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Dejean, A., Moreau, C. S., Uzac, P., Le Breton, J., & Kenne, M. (2007). The predatory behavior of Pheidole megacephala. C. R. Biol., 330(9), 701–709.
Abstract: We studied the foraging and predatory behaviors of the invasive African myrmicine ant, Pheidole megacephala (F.) in its native range. Workers can singly capture a wide range of insects, including relatively large prey items. For still larger prey, they recruit at short range those nestmates situated within reach of an alarm pheromone and together spread-eagle the insect. These behaviors are complimented by a long-range recruitment (of nestmates remaining in the nest) based on prey size. P. megacephala scouts also use long-range recruitment when they detect the landmarks of termites and competing ant species, thus permitting them to avoid confronting these termites and ants solitarily.
Keywords: Invasive ants; Landmarks; Pheidole megacephala; Predatory behavior; Recruitment; pheromone; ant; behavioral ecology; foraging behavior; invasive species; nest predation; pheromone; predator-prey interaction; animal experiment; ant; article; competitor species; controlled study; foraging behavior; host range; Isoptera; nest predation; nonhuman; predation; predator prey interaction; prey selection; species invasion; worker (insect); Animals; Ants; Feeding Behavior; Female; Isoptera; Predatory Behavior; Social Behavior; Formicidae; Hexapoda; Isoptera; Pheidole megacephala
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Bremaud, I., Cabrolier, P., Gril, J., Clair, B., Gerard, J., Minato, K., et al. (2010). Identification of anisotropic vibrational properties of Padauk wood with interlocked grain (vol 44, pg 335, 2010). Wood Sci. Technol., 44(4), 705. |
Bremaud, I., Minato, K., Langbour, P., & Thibaut, B. (2010). Physico-chemical indicators of inter-specific variability in vibration damping of wood. Ann. For. Sci., 67(7), 707.
Abstract: The vibration damping coefficient (tan delta) of wood is an important property for acoustical uses, including musical instruments. Current difficulties in the availability of some of the preferred species call for diversification, but this comes up against the lack of systematic damping coefficient data. Keeping in mind the possible factors affecting tans, could we predict its variations between species, by using indicators that are either easily measured and/or readily available for many species? Vibrational properties, equilibrium moisture content and colorimetric parameters were assessed on 94 wood types belonging to 76 species. Experimental results were then related to data on chemical contents and physical properties from the CIRAD database. The “standard” relationship between tan delta and specific modulus of elasticity (E'/rho) explained only half of the variations. Deviations from this trend were correlated to extractives content, yet effects were not directly quantitative. Damping deviations were also correlated to colour and moisture-related properties, especially so with fibre saturation point. By taking into account a combination of moisture-related properties, colour – or extractives content, and the “standard” relationship between tans and E'/rho, we could propose simple predictive models which explain up to 89% of observed variations in tan delta between 48 species.
Keywords: damping coefficient; diversity of woods; extractives; physical properties; vibrational properties
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Scotti-Saintagne, C., Dick, C. W., Caron, H., Vendramin, G. G., Troispoux, V., Sire, P., et al. (2013). Amazon diversification and cross-Andean dispersal of the widespread Neotropical tree species Jacaranda copaia (Bignoniaceae). Journal of Biogeography, 40(4), 707–719.
Abstract: Aim: The phylogeographical history of Neotropical species can be difficult to reconstruct because of superimposed Neogene and Quaternary histories, and because of taxonomic uncertainty. We analysed range-wide genetic diversity in a widespread pioneer tree species, Jacaranda copaia (Aubl.) D. Don, to characterize phylogeographical structure, date the evolutionary relationships among lineages, and evaluate the role of dispersal and vicariance in establishing the present geographical range. Location: Guiana Shield; central, southern and western Amazon Basin; Chocó region; Central America. Methods: We analysed nine nuclear simple sequence repeat loci (nuSSR), eight chloroplast SSRs (cpSSR), and two cpDNA intergenic sequences in 341 adult trees. Genetic differentiation at nuSSRs was inferred using Bayesian clustering. Dating of chloroplast lineage divergence was obtained using a range of published mutation rates and Bayesian coalescence analyses. Population divergence dating was performed using an isolation-with-migration model for eight loci (one cp sequence and seven nuSSRs). Results: Nuclear SSR variation identified three geographically overlapping clusters (nu-1, nu-2, nu-3). Twelve cpDNA haplotypes were clustered into two haplogroups (cp-1, cp-2) with the central Amazon harbouring the highest diversity. Molecular dating analysis suggests that cpDNA haplotype diversification started around the end of the Pliocene (2.61 Ma on average), whereas population divergence was more recent and occurred during the mid-Quaternary (point estimates between 357 and 436 ka). Main conclusions: The genetic variation of J. copaia in the Neotropics was shaped mainly by Pleistocene events. Chloroplast diversity did not display the expected cis/trans Andean disjunction, indicating recent dispersal. Nuclear variation revealed that separate regions share a recent history, with a centre of diversity in the central Amazon Basin. The geographical pattern of diversity is congruent with the distribution of the two subspecies, J. copaia copaia and J. copaia spectabilis, and evidence of nuSSR admixture between the two taxa supports their classification as subspecies. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Keywords: Amazonia; Bignoniaceae; Centre of diversity; Dispersal; Historical biogeography; Neotropics; Phylogeography; Pleistocene; Tropical forest; Vicariance
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Staudt, K., Serafimovich, A., Siebicke, L., Pyles, R. D., & Falge, E. (2011). Vertical structure of evapotranspiration at a forest site (a case study). Agric. For. Meterol., 151(6), 709–729.
Abstract: The components of ecosystem evapotranspiration of a Norway spruce forest (Picea abies L.) as well as the vertical structure of canopy evapotranspiration were analyzed with a combination of measurements and models for a case study of 5 days in September 2007. Eddy-covariance and sap flux measurements were performed at several heights within the canopy at the FLUXNET site Waldstein-Weidenbrunnen (DE-Bay) in the Fichtelgebirge mountains in Germany. Within and above canopy fluxes were simulated with two stand-scale models, the 1D multilayer model ACASA that includes a third-order turbulence closure and the 3D model STANDFLUX. The soil and understory evapotranspiration captured with the eddy-covariance system in the trunk space constituted 10% of ecosystem evapotranspiration measured with the eddy-covariance system above the canopy. A comparison of transpiration measured with the sap flux technique and inferred from below and above canopy eddy-covariance systems revealed higher estimates from eddy-covariance measurements than for sap flux measurements. The relative influences of possible sources of this mismatch, such as the assumption of negligible contribution of evaporation from intercepted water, and differences between the eddy-covariance flux footprint and the area used for scaling sap flux measurements, were discussed. Ecosystem evapotranspiration as well as canopy transpiration simulated with the two models captured the dynamics of the measurements well, but slightly underestimated eddy-covariance values. Profile measurements and models also gave us the chance to assess in-canopy profiles of canopy evapotranspiration and the contributions of in-canopy layers. For daytime and a coupled or partly coupled canopy, mean simulated profiles of both models agreed well with eddy-covariance measurements, with a similar performance of the ACASA and the STANDFLUX model. Both models underestimated profiles for nighttime and decoupled conditions. During daytime, the upper half of the canopy contributed approximately 80% to canopy evapotranspiration, whereas during nighttime the contribution shifted to lower parts of the canopy. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
Keywords: Eddy-covariance; Evapotranspiration; In-canopy profiles; Model; Picea abies L.; Sap flux; coniferous forest; ecosystem modeling; eddy covariance; evapotranspiration; forest canopy; sap flow; Fichtelgebirge; Germany; Picea abies
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Lecante, A., Robert, F., Blandinieres, P. A., & Roos, C. (2011). Anti-corrosive properties of S. tinctoria and G. ouregou alkaloid extracts on low carbon steel. Curr. Appl. Phys., 11(3), 714–724.
Abstract: The effect of alkaloid extracts from two Amazonian trees (Guatteria ouregou and Simira tinctoria) on low carbon steel corrosion was investigated in acidic solutions by using electrochemical techniques. All of these plant extracts inhibit the corrosion of low carbon steel in 0.1 M HCl solutions. As their concentration increases to 250 mg/L, the inhibition efficiencies of S. tinctoria and G. ouregou alkaloid extracts reach approximately 92% in 0.1 M HCl solutions. The adsorption of the inhibitor molecules was in accordance with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The results obtained show that these plant extracts could be serve as an effective inhibitor for the corrosion of low carbon steel in hydrochloric acid media. Furthermore, harmane was identified as the main component of S. tinctoria extract and that suggests that it is the active ingredient against corrosion of low carbon steel. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Low carbon steel; Acidic media; Corrosion inhibitor; Plant extract; EIS
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Paine, C. E. T., Baraloto, C., Chave, J., & Herault, B. (2011). Functional traits of individual trees reveal ecological constraints on community assembly in tropical rain forests. Oikos, 120(5), 720–727.
Abstract: Niche differentiation and ecological filtering are primary ecological processes that shape community assembly, but their relative importance remains poorly understood. Analyses of the distributions of functional traits can provide insight into the community structure generated by these processes. We predicted the trait distributions expected under the ecological processes of niche differentiation and environmental filtering, then tested these predictions with a dataset of 4672 trees located in nine 1-ha plots of tropical rain forest in French Guiana. Five traits related to leaf function (foliar N concentration, chlorophyll content, toughness, tissue density and specific leaf area), and three traits related to stem function (trunk sapwood density, branch sapwood density, and trunk bark thickness), as well as laminar surface area, were measured on every individual tree. There was far more evidence for environmental filtering than for niche differentiation in these forests. Furthermore, we contrasted results from species-mean and individual-level trait values. Analyses that took within-species trait variation into account were far more sensitive indicators of niche differentiation and ecological filtering. Species-mean analyses, by contrast, may underestimate the effects of ecological processes on community assembly. Environmental filtering appeared somewhat more intense on leaf traits than on stem traits, whereas niche differentiation affected neither strongly. By accounting for within-species trait variation, we were able to more properly consider the ecological interactions among individual trees and between individual trees and their environment. In so doing, our results suggest that the ecological processes of niche differentiation and environmental filtering may be more pervasive than previously believed.
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Foucaud, J., Rey, O., Robert, S., Crespin, L., Orivel, J., Facon, B., et al. (2013). Thermotolerance adaptation to human-modified habitats occurs in the native range of the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata before long-distance dispersal. Evol. Appl., 6(4), 721–734.
Abstract: Key evolutionary events associated with invasion success are traditionally thought to occur in the introduced, rather than the native range of species. In the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata, however, a shift in reproductive system has been demonstrated within the native range, from the sexual non-dominant populations of natural habitats to the clonal dominant populations of human-modified habitats. Because abiotic conditions of human- modified habitats are hotter and dryer, we performed lab experiments on workers from a set of native and introduced populations, to investigate whether these ecological and genetic transitions were accompanied by a change in thermotolerance and whether such changes occurred before establishment in the introduced range. Thermotolerance levels were higher in native populations from human-modified habitats than in native populations from natural habitats, but were similar in native and introduced populations from human-modified habitats. Differences in thermotolerance could not be accounted for by differences in body size. A scenario based on local adaptation in the native range before introduction in remote areas represents the most parsimonious hypothesis to account for the observed phenotypic pattern. These findings highlight the importance of human land use in explaining major contemporary evolutionary changes. © 2013 The Authors.
Keywords: Adaptation; Heat shock; Invasive species; Natural selection and contemporary evolution; Thermotolerance
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Lefèvre, F., Boivin, T., Bontemps, A., Courbet, F., Davi, H., Durand-Gillmann, M., et al. (2013). Considering evolutionary processes in adaptive forestry. Ann For Sci, 71(7), 723–739.
Abstract: Context: Managing forests under climate change requires adaptation. The adaptive capacity of forest tree populations is huge but not limitless. Integrating evolutionary considerations into adaptive forestry practice will enhance the capacity of managed forests to respond to climate-driven changes.
Aims: Focusing on natural regeneration systems, we propose a general framework that can be used in various and complex local situations by forest managers, in combination with their own expertise, to integrate evolutionary considerations into decision making for the emergence of an evolution-oriented forestry. Methods: We develop a simple process-based analytical grid, using few processes and parameters, to analyse the impact of forestry practice on the evolution and evolvability of tree populations. Results: We review qualitative and, whenever possible, quantitative expectations on the intensity of evolutionary drivers in forest trees. Then, we review the effects of actual and potential forestry practice on the evolutionary processes. We illustrate the complexity of interactions in two study cases: the evolutionary consequences for forest trees of biotic interactions and of highly heterogeneous environment. Conclusion: Evolution-oriented forestry may contribute adapting forests to climate change. It requires combining short-term and long-term objectives. We propose future lines of research and experimentation. Keywords: Adaptation; Climate change; Evolution-oriented forest management; Genetic resources; Silviculture
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Dutech, C., Seiter, J., Petronelli, P., Joly, H. I., & Jarne, P. (2002). Evidence of low gene flow in a neotropical clustered tree species in two rainforest stands of French Guiana. Mol. Ecol., 11(4), 725–738.
Abstract: The spatial genetic structure of the neotropical, clustered tree species Vouacapoua americana (Aublet) was studied in two natural forest stands (Paracou and Nouragues) in French Guiana. Using eight microsatellite loci, V. americana is characterized by a marked genetic structure at small spatial distances (under 30-60 m), in agreement with the limited seed dispersal by rodent species. Gene flow through pollen is also shown to be mainly restricted to less than 100 m. This result suggests that most pollination events (mediated through small insects) are probably limited to within-patches of individuals, which might explain the high genetic differentiation among patches (F-ST = 0.11) separated by less than 2 km. We also assume that stronger genetic structure in Paracou is likely to be due to lower seed dispersal by rodents, large spatial distances separating patches, or a recent recolonization event.
Keywords: Caesalpiniaceae; gene flow; recolonization process; spatial genetic structure; tropical rainforest; Vouacapoua americana
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