale modeling of AGB in the Amazon would be based on remote sensing methods to map stand structure.
ISSN: 1354-1013

hal-01374829
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01374829
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02432.x
PRODINRA : 183370

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : Understanding the mechanisms generating species distributions remains a challenge, especially in hyperdiverse tropical forests. We evaluated the role of rainfall variation, soil gradients and herbivory on seedling mortality, and how variation in seedling performance along these gradients contributes to habitat specialisation. In a 4-year experiment, replicated at the two extremes of the Amazon basin, we reciprocally transplanted 4638 tree seedlings of 41 habitat-specialist species from seven phylogenetic lineages among the three most important forest habitats of lowland Amazonia. Rainfall variation, flooding and soil gradients strongly influenced seedling mortality, whereas herbivory had negligible impact. Seedling mortality varied strongly among habitats, consistent with predictions for habitat specialists in most lineages. This suggests that seedling performance is a primary determinant of the habitat associations of adult trees across Amazonia. It further suggests that tree diversity, currently mostly harboured in terra firme forests, may be strongly impacted by the predicted climate changes in Amazonia.
ISSN: 1461-023X

hal-01531751
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01531751
DOI : 10.1111/ele.12661
PRODINRA : 387284

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : [b]Aim[/b][br/] [br/] The phylogeographical history of Neotropical species can be difficult to reconstruct because of superimposed Neogene and Quaternary histories, and because of taxonomic uncertainty. We analysed range-wide genetic diversity in a widespread pioneer tree species, Jacaranda copaia (Aubl.) D. Don, to characterize phylogeographical structure, date the evolutionary relationships among lineages, and evaluate the role of dispersal and vicariance in establishing the present geographical range.[br/] [br/] [br/] [b]Location[/b][br/] [br/] Guiana Shield; central, southern and western Amazon Basin; Chocó region; Central America.[br/] [br/] [br/] [b]Methods[/b][br/] [br/] We analysed nine nuclear simple sequence repeat loci (nuSSR), eight chloroplast SSRs (cpSSR), and two cpDNA intergenic sequences in 341 adult trees. Genetic differentiation at nuSSRs was inferred using Bayesian clustering. Dating of chloroplast lineage divergence was obtained using a range of published mutation rates and Bayesian coalescence analyses. Population divergence dating was performed using an isolation-with-migration model for eight loci (one cp sequence and seven nuSSRs).[br/] [br/] [br/] [b]Results[/b][br/] [br/] Nuclear SSR variation identified three geographically overlapping clusters (nu-1, nu-2, nu-3). Twelve cpDNA haplotypes were clustered into two haplogroups (cp-1, cp-2) with the central Amazon harbouring the highest diversity. Molecular dating analysis suggests that cpDNA haplotype diversification started around the end of the Pliocene (2.61 Ma on average), whereas population divergence was more recent and occurred during the mid-Quaternary (point estimates between 357 and 436 ka).[br/] [br/] [br/] [b]Main conclusions[/b][br/] [br/] The genetic variation of J. copaia in the Neotropics was shaped mainly by Pleistocene events. Chloroplast diversity did not display the expected cis/trans Andean disjunction, indicating recent dispersal. Nuclear variation revealed that separate regions share a recent history, with a centre of diversity in the central Amazon Basin. The geographical pattern of diversity is congruent with the distribution of the two subspecies, J. copaia copaia and J. copaia spectabilis, and evidence of nuSSR admixture between the two taxa supports their classification as subspecies.
ISSN: 0305-0270

hal-01032410
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032410
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02797.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