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 : [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