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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Variation of dead wood decay rates among tropical trees remains one source of uncertainty in global models of the carbon cycle. Taking advantage of a broad forest plot network surveyed for tree mortality over a 23-year period, we measured the remaining fraction of boles from 367 dead trees from 26 neotropical species widely varying in wood density (0.23–1.24 g cm-3) and tree circumference at death time (31.5–272.0 cm). We modeled decay rates within a Bayesian framework assuming a first order differential equation to model the decomposition process and tested for the effects of forest management (selective logging vs. unexploited), of mode of death (standing vs. downed) and of topographical levels (bottomlands vs. hillsides vs. hilltops) on wood decay rates. The general decay model predicts the observed remaining fraction of dead wood (R2 = 60%) with only two biological predictors: tree circumference at death time and wood specific density. Neither selective logging nor local topography had a differential effect on wood decay rates. Including the mode of death into the model revealed thatstanding dead trees decomposed faster than downed dead trees, but the gain of model accuracy remains rather marginal. Overall, these results suggest that the release of carbon from tropical dead trees to the atmosphere can be simply estimated using tree circumference at death time and wood density.
ISSN: 0029-8549

hal-01094187
https://hal-agroparistech.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01094187
DOI : 10.1007/s00442-010-1602-8

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Decomposition processes in tropical semi-evergreen forests are still poorly understood. The influence of soil properties and litter quality on decomposition rate was studied in two semi-evergreen forests of Guadeloupe, a forest plantation and a secondary forest, located on different soils. Leaf litter of four tree species was enclosed in litterbags for a 14-month period. Nonlinear correlations were calculated between mass loss and the concentration of major leaf components (soluble C, N, lignin, cellulose, tannins, total soluble phenols) in order to determine the best predictor of leaf litter decomposition. Soil physico-chemical properties and ratios between some of the above-mentioned litter quality parameters were also examined as mass loss predictors. In addition, non-linear correlations were calculated between mass loss and litter quality parameters, at successive periods. Litter quality was the main determinant of litter decomposition in the studied forests. Several litter quality parameters were correlated with leaf disappearance, varying according to stages of decomposition. Between 1 month and 2.5 months, the mass loss was correlated negatively with the initial phenol content and with initial lignin:N and (lignin+phenol):N ratios. From 2.5 to 5.5 months, the mass loss was correlated negatively with the initial phenol content and positively with the initial cellulose content. At later stages of decomposition (9-14 months), the mass loss was correlated negatively with the initial tannin content. Differences in soil characteristics and fauna did not seem to be enough to affect decomposition.
ISSN: 0178-2762

hal-00499535
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00499535
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00499535/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00499535/file/Article_decomposition.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s00374-002-0467-3

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : Coarse woody debris (CWD, dead wood sections a parts per thousand yen10 cm diameter) represents a large store of carbon in tropical forests; however, estimates of the flux of carbon from CWD in these forests remain poorly constrained. The objective of this study was to resolve the dry/wet season response of respiration in CWD (R (cwd)), and investigate the importance of biotic and abiotic factors for predicting the seasonal change of R (cwd) at the ecosystem level. This study presents a 4-month time series of R (cwd) measurements conducted on 42 dead trees (26 species) at the Paracou Research Station in French Guiana. R (cwd) measurements were repeated 13 times on each CWD sample from July to November 2011, spanning the transition from wet to dry season, and then from dry season to the following wet season. Seasonal drought caused monthly R (cwd) to drop by 20.5 +/- A 5.1% over the wet-dry transition. Changes in woody tissue moisture content explained 41.9% of the measured seasonal variability in R (cwd), but 60% of the seasonal variability in mean forest R (cwd) rates could be modelled using surface soil water content. We estimate that R (cwd) is approximately 5% of annual ecosystem respiration (R (eco)) and that seasonal variations in R (cwd) contribute appreciably to seasonal variations of R (eco), and should be included in functional models simulating the response of tropical rainforest ecosystems to current and future climate.
ISSN: 1432-9840

hal-01032431
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032431
DOI : 10.1007/s10021-013-9684-x

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 : 1. Resource control over abundance, structure and functional diversity of soil microbial communities is a key determinant of soil processes and related ecosystem functioning. Copiotrophic organisms tend to be found in environments which are rich in nutrients, particularly carbon, in contrast to oligotrophs, which survive in much lower carbon concentrations. We hypothesized that microbial biomass, activity and community structure in nutrient-poor soils of an Amazonian rain forest are limited by multiple elements in interaction. We tested this hypothesis with a fertilization experiment by adding C (as cellulose), N (as urea) and P (as phosphate) in all possible combinations to a total of 40 plots of an undisturbed tropical forest in French Guiana. After 2years of fertilization, we measured a 47% higher biomass, a 21% increase in substrate-induced respiration rate and a 5-fold higher rate of decomposition of cellulose paper discs of soil microbial communities that grew in P-fertilized plots compared to plots without P fertilization. These responses were amplified with a simultaneous C fertilization suggesting P and C colimitation of soil micro-organisms at our study site. Moreover, P fertilization modified microbial community structure (PLFAs) to a more copiotrophic bacterial community indicated by a significant decrease in the Gram-positive:Gram-negative ratio. The Fungi:Bacteria ratio increased in N fertilized plots, suggesting that fungi are relatively more limited by N than bacteria. Changes in microbial community structure did not affect rates of general processes such as glucose mineralization and cellulose paper decomposition. In contrast, community level physiological profiles under P fertilization combined with either C or N fertilization or both differed strongly from all other treatments, indicating functionally different microbial communities. While P appears to be the most critical from the three major elements we manipulated, the strongest effects were observed in combination with either supplementary C or N addition in support of multiple element control on soil microbial functioning and community structure. We conclude that the soil microbial community in the studied tropical rain forest and the processes it drives is finely tuned by the relative availability in C, N and P. Any shifts in the relative abundance of these key elements may affect spatial and temporal heterogeneity in microbial community structure, their associated functions and the dynamics of C and nutrients in tropical ecosystems.
ISSN: 0269-8463

hal-01204229
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01204229
DOI : 10.1111/1365-2435.12329
PRODINRA : 311389

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The correlation between the flow turbulence and the performances of a ma- rine current turbine is studied. First, the incoming flow encountered in the flume tank is characterized in the framework of fully developed turbulent cascades in the inertial range. The Reynolds number, the Kolmogorov dissipation scale and the integral scale, are estimated from flow measurements. The intermittency of the turbulence is characterized in the lognormal multifractal framework, and the influence of the turbulent flow on the turbine power is assessed. The rotor speed control unit characteristics used for the turbine regulation induces non-negligible effects on the turbine behavior under fluctuations loads. Even if the power spectrum does not reveal any scale invariance, a multiscale analysis allows us to show the correlations between the turbulence time se- ries and the power produced. The classical Mean Square Coherency function shows that for scales larger than 10 seconds, the upstream velocity and power have large correlations. In the framework of the Empirical Mode Decomposition method, such correlations are studied using the time-dependence intrinsic corre- lation analysis method. This method allows to zoom into time-frequency scales where the flow perturbations induced some modifications in power production
ISSN: 0960-1481

hal-01528296
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01528296
DOI : 10.1016/j.renene.2017.05.024

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
A good knowledge of the intermittency of global solar radiation is crucial for selecting the location of a solar power plant and predicting the generation of electricity. This paper presents a multifractal analysis study of 367 daily global solar radiation sequences measured with a sampling rate of 1 Hz over one year at Guadeloupean Archipelago (French West Indies) located at 16°15'N latitude and 60°30'W longitude. The mean power spectrum computed follows a power law behaviour close to the Kolmogorov spectrum. The intermittent and multifractal properties of global solar radiation data are investigated using several methods. Under this basis, a characterization for each day using three multifractal parameters is proposed
ISSN: 0038-092X

hal-01527892
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01527892
DOI : 10.1016/j.solener.2013.09.018