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Fournier, M., Dlouhá, J., Jaouen, G., & Almeras, T. (2013). Integrative biomechanics for tree ecology: Beyond wood density and strength. J. Exp. Bot., 64(15), 4793–4815.
Abstract: Functional ecology has long considered the support function as important, but its biomechanical complexity is only just being elucidated. We show here that it can be described on the basis of four biomechanical traits, two safety traits against winds and self-buckling, and two motricity traits involved in sustaining an upright position, tropic motion velocity (MV) and posture control (PC). All these traits are integrated at the tree scale, combining tree size and shape together with wood properties. The assumption of trait constancy has been used to derive allometric scaling laws, but it was more recently found that observing their variations among environments and functional groups, or during ontogeny, provides more insights into adaptive syndromes of tree shape and wood properties. However, oversimpli-fed expressions have often been used, possibly concealing key adaptive drivers. An extreme case of oversimplification is the use of wood basic density as a proxy for safety. Actually, as wood density is involved in stiffiness, loads, and construction costs, the impact of its variations on safety is non-trivial. Moreover, other wood features, especially the microfibril angle (MFA), are also involved. Furthermore, wood is not only stiff and strong, but it also acts as a motor for MV and PC. The relevant wood trait for this is maturation strain asymmetry. Maturation strains vary with cell-wall characteristics such as MFA, rather than with wood density. Finally, the need for further studies about the ecological relevance of branching patterns, motricity traits, and growth responses to mechanical loads is discussed. © The Author 2013.
Keywords: Biomechanics; Ecological strategy; Gravitropism; Shape; Size; Trees; Wood
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Fox Ramos, A. E., Alcover, C., Evanno, L., Maciuk, A., Litaudon, M., Duplais, C., et al. (2017). Revisiting Previously Investigated Plants: A Molecular Networking-Based Study of Geissospermum laeve. Journal of Natural Products, 80(4), 1007–1014.
Abstract: Three new monoterpene indole alkaloids (1-3) have been isolated from the bark of Geissospermum laeve, together with the known alkaloids (−)-leuconolam (4), geissolosimine (5), and geissospermine (6). The structures of 1-3 were elucidated by analysis of their HRMS and NMR spectroscopic data. The absolute configuration of geissolaevine (1) was deduced from the comparison of experimental and theoretically calculated ECD spectra. The isolation workflow was guided by a molecular networking-based dereplication strategy using an in-house database of monoterpene indole alkaloids. In addition, five known compounds previously undescribed in the Geissospermum genus were dereplicated from the G. laeve alkaloid extract network and were assigned with various levels of identification confidence. The antiparasitic activities against Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania donovani as well as the cytotoxic activity against the MRC-5 cell line were determined for compounds 1-5. © 2017 The American Chemical Society and American Society of Pharmacognosy.
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Franco, W., Ladino, N., Delabie, J. H. C., Dejean, A., Orivel, J., Fichaux, M., et al. (2019). First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana. Zootaxa, 4674(5), 509–543.
Abstract: We provide here a checklist of the ants of French Guiana, an overseas department of France situated in northern South America, with a very low human population density and predominantly covered by old-growth tropical rainforests. Based on 165 scientific papers, specimens deposited in collections, and unpublished surveys, a total of 659 valid species and subspecies from 84 genera and 12 subfamilies is presented. Although far from complete, these numbers represent approximately 10% of the ant diversity known to occur in the Neotropical realm. Additionally, three ant genera and 119 species are reported for the first time for French Guiana. Finally, five species are recognized as erroneous records for the the department in the literature. This checklist significantly expands the basic knowledge of the ants in the Guiana Shield, one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots.
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Franklin, J., Andrade, R., Daniels, M. L., Fairbairn, P., Fandino, M. C., Gillespie, T. W., et al. (2018). Geographical ecology of dry forest tree communities in the West Indies. J Biogeogr, 45(5), 1168–1181.
Abstract: Abstract Aim Seasonally dry tropical forest (SDTF) of the Caribbean Islands (primarily West Indies) is floristically distinct from Neotropical SDTF in Central and South America. We evaluate whether tree species composition was associated with climatic gradients or geographical distance. Turnover (dissimilarity) in species composition of different islands or among more distant sites would suggest communities structured by speciation and dispersal limitations. A nested pattern would be consistent with a steep resource gradient. Correlation of species composition with climatic variation would suggest communities structured by broad-scale environmental filtering. Location The West Indies (The Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia), Providencia (Colombia), south Florida (USA) and Florida Keys (USA). Taxon Seed plants?woody taxa (primarily trees). Methods We compiled 572 plots from 23 surveys conducted between 1969 and 2016. Hierarchical clustering of species in plots, and indicator species analysis for the resulting groups of sites, identified geographical patterns of turnover in species composition. Nonparametric analysis of variance, applied to principal components of bioclimatic variables, determined the degree of covariation in climate with location. Nestedness versus turnover in species composition was evaluated using beta diversity partitioning. Generalized dissimilarity modelling partitioned the effect of climate versus geographical distance on species composition. Results Despite a set of commonly occurring species, SDTF tree community composition was distinct among islands and was characterized by spatial turnover on climatic gradients that covaried with geographical gradients. Greater Antillean islands were characterized by endemic indicator species. Northern subtropical areas supported distinct, rather than nested, SDTF communities in spite of low levels of endemism. Main conclusions The SDTF species composition was correlated with climatic variation. SDTF on large Greater Antillean islands (Hispaniola, Jamaica and Cuba) was characterized by endemic species, consistent with their geological history and the biogeography of plant lineages. These results suggest that both environmental filtering and speciation shape Caribbean SDTF tree communities.
Keywords: beta diversity; Caribbean; community composition; seasonally dry tropical forest; species turnover; tropical dry forest; West Indies
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Freycon, V., Krencker, M., Schwartz, D., Nasi, R., & Bonal, D. (2010). The impact of climate changes during the Holocene on vegetation in northern French Guiana. Quat. Res., 73(2), 220–225.
Abstract: The impact of climatic changes that occurred during the last glacial maximum and the Holocene on vegetation changes in the Amazon Basin and the Guiana Shield are still widely debated. The aim of our study was to investigate whether major changes in vegetation (i.e. transitions between rainforests and C-4 savannas) occurred in northern French Guiana during the Holocene. We measured variations in the delta C-13 of soil organic matter at eight sites now occupied by forest or savannah. The forest sites were selected to cover two regions (forest refugia and peneplains) which are thought to have experienced different intensities of disturbance during the latest Pleistocene and the Holocene. We found that none of the forest sites underwent major disturbances during the Holocene, i.e. they were not replaced by C-4 savannahs or C-4 forest savannahs for long periods. Our results thus suggest that tropical rainforests in northern French Guiana were resilient to drier climatic conditions during the Holocene. Nevertheless, geographical and vertical variations in the C-13 of SOM were compatible with minor changes in vegetation, variations in soil processes or in soil physical properties. (C) 2009 University of Washington. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Holocene; Vegetation change; French Guiana; Carbon isotope composition; Soil organic matter
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Fromin, N., Porte, B., Lensi, R., Hamelin, J., Domenach, A. - M., Buatois, B., et al. (2012). Spatial variability of the functional stability of microbial respiration process: A microcosm study using tropical forest soil. J. Soils Sed., 12(7), 1030–1039.
Abstract: Purpose: Understanding the ability of ecosystem processes to resist to and to recover from disturbances is critical to sustainable land use. However, the spatial variability of the stability has rarely been addressed. Here, we investigated the functional stability of a soil microbial process for 24 soils collected from adjacent locations from a 0. 3 ha tropical rainforest plot in Paracou, French Guiana. Materials and methods: The 24 locations were characterized regarding soil chemical and biological (microbial diversity) parameters and forest structure. The corresponding soils were submitted to an experimental transient heat disturbance during a microcosm experiment. The response of the respiration process was followed using substrate-induced respiration (SIR). Results and discussion: The response of soil SIR to heat disturbance varied widely between samples. The variability of the SIR response increased just after the disturbance, and a global rather homogeneous decrease in SIR rates was observed 15 and 30 days after. The stability of SIR in response to heat disturbance could not be related to either the genetic or the metabolic diversity of the microbial community. The initial level of SIR before the disturbance was the soil variable that best correlated with the impact of the disturbance: the soil locations with the highest initial SIR rates were the most affected 15 and 30 days after the heat disturbance. Conclusions: Such a heterogeneous response suggests that the response of soil processes to a disturbance will be difficult to assess from only local-scale analyses and highlights the need for spatial explicitness in understanding biogeochemical processes. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.
Keywords: Disturbance; Diversity-stability relationship; Microbial diversity; Substrate-induced respiration
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Fromin, N., Saby, N. P. A., Lensi, R., Brunet, D., Porte, B., Domenach, A. - M., et al. (2013). Spatial variability of soil microbial functioning in a tropical rainforest of French Guiana using nested sampling. Geoderma, 197-198, 98–107.
Abstract: Understanding the pattern in spatial distribution of soil microbial processes is critical to understand the environmental factors that regulate them as well as to scale up these processes to ecosystem. Soil samples from a 1. ha tropical rainforest plot (Paracou, French Guiana) were analyzed according a nested sampling approach using different separation distances ranging from 0.4 to 40. m. The variability of substrate induced respiration (SIR) and of denitrification enzyme activity (DEA) was characterized in relation to various soil properties (total C and N contents, NIRS related index of soil organic matter quality, SOMQ, and index of tree influence potential, IP). The variability of SIR and DEA was higher than that of environmental properties. The patterns of accumulated variance as a function of distance varied among the soil properties. The variability of SIR and DEA mainly occurred at small (1. m) scale (and at the 10-40. m-scales for SIR), probably reflecting the quality of litter input that results of the influence of local assemblage of different tree species, though changes in the soil N and C contents. Indeed, total soil C and N contents explained the microbial properties at every scale. Coefficients of codispersion showed that neither SOMQ nor IP did correlate with SIR and DEA, and confirmed that total C and N contents explained microbial properties in a scale dependent and complex manner. Such spatial dependency underlines the importance of soil heterogeneity in this tropical forest with implications for sampling strategies when studying the microbial processes and their response to disturbances. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
Keywords: Denitrification; Respiration; Scale dependent process; Soil microbial processes; Soil organic matter; Tree influence potential
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Fu, T., Houel, E., Amusant, N., Touboul, D., Genta-Jouve, G., Della-Negra, S., et al. (2019). Biosynthetic investigation of γ-lactones in Sextonia rubra wood using in situ TOF-SIMS MS/MS imaging to localize and characterize biosynthetic intermediates. Sci. Rep., 9, 1928.
Abstract: Molecular analysis by parallel tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) imaging contributes to the in situ characterization of biosynthetic intermediates which is crucial for deciphering the metabolic pathways in living organisms. We report the first use of TOF-SIMS MS/MS imaging for the cellular localization and characterization of biosynthetic intermediates of bioactive γ-lactones rubrynolide and rubrenolide in the Amazonian tree Sextonia rubra (Lauraceae). Five γ-lactones, including previously reported rubrynolide and rubrenolide, were isolated using a conventional approach and their structural characterization and localization at a lateral resolution of ~400 nm was later achieved using TOF-SIMS MS/MS imaging analysis. 2D/3D MS imaging at subcellular level reveals that putative biosynthetic γ-lactones intermediates are localized in the same cell types (ray parenchyma cells and oil cells) as rubrynolide and rubrenolide. Consequently, a revised metabolic pathway of rubrynolide was proposed, which involves the reaction between 2-hydroxysuccinic acid and 3-oxotetradecanoic acid, contrary to previous studies suggesting a single polyketide precursor. Our results provide insights into plant metabolite production in wood tissues and, overall, demonstrate that combining high spatial resolution TOF-SIMS imaging and MS/MS structural characterization offers new opportunities for studying molecular and cellular biochemistry in plants. © 2019, The Author(s).
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Fu, T., Touboul, D., Della-Negra, S., Houel, E., Amusant, N., Duplais, C., et al. (2018). Tandem Mass Spectrometry Imaging and in Situ Characterization of Bioactive Wood Metabolites in Amazonian Tree Species Sextonia rubra. Anal. Chem., 90(12), 7535–7543.
Abstract: Driven by a necessity for confident molecular identification at high spatial resolution, a new time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) tandem mass spectrometry (tandem MS) imaging instrument has been recently developed. In this paper, the superior MS/MS spectrometry and imaging capability of this new tool is shown for natural product study. For the first time, via in situ analysis of the bioactive metabolites rubrynolide and rubrenolide in Amazonian tree species Sextonia rubra (Lauraceae), we were able both to analyze and to image by tandem MS the molecular products of natural biosynthesis. Despite the low abundance of the metabolites in the wood sample(s), efficient MS/MS analysis of these γ-lactone compounds was achieved, providing high confidence in the identification and localization. In addition, tandem MS imaging minimized the mass interferences and revealed specific localization of these metabolites primarily in the ray parenchyma cells but also in certain oil cells and, further, revealed the presence of previously unidentified γ-lactone, paving the way for future studies in biosynthesis.
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Fu, Z., Gerken, T., Bromley, G., Araújo, A., Bonal, D., Burban, B., et al. (2018). The surface-atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide in tropical rainforests: Sensitivity to environmental drivers and flux measurement methodology. Agric. For. Meterol., 263, 292–307.
Abstract: Tropical rainforests play a central role in the Earth system by regulating climate, maintaining biodiversity, and sequestering carbon. They are under threat by direct anthropogenic impacts like deforestation and the indirect anthropogenic impacts of climate change. A synthesis of the factors that determine the net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide (NEE) at the site scale across different forests in the tropical rainforest biome has not been undertaken to date. Here, we study NEE and its components, gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (RE), across thirteen natural and managed forests within the tropical rainforest biome with 63 total site-years of eddy covariance data. Our results reveal that the five ecosystems with the largest annual gross carbon uptake by photosynthesis (i.e. GEP > 3000 g C m−2 y-1) have the lowest net carbon uptake – or even carbon losses – versus other study ecosystems because RE is of a similar magnitude. Sites that provided subcanopy CO2 storage observations had higher average magnitudes of GEP and RE and lower average magnitudes of NEE, highlighting the importance of measurement methodology for understanding carbon dynamics in ecosystems with characteristically tall and dense vegetation. A path analysis revealed that vapor pressure deficit (VPD) played a greater role than soil moisture or air temperature in constraining GEP under light saturated conditions across most study sites, but to differing degrees from -0.31 to -0.87 μmol CO2 m−2 s-1 hPa-1. Climate projections from 13 general circulation models (CMIP5) under the representative concentration pathway that generates 8.5 W m−2 of radiative forcing suggest that many current tropical rainforest sites on the lower end of the current temperature range are likely to reach a climate space similar to present-day warmer sites by the year 2050, warmer sites will reach a climate not currently experienced, and all forests are likely to experience higher VPD. Results demonstrate the need to quantify if and how mature tropical trees acclimate to heat and water stress, and to further develop flux-partitioning and gap-filling algorithms for defensible estimates of carbon exchange in tropical rainforests. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.
Keywords: Climate variability; Ecosystem respiration; Eddy covariance; Gross primary productivity; Net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange; Tropical rainforest; acclimation; air temperature; anthropogenic effect; atmosphere-biosphere interaction; biodiversity; carbon flux; climate change; Cmip; eddy covariance; environmental change; flux measurement; methodology; net ecosystem exchange; net ecosystem production; radiative forcing; rainforest; sensitivity analysis; tropical environment
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