Abstract: Premise of the study : Wood density correlates with mechanical and physiological strategies of trees and is important for estimating global carbon stocks. Nonetheless, the relationship between branch and trunk xylem density has been poorly explored in neotropical trees. Here, we examine this relationship in trees from French Guiana and its variation among different families and sites, to improve the understanding of wood density in neotropical forests. Methods : Trunk and branch xylem densities were measured for 1909 trees in seven sites across French Guiana. A major-axis fit was performed to explore their general allometric relationship and its variation among different families and sites. Key results : Trunk xylem and branch xylem densities were significantly positively correlated, and their relationship explained 47% of the total variance. Trunk xylem was on average 9% denser than branch xylem. Family-level differences and interactions between family and site accounted for more than 40% of the total variance, whereas differences among sites explained little variation. Conclusions : Variation in xylem density within individual trees can be substantial, and the relationship between branch xylem and trunk xylem densities varies considerably among families and sites. As such, whole-tree biomass estimates based on non-destructive branch sampling should correct for both taxonomic and environmental factors. Furthermore, detailed estimates of the vertical distribution of wood density within individual trees are needed to determine the extent to which relying solely upon measures of trunk wood density may cause carbon stocks in tropical forests to be overestimated.

Abstract: 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 (<0.5%) may be an efficient way to increase the global coverage of AGB maps with acceptable accuracy at kilometric resolution. Copyright: © 2015 Guitet et al.

Abstract: Pollination in the genus Arum appears to be in general a complex deceptive pollination process. The genus Arum is composed of 28 species, all belonging to the subgenus Arum, except A. pictum, the only species of the subgenus Gymnomesium, which is basal and sister to all other Arum species. The aim of this paper is to document the pollination ecology of the insular Arum pictum, the only Arum species to flower in autumn, on the island of Corsica (France). The anthesis cycle of A. pictum occurs during the day, attracting sphaerocerid flies and staphylinid beetles early in the morning and late in the afternoon of the first day. The pollen is released from the anthers early in the morning of the second day before the departure of the insects. Its thermogenic cycle matches the anthesis cycle with an original and unique, bimodal temperature pattern of the appendix (morning and afternoon), contrary to the unimodal pattern found in all other studied Arum species. Data from reproductive success and seed sets suggest that sexual reproduction in this species is limited by pollen (e.g. attracting lured insects) rather than by resources. The biology of this Western Mediterranean species appears to be different from other Western European Arum and close to some Eastern Mediterranean species. Further studies are needed to establish whether Arum pictum represents some ancestral stage or whether its peculiar biological traits are adapted to its insular distribution.

Abstract: Plastic pollution in the marine environment poses threats to wildlife and habitats through varied mechanisms, among which are the transport and transfer to the food web of hazardous substances. Still, very little is known about the metal content of plastic debris and about sorption/desorption processes, especially with respect to weathering. In this study, plastic debris collected from the North Atlantic subtropical gyre was analyzed for trace metals; as a comparison, new packaging materials were also analyzed. Both the new items and plastic debris showed very scattered concentrations. The new items contained significant amounts of trace metals introduced as additives, but globally, metal concentrations were higher in the plastic debris. The results provide evidence that enhanced metal concentrations increase with the plastic state of oxidation for some elements, such as As, Ti, Ni, and Cd. Transmission electron microscopy showed the presence of mineral particles on the surface of the plastic debris. This work demonstrates that marine plastic debris carries complex mixtures of heavy metals. Such materials not only behave as a source of metals resulting from intrinsic plastic additives but also are able to concentrate metals from ocean water as mineral nanoparticles or adsorbed species. Plastic debris collected from the North Atlantic subtropical gyre was analyzed for trace metals. Marine plastic debris carry complex mixtures of heavy metals but it is evidence that plastic oxidation favors their adsorption.

Abstract: Plant transpiration links physiological responses of vegetation to water supply and demand with hydrological, energy, and carbon budgets at the land–atmosphere interface. However, despite being the main land evaporative flux at the global scale, transpiration and its response to environmental drivers are currently not well constrained by observations. Here we introduce the first global compilation of whole-plant transpiration data from sap flow measurements (SAPFLUXNET, https://sapfluxnet.creaf.cat/, last access: 8 June 2021). We harmonized and quality-controlled individual datasets supplied by contributors worldwide in a semi-automatic data workflow implemented in the R programming language. Datasets include sub-daily time series of sap flow and hydrometeorological drivers for one or more growing seasons, as well as metadata on the stand characteristics, plant attributes, and technical details of the measurements. SAPFLUXNET contains 202 globally distributed datasets with sap flow time series for 2714 plants, mostly trees, of 174 species. SAPFLUXNET has a broad bioclimatic coverage, with woodland/shrubland and temperate forest biomes especially well represented (80 % of the datasets). The measurements cover a wide variety of stand structural characteristics and plant sizes. The datasets encompass the period between 1995 and 2018, with 50 % of the datasets being at least 3 years long. Accompanying radiation and vapour pressure deficit data are available for most of the datasets, while on-site soil water content is available for 56 % of the datasets. Many datasets contain data for species that make up 90 % or more of the total stand basal area, allowing the estimation of stand transpiration in diverse ecological settings. SAPFLUXNET adds to existing plant trait datasets, ecosystem flux networks, and remote sensing products to help increase our understanding of plant water use, plant responses to drought, and ecohydrological processes. SAPFLUXNET version 0.1.5 is freely available from the Zenodo repository (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3971689; Poyatos et al., 2020a). The “sapfluxnetr” R package – designed to access, visualize, and process SAPFLUXNET data – is available from CRAN.