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The greater part of the semi-deciduous moist forests of the Congo basin has been given to logging companies for exploitation. In the next decades, very few of these forests will remain intact. In this paper, we aimed to identify large-scale variations in the structure, composition and functioning of African moist forests that could serve as a baseline for both management and conservation purposes. Commercial forest inventory data were assembled for 49,711 0.5-ha plots, covering an area of more than six million hectares, crossing the borders of Cameroon, Central African Republic and Republic of Congo. Floristic composition was analyzed for a subset of 176 genera reliably identified in the field. Three key functional traits of tropical trees: regeneration guild, leaf phenology, and wood specific gravity, were collected at the species level from various sources, and assigned at the genus level. We first investigated the main variations in forest structure and composition, and identified seven forest types based on these variations. Differences in the percentage of pioneer and deciduous stems, and mean wood specific gravity were tested between forest types. Most of the study area was composed of a mosaic of the structural variations of the forests characterized by the occurrence of Celtis (Ulmaceae) species, which are mostly composed of frequent and abundant genera that formed the common floristic pool of the region. Secondary Musanga (Moraceae) forest is located in repeatedly disturbed areas, along roads and around main cities; mixed Manilkara (Sapotaceae) forest covers a huge area in the southern Central African Republic and in the northern Republic of Congo; and monodominant Gilbertiodendron (Fabaceae) forest is sparsely distributed along rivers. The contrasted structure, composition, and functioning of the forest types imply pronounced differences in population and ecosystem processes, and call for adapted management and conservation strategies.

Aim The primary objectives of this study were (1) to assess, in the light of palaeoecological reconstruction, the climate stability hypothesis used by evolutionary biologists to explain high diversity in historically stable areas, and (2) to identify the response mechanisms of a tropical rain forest microrefugium to climatic variability. Location North-eastern Brazil, Serra de Maranguape. Methods Vegetation and climatic changes were reconstructed using a pollen record in a sediment core from a forest hollow, and the chronology was based on accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon analyses. Results Past vegetation dynamics consisted of three main forest types, shown by major compositional changes in rain forest assemblages between 5000 and 1000 cal. yr bp. Dense ombrophilous forest was abruptly replaced by heliophilous early successional tree taxa at 4275 cal. yr bp. These early successional tree taxa were established over a period of c. 100 years, and their dominance lasted for c. 750 years and was associated with dry conditions until 3525 cal. yr bp. Subsequently, the expansion of secondary successional tree taxa over a period of c. 550 years enabled the recovery of ombrophilous forest. Main conclusions The vegetation changes in the Serra de Maranguape provide evidence for the high sensitivity of this rain forest microrefugium to climatic variability on a multidecadal to millennial time-scale during the mid- to late Holocene. Despite the substantial compositional and climatic changes, this microrefugium apparently was continuously forested and responded to climatic instability by recruiting key species to its highly diverse stock. This evidence helps to address the joint concerns of evolutionary biologists and palaeoecologists regarding how forests can persist during periods of climatic variability by showing that some tropical regions can remain continuously forested despite reorganization during abrupt and short-term climatic changes. (Resume d'auteur)

International audience; Disturbances control rainforest dynamics, and, according to the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH), disturbance regime is a key driver of local diversity. Variations in disturbance regimes and their consequences on regional diversity at broad spatiotemporal scales are still poorly understood. Using multidisciplinary large-scale inventories and LiDAR acquisitions, we developed a robust indicator of disturbance regimes based on the frequency of a few early successional and widely distributed pioneer species. We demonstrate at the landscape scale that tree-species diversity and disturbance regimes vary with climate and relief. Significant relationships between the disturbance indicator, tree-species diversity and soil phosphorus content agree with the hypothesis that rainforest diversity is controlled both by disturbance regimes and long-term ecosystem stability. These effects explain the broad-scale patterns of floristic diversity observed between landscapes. In fact, species-rich forests in highlands, which have benefited from long-term stability combined with a moderate and regular regime of local disturbances, contrast with less diversified forests on recently shaped lowlands, which have undergone more recent changes and irregular dynamics. These results suggest that taking the current disturbance regime into account and including geomorphological stratifications in climate-vegetation models may be an effective way to improve the prediction of changes in species diversity under climate change. The Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis (IDH) that predicts a humped diversity-disturbance relationship is at the same time inspiring for conservation policies 1,2 and subject to scientific controversy 3,4. The theory suggests that in highly diverse ecosystems, like the tropical rainforest, where competitive exclusion prevails in late successional processes 5 , an intermediate disturbance regime, i.e. of moderate intensity and/or frequency, locally reduces inter-individual competition for resources and thus allows less competitive species to avoid exclusion and to maintain in the community 6. There are empirical supports for IDH to locally maintain tropical rainforest in a non-equilibrium dynamics enhancing species diversity through gap-phase regeneration processes and secondary successions (e.g. refs 7-10). However, at larger scales corresponding to the extent of forest management options the diversity-disturbance relationship is actually not so clear. Spatio-temporal variations in resource availability, niche diversity or immigration fluxes (related e.g. to mass effects) may blur the expected diversity patterns that are observed at local scale (e.g. refs 11,12). For instance, Stropp and colleagues 13 inferred from wood density data across a network of 1-ha forest plots in Amazonia, that the frequency of disturbances was the main process driving local diversity, but not regional diversity, which they found more correlated to proxies of paleoclimatic stability and long-term ecosystem dynamics. These findings suggest that both local-and large-scale spatio-temporal dynamic processes interact in shaping the current pattern of

International audience; Le miel est traditionnellement consommé dans les îles de l’océan Indien et utilisé également pour ses propriétés cosmétiques et thérapeutiques. Ce produit, issu du nectar de fleurs ou de miellat d’insectes, est collecté et transformé par les abeilles produisant ainsi un miel unique caractéristique de la flore de chaque île. A l’issue de la récolte, l’apiculteur doit nor­malement veiller à ce que le miel soit conforme et respecte des caractéristiques physico-chimiques spécifiques selon les recom­mandations du Codex alimentarius. De plus, il doit indiquer des informations, comme l’origine botanique et géographique, sur chaque pot de miel vendu. En pratique il est toutefois très diffi­cile de vérifier l’exactitude de ces informations, d’autant qu’elles sont mises en avant comme argument de vente. La spectrométrie dans le proche infrarouge (SPIR), basée sur les propriétés physiques d’absorption de la lumière par les com­posés organiques, peut être un outil de contrôle et de traçabi­lité des miels mis sur le marché (1, 3). L’objectif principal de cette étude a été d’évaluer la faisabilité d’un contrôle qualité (authentification de l’origine botanique et/ou géographique et détection d’adultération) des miels commerciaux produits dans l’océan Indien. Les perspectives de cette méthode de laboratoire sont importantes dans le cadre du développement des filières apicoles, notamment lorsqu’elles sont orientées vers les marchés d’exportation et vers la promotion de leur qualité auprès de consommateurs désireux de profiter de produits d’excellence et fortement attachés à des territoires insulaires uniques.Au total, 625 miels des pays de l’océan Indien (tableau I) ayant diverses origines botaniques (tableau II) ont été mesurés sans ajustement à 30 °C et après ajustement à 70 °Brix avec de l’eau distillée (3). La mesure a été réalisée en réflexion diffuse à l’aide d’une cellule ronde avec un fond réflecteur doré (trajet optique 0,1 mm) sur un spectromètre FOSS NIRSystem 5000 (1 100–2 500 nm, 2 nm). En parallèle, les mesures du degré Brix, de l’humidité et de la conductivité des miels bruts ont été réalisées au laboratoire. Après l’analyse en composantes prin­cipales (ACP) de la base spectrale des 625 miels et le calcul des distances H de Mahalanobis, 83 miels ont été identifiés comme spectralement atypiques et retirés du jeu de données (tableau I). Sur la base des distances spectrales (H, Mahalanobis), 64 miels représentatifs des 542 miels retenus ont été sélectionnés, ajustés à 70 °Brix, puis adultérés avec du sirop de sucre de canne du commerce (Mascarin®) à 25 et à 10 p. 100 par pesée.Les modèles prédictifs des teneurs en humidité, Brix et conducti­vité ont été établis en utilisant la régression modified partial least square (M-PLS) du logiciel WinISI 3 (Infrasoft, Port Mathilda, PA, Etats-Unis). Les modèles PLS ont été réalisés sur la base des dérivées premières des spectres normalisés (SNV) et corri­gés pour la ligne de base (Detrend). Pour expliquer les critères géographiques et botaniques, nous avons utilisé une méthode non supervisée de discrimination (Cluster Analysis, Unscrumbler 10.3, CAMO, Oslo, Norvège), qui constitue des groupements naturels, sur la base des distances spectrales. Les spectres des miels non adultérés ont servi de base pour définir un espace multidimensionnel (ACP centrée, non réduite sur dérivée seconde des spectres bruts). La projection des spectres (dérivée seconde des spectres bruts) des miels adultérés sur cet espace a permis d’identifier un plan factoriel (CP1–CP7) expliquant 65 p. 100 de la variance totale, sur lequel les miels adultérés étaient nettement séparés des miels non adultérés. Les modèles d’étalonnage obtenus par régression PLS pour le degré Brix, l’humidité et la conductivité ont été performants avec des R² de l’ordre de 0,92 et des erreurs de validation croisée acceptables (tableau III) (figure 1).Les essais de groupement des individus sur la base de leur spectre (recherche de clusters), de même que l’utilisation d’autres méthodes mathématiques, comme l’analyse discrimi­nante linéaire (LDA) et la classification support vecteur machine (SVM) à partir des origines géographiques et botaniques n’ont pas donné de résultats satisfaisants (tableau IV). Cette impossi­bilité de discriminer les miels de l’océan Indien serait peut-être due à une identification botanique imprécise des miels. Sans analyses polliniques des échantillons de miels, les origines bota­niques ne peuvent être certifiées, en particulier les miels dits monofloraux. Plusieurs hypothèses peuvent expliquer l’impos­sibilité de discriminer les miels de l’océan Indien en fonction de leur origine géographique et/ou botanique. Parmi elles, les différences chimiques caractéristiques de l’origine géographique et/ou botanique correspondent à des classes de composés (aro­matiques par exemple) qui n’impactent pas suffisamment les empreintes spectrales, ne permettant pas de trouver des fac­teurs discriminants. La projection des miels adultérés à 25 p. 100 (figure 2), sur la base de miels non adultérés montre une sépara­tion nette des populations. En revanche, pour un niveau d’adul­tération à 10 p. 100, la séparation n’est pas évidente (figure 3).Les résultats obtenus montrent que la spectrométrie dans le proche infrarouge peut être utilisée pour prédire certains para­mètres physico-chimiques des miels. Ces premiers résultats montrent que la constitution d’une base spectrale de miels adultérés à différents niveaux au laboratoire, associée à des méthodes de régression ou de discrimination devrait permettre l’identification de miels non-conformes, comme montré précé­demment par Rios-Corripio et coll. (2).Ces résultats ne permettent pas, dans l’état actuel, de différencier l’origine géographique et botanique des miels collectés dans le commerce. La limite de détection des miels adultérés par du sucre de canne devra être déterminée. Elle se trouve entre 10 et 25 p. 100. Les fraudeurs adultérant fréquemment les miels avec du glucose, il serait important de poursuivre les essais avec ce produit. Il est donc possible de détecter, par la technique SPIR, des altérations importantes du miel par ajout de sucre de canne.

The total uptake of carbon dioxide by ecosystems via photosynthesis (gross primary productivity, GPP) is the largest flux in the global carbon cycle. A key ecosystem functional property determining GPP is the photosynthetic capacity at light saturation (GPPsat), and its interannual variability (IAV) is propagated to the net land–atmosphere exchange of CO2. Given the importance of understanding the IAV in CO2 fluxes for improving the predictability of the global carbon cycle, we have tested a range of alternative hypotheses to identify potential drivers of the magnitude of IAV in GPPsat in forest ecosystems. Our results show that while the IAV in GPPsat within sites is closely related to air temperature and soil water availability fluctuations, the magnitude of IAV in GPPsat is related to stand age and biodiversity (R2 = 0.55, P < 0.0001). We find that the IAV of GPPsat is greatly reduced in older and more diverse forests, and is higher in younger forests with few dominant species. Older and more diverse forests seem to dampen the effect of climate variability on the carbon cycle irrespective of forest type. Preserving old forests and their diversity would therefore be beneficial in reducing the effect of climate variability on Earth's forest ecosystems. Interannual variability (IAV) of the net carbon dioxide exchange over land is globally the main determinant of the variability of atmospheric CO2 growth rate1,2. So understanding the factors controlling the IAV in CO2 fluxes is essential to improve the predictability of the global carbon cycle3. Ecosystem biotic properties — such as soil and canopy nutrient status, rates of change in physiological properties of the vegetation, or the sensitivity of these properties to environmental factors — influence ecosystem CO2 exchange. Recent studies have shown that the IAV of the carbon budget can be better explained by variation in biotic properties of ecosystems such as photosynthetic capacity (GPPsat) than directly by environmental and climatic drivers4,​5,​6. GPPsat is defined as the value of gross primary productivity (GPP) at saturating light under non-stressed conditions, minimizing the influence of anomalous hydrometeorological conditions (for example, droughts and heatwaves), which potentially affect photosynthesis. A robustly retrieved characterization of GPPsat can be regarded as an ecosystem functional property reflecting the physiological response of the ecosystem to the environment. Given that IAV of GPPsat must propagate to observed GPP, this quantity is thought to be a key variable in understanding IAV of carbon fluxes7. In fact, recent studies demonstrated that GPPsat correlates more strongly than any climatic variable with annual GPP8, but also correlates with net ecosystem CO2 exchange5. The magnitude of IAV in GPPsat has been shown to exhibit considerable variation across ecosystems9, yet no obvious explanation for this pattern has been reported in the literature. However, the consequences are important: a low IAV in GPPsat would suggest that ecosystem functioning is not very sensitive to climatic variability, and that it preserves its functionality under the influence of that variability — and, likewise, high IAV is a consequence of high sensitivity. The capability of an ecosystem to preserve its functioning and structure over time (after external disturbances or climate extremes), is often defined as ecosystem stability and is linked to ecosystem resilience10. Using this terminology, low values of IAV in GPPsat can be understood as a characterization of high ecosystem functional stability. The relation of ecosystem functionality, structure and stability has been a matter of debate for many decades in the field of ecology. In particular, the diversity of vascular plants has been investigated as a stabilizing factor with respect to variations in productivity, for example by buffering the ecosystem’s sensitivity to climate extremes11. However, it is also well known that plant diversity is co-limited by soil properties12, ecosystem management, and climate conditions. Another variable to consider is stand age (the mean age of the forest stand or the number of years after a major stand replacement after disturbance), which may affect ecosystem stability through adaptation, particularly of trees to their environment — hence increasing ecosystem resilience to climate variability13. Moreover, structural parameters such as canopy cover, rooting depth, canopy height or leaf area index (LAI), which also depend on tree species diversity and stand age14, have an important effect on the ecosystem response to variation in environmental drivers since they define the capacity of trees to access resources such as water and light15. For instance, a regional study in the Amazon basin has shown that GPP, derived from the remotely sensed enhanced vegetation index, is less sensitive to environmental influences in regions with high canopy cover16. Despite this growing body of ecological knowledge, it remains largely uncertain which factors stabilize ecosystem functional properties at the global scale. In particular, we do not understand the causes of variability of specific ecosystem functional properties, such as photosynthetic capacity across ecosystem types, which ultimately controls ecosystem productivity. Here we hypothesize that stand age and species diversity play an important role in stabilizing ecosystem photosynthetic capacity. We test this hypothesis while also considering other factors related to climate, water availability, forest structure and soil properties that might have direct or indirect effects on ecosystem photosynthetic capacity. In this study, we used measurements of ecosystem-level fluxes, and climate variables (temperature, precipitation, and water availability), species richness, stand age, forest structure (canopy cover, height, and LAI), and soil properties (nutrient availability17) derived from satellite data, in situ observations and the literature (see the Methods). We used half-hourly ecosystem-level GPP fluxes estimated by the means of the eddy-covariance technique at 50 FLUXNET sites18 with at least 4 years of measured fluxes, and with different vegetation types across different climatic regions. We included data from evergreen forest (EF) as well as deciduous broadleaved and mixed forest (DBMF) located in temperate, boreal, mediterranean, tropical and dry climate regions (Supplementary Fig. 1 and Table 1). All 50 sites have information on stand age (referred to simply as ‘age’ in Figs 1–3) and species richness in addition to the CO2 flux data. Species richness (‘sp. no.’ in Figs 1–3) is the number of dominant plant species (for example tree or herb) that account for a cumulative abundance of 90 percent at a given site. We collected additional information on (i) canopy cover, (ii) canopy height, (iii) LAI, (iv) temperature and precipitation, and (v) soil water availability index (WAI) for a subset of 44 sites; and (vi) an index of nutrient availability for 36 sites compiled from the literature17 (see Methods).

International audience; Mycorrhizal symbiosis is extremely important for tree growth, survival and resistance after transplantation particularly in Madagascar where deforestation is a major concern. The importance of mycorrhizal symbiosis is further increased when soil conditions at the planting site are limiting. To identify technical itineraries capable of improving ecological restoration in Madagascar, we needed to obtain native ectomycorrhizal (ECM) saplings with a wide diversity of ECM fungi. To this end, we transplanted ECM seedlings from the wild (wildlings) to a nursery. Using molecular characterisation of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA, we tested the effect of transplanting Asteropeia mcphersonii wildlings on ECM communities after 8 months of growth in the nursery. With or without the addition of soil from the site where the seedlings were sampled to the nursery substrate, we observed a dramatic change in the composition of fungal communities with a decrease in the ECM infection rate, a tremendous increase in the abundance of an operational taxonomic unit (OTU) taxonomically close to the order Trechisporales and the disappearance of all OTUs of Boletales. Transplanting to the nursery and/or to nursery conditions was shown to be incompatible with the survival and even less with the development in the nursery of most ECM fungi naturally associated with A. mcphersonii wildings.

Les écosystèmes subissent à la foi la pression humaine et climatique depuis des décennies, ainsi l’évaluation de l’état écologique des paysages agraires du Burkina Faso est nécessaire pour mettre en évidence l’action humaine sur l’environnement. Dans le cadre de cette étude, l’objectif est de caractériser quatre zones agro-sylvo-pastorales pour comprendre l’interaction entre le climat, l’action humaine et l’écosystème le long d’un gradient pluviométrique. L’étude a été réalisée sur des gradients anthropiques recoupant les aires protégées, les zones de cultures et les zones pâturées dans quatre zones agro-sylvo-pastorales du Burkina Faso. Des relevés floristiques ont été effectués au niveau des sites de suivis écologiques mis en place, selon la méthode d’inventaire itinérante. La richesse spécifique de la flore a été décroissante le long du gradient pluviométrique et du gradient anthropique. L’analyse factorielle des correspondances des relevés floristiques a permis de séparer le domaine sahélien de la savane. Elle a permis également de représenter 3 types de paysages (aires protégées, zones de cultures et zones pâturées) dans chaque zone agro-sylvo-pastorale. La répartition paysagère s’est faite en fonction de l’occupation du sol, mettant ainsi en évidence l’action humaine. Les zones pâturées se présentent comme des zones à écologie intermédiaire entre les zones de cultures et les aires protégées., Evaluation of the ecological state of Burkina Faso landscapes is necessary to understand human action on environment. This study aimed at characterizing the study sites to understand interactions between climate, humans and ecosystems along a rainfall gradient. The study was carried out along anthropic gradients overlapping protected areas, cropping areas and grazing areas in four agro-sylvo-pastoral areas of Burkina Faso. Floristic inventories were conducted at ecological surveys sites, according to an itinerant inventory method. The floristic richness is decreasing along the rainfall gradient and anthropic gradients. Correspondence analysis of floristic surveys allowed us separating the sahelian to savannah area and representing three types of landscapes (protected, cropping and grazing areas) in each zone based on land use, thus proving human impacts on ecosystem. Human action and climate aridity seems to have the same effect on vegetation. Grazing areas appear as intermediate ecology zones between cropping areas and protected areas.

International audience; The Black Curassow (Crax alector) is a large game bird with Vulnerable conservation status found in north-central South America. We examined its distributional pattern across French Guiana using a large number of environmental descriptors at 3 scales of analysis: landscape, forest type, and microhabitat. We used a hierarchical model with temporary emigration and imperfect detection for data collected by standard distance sampling methods at 35 study sites. At the landscape scale, Black Curassow density decreased with hunting pressure and increased with steeper slopes in both hunted and unhunted areas. Topography appeared to be a good proxy for Black Curassow ecological requirements and probably reflected habitat quality. At the forest scale, population density was negatively correlated with the abundance of palms and Mimosoideae and positively correlated with the abundance of Lauraceae. Botanical families did not directly influence Black Curassow distribution, but rather determined spatial patterns by being markers of a particular forest type. At the microhabitat scale, Black Curassows used hilltops more frequently than other parts of the local topographical gradient. Our multiscale analysis shows that this species' distribution can be explained by biotic or abiotic conditions, regardless of the scale. For conservation, we recommend maintaining connectivity between Black Curassow populations separated by hunted areas. Our predicted densities could be used to adapt hunting quotas across French Guiana's forests. We show that combining field and remote sensing data helps to understand the ecological processes responsible for Black Curassow habitat relationships.

The influence of geomorphological features on rain-forest diversity has been reported in different Amazonian regions. Soil filtering is often assumed to underlie the observed geomorphic control on the floristic composition but other hypotheses related to biogeography or long-term forest dynamics are also possible. We tested relationships between geomorphology, soil properties and forest composition in French Guiana rain forest using a recent geomorphological map and a large dataset comprising 3132 0.2-ha plots and 421 soil cores. Soil properties were characterized by laboratory analyses and by field descriptions indicating drainage capacity and classification according to the World Reference Base (WRB). The influence of soils and geomorphology on beta-diversity was tested using variance partitioning and ANOVA-like tests. Our results confirm the hypothesis of a strong relationship between geomorphological landscapes and soil properties. Soil filtering significantly influenced the abundance of more than 40 species or groups of species. However geomorphic control of forest composition involves much more than the effects of the soil, which only explain a minor part of the broad-scale patterns of forest diversity related to geomorphological landscapes. These results reinforce the alternative hypotheses linking geomorphological landscapes to long-term forest change under the control of historical processes that shaped forest diversity.

Honey bee diet surveys require an accurate knowledge of the pollen supply and a rapid counting method for microscopic analyses. Referring to the literature, we aimed at reducing the number of pollen grains counted in order to decrease the time spent for each sample. For this, we compared counts on whole transects to alternative methods of counting by sub-sampling, using the non-acetolysed palynological method. For each pellet sample, a drop of a homogenized suspension was dried, degreased, and mounted onto a slide dressed with glycerol gelatin. The counting was performed through a digital camera fitted on a microscope. The study was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 was a test of slide homogeneity, carried out on a 10-slide set with one replicate. For each slide, we compared an exhaustive count of each present taxon on a whole transect divided in four quarters. Phase 2 was a search for an alternative counting method. The work was performed over the first six samples with replicates retaining exactly the same transect, but counting only one microscope field in three, then four, and finally one in five. Data analyses were carried out with Chi-square tests on taxa that were present in more than 5% of the sample. Phase 1 showed some cases of heterogeneity in microscope slides, leading to an error hazard when counting in a continuous mode up to a defined grain number. In phase 2, the comparison of alternative countings to full transects verified the linearity of the counting results. Suitable results were given by the reading method “one in three”. We improved the accuracy of this method for the particular case of samples containing large pollen grains, e.g., Zea mays, which are unevenly disseminated on the slide.; La evaluación de la dieta de la abeja de la miel requiere un conocimiento exacto del suministro de polen y un método de conteo rápido para los análisis microscópicos. En referencia a la literatura, tuvimos como objetivo reducir el número de granos de polen contados con el fin de disminuir el tiempo empleado para cada muestra. Para ello, se compararon los recuentos en transectos enteros con otros métodos de conteo mediante submuestreos usando el método palinológico no acetolisado. Para cada muestra de precipitado, se secó una gota de una suspensión homogeneizada, desengrasada y montada en un portaobjetos impregnado con gelatina de glicerol. El recuento se llevó a cabo a través de una cámara digital montada en un microscopio. El estudio se llevó a cabo en dos fases. Fase 1 fue una prueba de homogeneidad del portaobjetos, llevado a cabo en una serie de 10 portaobjetos con un replicado. Para cada portaobjetos, se comparó un recuento exhaustivo de cada taxón presente en todo un transecto dividido en cuatro cuartos. Fase 2 fue la búsqueda de un método de recuento alternativo. El trabajo se llevó a cabo en las primeras seis muestras con réplicas usando exactamente el mismo transecto, pero contando sólo un campo al microscopio de tres, luego cuatro, y finalmente uno de cada cinco. Los análisis de datos se llevaron a cabo con las pruebas de Chi-cuadrado sobre taxa que estaban presentes en más de 5% de la muestra. Fase 1 mostró algunos casos de heterogeneidad en los portaobjetos de microscopio, dando lugar a un riesgo de error cuando se cuentan en un modo continuo hasta un número definido de grano. En la fase 2, la comparación de recuentos alternativos para transectos completos verificó la linealidad de los resultados del recuento. Los resultados más adecuados se obtuvieron con el método de lectura “uno de cada tres”. Hemos mejorado la exactitud de este método para el caso particular de las muestras que contienen grandes granos de polen, por ejemplo, Zea mays, que se difunde de manera desigual en el portaobjetos.

International audience; Phenotypic traits and their associated trade-offs have been shown to have globally consistent effects on individual plant physiological functions1, 2, 3, but how these effects scale up to influence competition, a key driver of community assembly in terrestrial vegetation, has remained unclear4. Here we use growth data from more than 3 million trees in over 140,000 plots across the world to show how three key functional traits-wood density, specific leaf area and maximum height-consistently influence competitive interactions. Fast maximum growth of a species was correlated negatively with its wood density in all biomes, and positively with its specific leaf area in most biomes. Low wood density was also correlated with a low ability to tolerate competition and a low competitive effect on neighbours, while high specific leaf area was correlated with a low competitive effect. Thus, traits generate trade-offs between performance with competition versus performance without competition, a fundamental ingredient in the classical hypothesis that the coexistence of plant species is enabled via differentiation in their successional strategies5. Competition within species was stronger than between species, but an increase in trait dissimilarity between species had little influence in weakening competition. No benefit of dissimilarity was detected for specific leaf area or wood density, and only a weak benefit for maximum height. Our trait-based approach to modelling competition makes generalization possible across the forest ecosystems of the world and their highly diverse species composition.

International audience; Understanding the environmental determinants of forests deciduousness i.e. proportion of deciduous trees in a forest stand, is of great importance when predicting the impact of ongoing global climate change on forests. In this study, we examine (i) how forest deciduousness varies in relation to rainfall and geology, and (ii) whether the influence of geology on deciduousness could be related to differences in soil fertility and water content between geological substrates.The study was conducted in mixed moist semi‐deciduous forests in the northern part of the Congo basin. We modelled the response of forest deciduousness to the severity of the dry season across four contrasting geological substrates (sandstone, alluvium, metamorphic and basic rocks). For this, we combined information on forest composition at genus level based on commercial forest inventories (62 624 0.5 ha plots scattered over 6 million of ha), leaf habit, and rainfall and geological maps. We further examined whether substrates differ in soil fertility and water‐holding capacity using soil data from 37 pits in an area that was, at the time, relatively unexplored.Forest deciduousness increased with the severity of the dry season, and this increase strongly varied with the geological substrate. Geology was found to be three times more important than the rainfall regime in explaining the total variation in deciduousness. The four substrates differed in soil properties, with higher fertility and water‐holding capacity on metamorphic and basic rocks than on sandstone and alluvium. The increase in forest deciduousness was stronger on the substrates that formed resource‐rich clay soils (metamorphic and basic rocks) than on substrates that formed resource‐poor sandy soils (sandstone and alluvium).Synthesis. We found evidence that tropical forest deciduousness is the result of both the competitive advantage of deciduous species in climates with high rainfall seasonality, and the persistence of evergreen species on resource‐poor soils. Our findings offer a clear illustration of well‐known theoretical leaf carbon economy models, explaining the patterns in the dominance of evergreen versus deciduous species. And, this large‐scale assessment of the interaction between climate and geology in determining forest deciduousness may help to improve future predictions of vegetation distribution under climate change scenarios. In central Africa, forest is likely to respond differently to variation in rainfall and/or evapotranspiration depending on the geological substrate.

International audience; Aims: To analyse the elevational richness pattern of tree species in New Caledonian tropical rain forests and investigate how the richness pattern is affected by standardizing on area vs standardizing on number of individuals and by sample coverage. Location New Caledonia (SW Pacific). Methods: We re-analysed data from the New Caledonian Plant Inventory and Permanent Plot Network (NC-PIPPN). In this plot network, all trees (DBH ≥ 5 cm) were inventoried from 201 plots measuring 20 × 20 m and located between 5 and 1292 m a.s.l. We tested whether the number of trees inventoried in these plots affected the elevational richness pattern, and if so, whether plots with large trees have a low species density because of a low number of inventoried trees. This was done by applying individual-based and coverage-based rarefaction procedures with different cut-off threshold values and re-testing the relationship between estimated species richness and elevation. Results: About 40% of the variability in species density is explained by variation in the density of trees, which in turn had no obvious pattern with elevation. Plots with large trees (high quadratic mean DBH) contained fewer individuals and thus fewer species. Applying rarefaction changed the observed elevational pattern from a peak in species richness approximately in the middle of the studied elevational gradient to a peak at lower elevations. Both the choice of the rarefaction procedure and the cut-off threshold value used to estimate species richness may dramatically change the elevational pattern. Conclusions: When the local species pool is large, the use of small plots relative to tree size induces a high correlation between species richness and the number of trees inventoried per plot. To analyse appropriately an elevational pattern for such small plot sizes, species richness should be rarefied to provide additional perspectives. We show that rarefaction changes the elevation at which species richness is expected to be maximal and that increasing the cut-off threshold value sharpens the observed humped pattern.

Secondary succession is a complex process involving numerous factors acting across scales. Understanding secondary succession in tropical dry forests is important for the conservation and restoration of this highly threatened biome. My research aims to improve knowledge of the trajectories and drivers of secondary succession in this biome, and the underlying mechanisms. I used a combination of literature synthesis, observational and experimental approaches to study plant-plant interactions and community changes during succession. Through review of published studies, I showed that established trees have a mainly positive effect on the seed dispersal, survival and germination of the subsequent generation of woody plants. However, the balance between positive and negative effect s is more complex at the seedling establishment stage and can be influenced by the precipitation regime. Meta- analyses of chronosequence studies showed an increase in tree and shrub species richness with succession and a slow convergence of successional forest species composition with that of old-growth forests. Using survey of young woody plants establishing under isolated trees in pastures, I showed that the attributes of the trees influence the functional composition of the regeneration assemblages but are only weakly related to their taxonomic composition. The position of isolated trees in the landscape is also influential, but this is complex and site- specific. Through extensive sampling of leaf functional traits of sapling communities in secondary forests of different successional age, I found that community functional composition shifts from conservative towards acquisitive strategies of resource economics, through both species turnover and intraspecific variation of trait values. Five of the measured traits also showed directional changes with tree ontogeny. Lastly, an experimental test of seed fate showed that leaf litter reduced seed removal in successional forests. Seed germination rate was higher in successional forests compared with open sites and generally benefited from the presence of litter. Overall, this research suggests a higher predictability of successional trajectories when studied through functional rather than taxonomic com position. It also shows heterogeneity in successional trajectories among tropical dry forests that require further study.

How Quaternary climatic and geological disturbances influenced the composition of Neotropical forests is hotly debated. Rain fall and temperature changes during and/or immediately after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are thought to have strongly affected the geographical distribution and local abundance of tree species. The paucity of the fossil records in Neotropical forests prevents a direct reconstruction of such processes. To describe community-level historical trends in forest composition, we turned therefore to inferential methods based on the reconstruction of past demographic changes. In particular, we modelled the history of rainforests in the Eastern Guiana Shield over a time scale of several thousand generations, through the application of Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods to diversity data at nuclear and chloroplast loci in eight species or subspecies of rainforest trees. Depending on the species and on the method applied, we detected population contraction, expansion or stability, with a general trend in favour of stability or expansion, with changes presumably having occurred during or after the LGM. These findings suggest that Guiana Shield rain forests have globally persisted, while expanding, through the Quaternary, but that different species have experienced different demographic events, with a trend towards the increase in frequency of light-demanding, disturbance-associated species.

National audience

Assessing the recovery of species diversity and composition after major disturbance is key to understanding the resilience of tropical forests through successional processes, and its importance for biodiversity conservation. Despite the specific abiotic environment and ecological processes of tropical dry forests, secondary succession has received less attention in this biome than others and changes in species diversity and composition have never been synthesised in a systematic and quantitative review. This study aims to assess in tropical dry forests 1) the directionality of change in species richness and evenness during secondary succession, 2) the convergence of species composition towards that of old-growth forest and 3) the importance of the previous land use, precipitation regime and water availability in influencing the direction and rate of change. We conducted meta-analyses of the rate of change in species richness, evenness and composition indices with succession in 13 tropical dry forest chronosequences. Species richness increased with succession, showing a gradual accumulation of species, as did Shannon evenness index. The similarity in species composition of successional forests with old-growth forests increased with succession, yet at a low rate. Tropical dry forests therefore do show resilience of species composition but it may never reach that of old-growth forests. We found no significant differences in rates of change between different previous land uses, precipitation regimes or water availability. Our results show high resilience of tropical dry forests in term of species richness but a slow recovery of species composition. They highlight the need for further research on secondary succession in this biome and better understanding of impacts of previous land-use and landscape-scale patterns.

Depuis le signalement et l'établissement dans de nombreux pays d'Afrique, de l'espèce Bactrocera dorsalis dans les agrosystèmes fruitiers, les productions fruitières sont considérablement affectées par des contraintes d'ordre phytosanitaires liées particulièrement aux piqûres de cette espèce polyphage. Ces contraintes ont non seulement réduit l'étalement de la production de mangue de qualité, mais surtout elles constituent de lourdes menaces pour son exportation du fait des procédures et des mesures très sévères de quarantaine. Dans ce travail, la sensibilité en fonction du stade phénologique du fruit aux piqûres de mouches des fruits, le mode de maintien de ces mouches des fruits dans les agrosystèmes fruitiers, les paramètres démographiques et l'effet de la composition et de la structuration des espèces fruitières au sein des vergers ont été étudiés par une démarche expérimentale en relation avec la bio-écologie de l'espèce invasive Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera, Tephritidae) dans les régions de Dakar et Thiès. Les connaissances acquises de l'exploitation et de l'analyse des données collectées permettent de dire que les différents stades phénologiques des fruits sont sensibles aux piqûres de Bactrocera dorsalis, mais cette espère préfère pondre dans des fruits au stade mûr à ceux au stade immature. Aussi en dehors de la période de maturité des mangues, B. dorsalis est relativement plus abondante dans les vergers mixtes irrigués que dans les autres vergers (homogènes ou mixtes non irrigués). Les pics de capture de B. dorsalis sont observés au sein des vergers pendant la saison chaude et pluvieuse, en revanche les captures les plus faibles sont enregistrées à la saison sèche et fraiche. De plus l'abondance relative de Bactrocera dorsalis dans les vergers est fortement corrélée à leurs compositions végétales, aux pratiques culturales qui y sont menées ainsi qu'à certains paramètres climatiques.

Classifying species into functional groups is a way to understand the functioning of species-rich ecosystems, or to model the dynamics of such ecosystems. Many statistical techniques have been defined to classify species into groups, and a question is whether different techniques bring consistent classifications. In a tropical rain forest in French Guiana, five species classifications have been defined by different authors for the purpose of forest growth modelling but using different data sets and different statistical techniques. The correspondence between the five classifications was measured using four indices that are generalizations of existing indices to compare two classifications. A multiple correspondence analysis was used to identify associations between groups of different classifications. In a second step, two-table multivariate analyses were used to characterize the relationships between species classifications and eight species traits (consisting of seven populational traits and one functional trait). We evidenced a consensus on the potential size of trees: species were similarly clustered by the five classifications along this trait that is correlated to turnover rate. More surprisingly, no consensus was found for growth rate, nor wood density, traits that are correlated with light requirement.

In the Congo Basin where most timber species are light-demanding, the low logging intensities commonly implemented (1–2 trees harvested ha −1 ) do not provide sufficient canopy gaps to ensure species regeneration. The regeneration of light-demanding timber species may therefore benefit from more intensive logging, or from post-harvest treatments such as thinning by poison girdling that increases light penetration. Little is known of the impact of post-harvest treatments on the floristic composition of tropical moist forests. This study therefore aimed to assess the effects of low and high selective logging (≃2.33 and 4.73 trees harvested ha −1 , and ≃4.96 and 9.16 m 2 ha −1 of basal area removed (logging + damage), respectively) – followed or not by thinning (≃21.14 trees thinned ha −1 , and ≃6.57 m 2 ha −1 of basal area removed) – on the floristic composition of a tropical moist forest in the Central African Republic, from 7 to 23 years after logging. We analyzed abundance data for 110 tree genera recorded every year for 14 years in 25 one-hectare permanent subplots. We used multivariate analysis to detect floristic variations between treatments and we assessed changes in floristic composition throughout the period. We compared floristic composition recovery between thinned and unthinned subplots, using unlogged subplots as a reference characterizing the pre-logging floristic composition. Logging and thinning had little impact on the floristic composition of the subplots as quantified 7 to 23 years later, though they did increase the proportion of pioneer species. Surprisingly, additional thinning at both logging levels failed to further distance floristic composition from that of the unlogged subplots, though it did increase disturbance intensity. Floristic composition recovery appeared to be facilitated when thinning was associated with logging. Thinning seemed to favor the growth and survival of non-pioneer species, to the detriment of pioneer species. These non-pioneer species could either be non-pioneer light demanders or shade-bearers. One explanation for this is that thinning by tree-poison girdling increased light availability without causing major damage to the forest, and thus increased the growth and survival of advance regeneration. The resulting enhanced competition then reduced the survival of pioneer species.

International audience; The role of plant sexual systems in community assembly has been little studied. Classical assumptions predict an association between self-fertilisation and colonising ability, a pattern not systematically supported by observations.Here, using a dataset of 626,462 trees sampled throughout 8,300 km2 in central Africa and historical information collected 60 years ago on forest successional status, we compare sexual system assemblages between young successional and mature communities.We use two multivariate approaches to assess the variation in community dioecism between successional status, while controlling for covariation between dioecy and six other traits usually considered as good proxies for important functions in forest successional dynamics.We show that dioecious trees are significantly overrepresented in young successional areas, contrary to classical expectations. This robust pattern is unlikely to be driven by soil conditions, by the other associated traits or by species-specific abundance. Strikingly, dioecy was one of the traits most correlated with young successional areas.These results show that sexual systems play an important role in community assembly. The higher occurrence of dioecy in young successional areas is likely due to a higher relative seed fitness of dioecious species in more stressful conditions or by an evolutionary-driven association between dioecy and colonisation ability, as predicted by theoretical studies.Synthesis Our study emphasises an overlooked association between sexual system and community assembly and emphasises the need to revisit classical assumptions regarding that relationship.

Measuring functional or phylogenetic diversity is the object of an active literature. The main issues to address are relating measures to a clear conceptual framework, allowing unavoidable estimation-bias correction and decomposing diversity along spatial scales. We provide a general mathematical framework to decompose measures of species-neutral, phylogenetic or functional diversity into [alpha] and [bêta) components. We first unify the definitions of phylogenetic and functional entropy and diversity as a generalization of HCDT entropy and Hill numbers when an ultrametric tree is considered. We then derive the decomposition of diversity. We propose a bias correction of the estimates allowing meaningful computation from real, often undersampled communities. Entropy can be transformed into true diversity, that is an effective number of species or communities. Estimators of ?- and ?-entropy, phylogenetic and functional entropy are provided. Proper definition and estimation of diversity is the first step towards better understanding its underlying ecological and evolutionary mechanisms.

National audience; Large-scale characterization of tropical rainforest is a challenge for their conservation and management. Very high spatial resolution images as provided by the Pléiades satellites offer new opportunities to study the structural organization of heterogeneous rainforests with limited accessibility. In this study, we have evaluated the potential of Pléiades images to map structural parameters of New Caledonian rainforests by analyzing texture of forest canopies. We have applied the Fourier transform textural ordination (FOTO) method to very high spatial resolution images to compute texture indices of canopy grain (i.e. a combination of size distribution and spatial pattern of tree crowns). The results have showed that this method was promising to isolate the rainforest from other types of vegetation, and to highlight their structural diversity on a large scale. Finally, this case study showed that the use of Pléiades images is promising to predict the structure of rainforests.; Cartographier et classifier les forêts denses humides (FDH) selon une typologie structurale objective est un enjeu majeur pour leur conservation et leur gestion. Les principales contraintes dans l'étude des FDH sont dues à leur forte hétérogénéité et à leur faible accessibilité. Les images satellitaires Pléiades offrent de nouvelles opportunités pour l'étude, à large échelle, de l'organisation structurale de ces forêts. Dans cet article nous avons évalué à travers une étude de cas en Nouvelle-Calédonie leur potentiel pour construire une typologie des FDH à partir d'une analyse de texture de la canopée. La méthode FOTO (FOurier-based Textural Ordination) a été appliquée à des images à très haute résolution spatiale pour produire des indices de texture du grain de la canopée, qui associent la distribution des tailles des couronnes des arbres et leur répartition spatiale. Les résultats ont montré que cette méthode permettait, d'une part d'isoler la FDH des autres formations végétales, et d'autre part de mettre en évidence leur diversité structurale à large échelle. Enfin, cette étude de cas a montré que l'utilisation d'images Pléiades est prometteuse pour prédire la structure des forêts denses humides. Mots-clés : Structure de la canopée, analyse de texture, forêt dense humide, Nouvelle-Calédonie, télédétection, image à très haute résolution Abstract Large-scale characterization of tropical rainforest is a challenge for their conservation and management. Very high spatial resolution images as provided by the Pléiades satellites offer new opportunities to study the structural organization of heterogeneous rainforests with limited accessibility. In this study, we have evaluated the potential of Pléiades images to map structural parameters of New Caledonian rainforests by analyzing texture of forest canopies. We have applied the Fourier transform textural ordination (FOTO) method to very high spatial resolution images to compute texture indices of canopy grain (i.e. a combination of size distribution and spatial pattern of tree crowns). The results have showed that this method was promising to isolate the rainforest from other types of vegetation, and to highlight their structural diversity on a large scale. Finally, this case study showed that the use of Pléiades images is promising to predict the structure of rainforests.

We examined tree-soil habitat associations in lowland forest communities at Paracou, French Guiana. We analyzed a large dataset assembling six permanent plots totaling 37.5 ha, in which extensive LIDAR-derived topographical data and soil chemical and physical data have been integrated with precise botanical determinations. Map of relative elevation from the nearest stream summarized both soil fertility and hydromorphic characteristics, with seasonally inundated bottomlands having higher soil phosphate content and base saturation, and plateaus having higher soil carbon, nitrogen and aluminum contents. We employed a statistical test of correlations between tree species density and environmental maps, by generating Monte Carlo simulations of random raster images that preserve auto-correlation of the original maps. Nearly three fourths of the 94 taxa with at least one stem per ha showed a significant correlation between tree density and relative elevation, revealing contrasted species-habitat associations in term of abundance, with seasonally inundated bottomlands (24.5% of species) and well-drained plateaus (48.9% of species). We also observed species preferences for environments with or without steep slopes (13.8% and 10.6%, respectively). We observed that closely-related species were frequently associated with different soil habitats in this region (70% of the 14 genera with congeneric species that have a significant association test) suggesting species-habitat associations have arisen multiple times in this tree community. We also tested if species with similar habitat preferences shared functional strategies. We found that seasonally inundated forest specialists tended to have smaller stature (maximum diameter) than species found on plateaus. Our results underline the importance of tree-soil habitat associations in structuring diverse communities at fine spatial scales and suggest that additional studies are needed to disentangle community assembly mechanisms related to dispersal limitation, biotic interactions and environmental filtering from species-habitat associations. Moreover, they provide a framework to generalize across tropical forest sites.

This article focuses on the distribution of trees on a high-elevation tropical island of the New Caledonian archipelago. The aim was to determine how the variety of environments occurring on this island (in terms of elevation, rainfall, substrate and vegetation types) shapes the distribution of tree species. We analyzed the distribution of 702 native rainforest species through ca. 40,000 occurrence records and GIS environmental layers. Results showed that species exhibit high environmental tolerance while their distribution is spatially highly aggregated. We concluded that tree species distribution in New Caledonia is shaped by dispersal limitation rather than by environmental specialization., High-elevation tropical islands are ideally suited for examining the factors that determine species distribution, given the complex topographies and climatic gradients that create a wide variety of habitats within relatively small areas. New Caledonia, a megadiverse Pacific archipelago, has long focussed the attention of botanists working on the spatial and environmental ranges of specific groups, but few studies have embraced the entire tree flora of the archipelago. In this study we analyse the distribution of 702 native species of rainforest trees of New Caledonia, belonging to 195 genera and 80 families, along elevation and rainfall gradients on ultramafic (UM) and non-ultramafic (non-UM) substrates. We compiled four complementary data sources: (i) herbarium specimens, (ii) plots, (iii) photographs and (iv) observations, totalling 38 936 unique occurrences distributed across the main island. Compiled into a regular 1-min grid (1.852 × 1.852 km), this dataset covered ∼22 % of the island. The studied rainforest species exhibited high environmental tolerance; 56 % of them were not affiliated to a substrate type and they exhibited wide elevation (average 891 ± 332 m) and rainfall (average 2.2 ± 0.8 m year−1) ranges. Conversely their spatial distribution was highly aggregated, which suggests dispersal limitation. The observed species richness was driven mainly by the density of occurrences. However, at the highest elevations or rainfalls, and particularly on UM, the observed richness tends to be lower, independently of the sampling effort. The study highlights the imbalance of the dataset in favour of higher values of rainfall and of elevation. Projected onto a map, under-represented areas are a guide as to where future sampling efforts are most required to complete our understanding of rainforest tree species distribution.

Precise mapping of above-ground biomass (AGB) is a major challenge for the success of REDD+ processes in tropical rainforest. The usual mapping methods are based on two hypotheses: a large and long-ranged spatial autocorrelation and a strong environment influence at the regional scale. However, there are no studies of the spatial structure of AGB at the landscapes scale to support these assumptions. We studied spatial variation in AGB at various scales using two large forest inventories conducted in French Guiana. The dataset comprised 2507 plots (0.4 to 0.5 ha) of undisturbed rainforest distributed over the whole region. After checking the uncertainties of estimates obtained from these data, we used half of the dataset to develop explicit predictive models including spatial and environmental effects and tested the accuracy of the resulting maps according to their resolution using the rest of the data. Forest inventories provided accurate AGB estimates at the plot scale, for a mean of 325 Mg.ha-1. They revealed high local variability combined with a weak autocorrelation up to distances of no more than10 km. Environmental variables accounted for a minor part of spatial variation. Accuracy of the best model including spatial effects was 90 Mg.ha-1 at plot scale but coarse graining up to 2-km resolution allowed mapping AGB with accuracy lower than 50 Mg.ha-1. Whatever the resolution, no agreement was found with available pan-tropical reference maps at all resolutions. We concluded that the combined weak autocorrelation and weak environmental effect limit AGB maps accuracy in rainforest, and that a trade-off has to be found between spatial resolution and effective accuracy until adequate “wall-to-wall” remote sensing signals provide reliable AGB predictions. Waiting for this, using large forest inventories with low sampling rate (

Understanding how environmental factors could impact population dynamics is of primary importance for species conservation. Matrix population models are widely used to predict population dynamics. However, in species-rich ecosystems with many rare species, the small population sizes hinder a good fit of species-specific models. In addition, classical matrix models do not take into account environmental variability. We propose a mixture of regression models with variable selection allowing the simultaneous clustering of species into groups according to vital rate information (recruitment, growth and mortality) and the identification of group-specific explicative environmental variables. We develop an inference method coupling the R packages flexmix and glmnet. We first highlight the effectiveness of the method on simulated datasets. Next, we apply it to data from a tropical rain forest in the Central African Republic. We demonstrate the accuracy of the inhomogeneous mixture matrix model in successfully reproducing stand dynamics and classifying tree species into well-differentiated groups with clear ecological interpretations. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Jusqu’à 1935, on pouvait encore voir en Côte d’Ivoire des forêts intactes le long des routes. Depuis, avec l’extension démesu- rée de la culture du café et du riz pluvial, le défrichement s’emballe. L’agriculteur fuyant les agoutis et le parasitisme fami- lial défriche dans des forêts éloignées. En 1957, il faut aller à sa recherche pour aper- cevoir la forêt primaire. L’ouverture d’une route la condamne en une décennie, et l’exploitation forestière ne passe qu’une fois. Avec la disparition des forêts denses humides africaines, les régions soudano- sahéliennes subiront une saison sèche plus longue. En outre, il importe d’établir des cartes d’aires de présence avant la disparition des forêts primaires. L’étude ici présentée vise à classifier la végétation fo- restière ivoirienne et repose sur le parcours de 12 transects en forêt dense humide. L’approche phytosociologique est en effet trop imparfaite pour analyser cette végéta- tion. Deux ensembles caractérisés par des groupes botaniques spécifiques ont été distingués : les « forêts denses semi-déci- dues humides à malvacées et ulmacées », et les « forêts denses humides à légumi- neuses sempervirentes ». Les espèces à grand pouvoir de dispersion, abondantes dans les brousses secondaires, notam- ment des genres Triplochiton ou Termina- lia, échappent cependant à cette classifi- cation. Les ruptures d’aires de présence chez certaines espèces tiennent ainsi à la dispersion des semences, mais aussi à la paléohistoire floristique et climatique. De même, la notion d’aire écologique ne peut s’appliquer pour les espèces rares ou pour les zones d’endémisme local. L’étude évoque également plusieurs espèces inva- sives indigènes, comme Scaphopetalum amoemum et Chidlowia sanguinea, dont le développement bloque la régénération forestière. Elle traite enfin de l’inclusion de savanes dans des forêts humides, dont l’origine est toujours édaphique et non pas anthropique.Résumé adapté par la rédaction de la revue.

While Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, the abundance of trees is skewed strongly towards relatively few ‘hyperdominant' species. In addition to their diversity, Amazonian trees are a key component of the global carbon cycle, assimilating and storing more carbon than any other ecosystem on Earth. Here we ask, using a unique data set of 530 forest plots, if the functions of storing and producing woody carbon are concentrated in a small number of tree species, whether the most abundant species also dominate carbon cycling, and whether dominant species are characterized by specific functional traits. We find that dominance of forest function is even more concentrated in a few species than is dominance of tree abundance, with only ≈1% of Amazon tree species responsible for 50% of carbon storage and productivity. Although those species that contribute most to biomass and productivity are often abundant, species maximum size is also influential, while the identity and ranking of dominant species varies by function and by region., The Amazon rainforest is dominated by relatively few tree species, yet the degree to which this hyperdominance influences carbon cycling remains unknown. Here, the authors analyse 530 forest plots and show that ∼1% of species are responsible for 50% of the aboveground carbon storage and productivity.

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher's alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e. at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000-25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500-6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa., 0, SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

The influence of environmental conditions and distance to nearest conspecific adult was determined to explain the distribution of saplings of six tree species in a lowland rain forest of French Guiana. The six focal species were three anemochorous light-demanding non-pioneer species: Dicorynia guianensis , Qualea rosea , Tachigali melinonii , and three zoochorous shade-tolerant species: Bocoa prouacensis , Oxandra asbeckii , Pogonophora schomburgkiana . The study was conducted at the research station of Paracou on forest plots differing in past logging treatments. The description of local environment included a characterization of past disturbance intensity ( N = 5 variables), current stand ( N = 4) and canopy structure ( N = 3). Zero Inflated Poisson models were calibrated for each species to explain sapling numbers according to environmental conditions and distance to the nearest conspecific adult. These models extend generalized multiple regression to the case of discrete data with many zero counts. Model predictions were consistent with species temperaments: as expected, saplings of the light-demanding species were found more in disturbed and open local conditions while more saplings of the shade-tolerant species survived in stable and dense places. Predicted establishment curves of saplings around adults showed contrasting behavior among the species and did not systematically match with a priori expectations. These results are discussed in relation with dispersal syndromes and known establishment patterns in forest regeneration. Both differences in species shade-tolerance in early regeneration stages and dispersal limitation proved to account for sapling distribution in the understorey.

Divers modèles sur la relation entre la surface d'une zone et le nombre d'espèces qui s'y trouvent ont été proposés. La plupart ignorent la répartition spatiale des espèces ou supposent qu'elles sont réparties au hasard. Dans le cadre de la théorie des processus ponctuels, un nouveau modèle est proposé, qui peut tenir compte de n'importe quel type de répartition spatiale (aléatoire, régulière ou agrégée). Ce modèle suppose seulement que les répartitions spatiales sont homogènes. La répartition spatiale s'avère influencer la courbe aire-espèces autant que la distribution des abondances des espèces. Les positions cartographiées des arbres et arbustes dans une savane semi-aride du Mali illustrent l'approche théorique, et une estimation du nombre total d'espèces dans cette savane est donnée. Le nombre observé reste cohérent avec le nombre prédit, tant que la surface inventoriée est homogène.

Within tree communities, the differential use of soil N mineral resources, a key factor in ecosystem functioning, may reflect functional complementarity, a major mechanism that could explain species coexistence in tropical rainforests. Eperua falcata and Dicorynia guianensis, two abundant species cooccurring in rainforests of French Guiana, were chosen as representative of two functional groups with complementary N uptake strategies (contrasting leaf δ15N signatures related to the δ15N of their soil N source, NO3- or NH4+). The objectives were to investigate if these strategies occurred under contrasted soil N resources in sites with distinct geological substrates representative of the coastal rainforests. Results showed that species displayed contrasting leaf δ15N signatures on both substrates, confirming their complementary N uptake strategy. Consequently, their leaf 15N can be used to trace the presence of inorganic N-forms in soils (NH4+ and NO3-) and thus to indicate the capacity of soils to provide each of these two N sources to the plant community.

Analyses of tree diversity and community composition in tropical rain forests are usually based either on general herbarium data or on a restricted number of botanical plots. Despite their high taxonomic accuracy, both types of data are difficult to extrapolate to landscape scales. Meanwhile, forestry surveys provide quantitative occurrence data on large areas, and are thus increasingly used for landscape-scale analyses of tree diversity. However, the reliability of these approaches has been challenged because of the ambiguity of the common (vernacular) names used by foresters and the complexity of tree taxonomy in those hyper-diverse communities. We developed and tested a novel approach to evaluate taxonomic reliability of forestry surveys and to propagate the resulting uncertainty in the estimates of several diversity indicators (alpha and beta entropy, Fisher-alpha and Sørensen similarity). Our approach is based on Monte-Carlo processes that simulate communities by taking into account the expected accuracy and reliability of common names. We tested this method in French Guiana, on 9 one-hectare plots (4279 trees – DBH ⩾ 10 cm) for which both common names and standardized taxonomic determinations were available. We then applied our method of community simulation on large forestry inventories (560 ha) at the landscape scale and compared the diversity indices obtained for 10 sites with those computed from precise botanical determination situated at the same localities. We found that taxonomic reliability of forestry inventories varied from 22% (species level) to 83% (family level) in this Amazonian region. Indices computed directly with raw forestry data resulted in incorrect values, except for Gini–Simpson beta-diversity. On the contrary, our correction method provides more accurate diversity estimates, highly correlated with botanical measurements, for almost all diversity indices at both regional and local scales. We obtained a robust ranking of sites consistent with those shown by botanical inventories. These results show that (i) forestry inventories represent a significant part of taxonomic information, (ii) the relative diversity of regional sites can be successfully ranked using forestry inventory data using our method and (iii) forestry inventories can valuably contribute to the detection of large-scale diversity patterns when biases are well-controlled and corrected. The tools we developed as R-functions are available in supplementary material and can be adapted with local parameters to be used for forest management and conservation issues in other regional contexts.