Abstract: 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 d15N signatures related to the d15N 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 d15N 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.

Abstract: Very large colonies of territorially dominant arboreal ants (TDAAs), whose territories are distributed in a mosaic pattern in the canopies of many tropical rainforests and tree crop plantations, have a generally positive impact on their host trees. We studied the canopy of an old Gabonese rainforest (ca 4.25 ha sampled, corresponding to 206 Blarge trees) at a stage just preceding forest maturity (the Caesalpinioideae dominated; the Burseraceae were abundant). The tree crowns sheltered colonies from 13 TDAAs plus a codominant species out of the 25 ant species recorded. By mapping the TDAAs' territories and using a null model cooccurrence analysis, we confirmed the existence of an ant mosaic. Thanks to a large sampling set and the use of the self-organizing map algorithm (SOM), we show that the distribution of the trees influences the structure of the ant mosaic, suggesting that each tree taxon attracts certain TDAA species rather than others. The SOMalso improved our knowledge of the TDAAs' ecological niches, showing that these ant species are ecologically distinct from each other based on their relationships with their supporting trees. Therefore, TDAAs should not systematically be placed in the same functional group even when they belong to the same genus.We conclude by reiterating that, in addition to the role played by TDAAs' territorial competition, host trees contribute to structuring ant mosaics through multiple factors, including host-plant selection by TDAAs, the age of the trees, the presence of extrafloral nectaries, and the taxa of the associated hemipterans. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015.

Abstract: The dbmss package for R provides an easy-to-use toolbox to characterize the spatial structure of point patterns. Our contribution presents the state of the art of distance-based methods employed in economic geography and which are also used in ecology. Topographic functions such as Ripley’s K, absolute functions such as Duranton and Overman’s Kd and relative functions such as Marcon and Puech’s M are implemented. Their confidence envelopes (including global ones) and tests against counterfactuals are included in the package. © 2015, American Statistical Association. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Recent studies have shown that the inner bark is implicated in the postural control of inclined tree stems through the interaction between wood radial growth and tangential expansion of a trellis fiber network in bark. Assessing the taxonomic extent of this mechanism requires a screening of the diversity in bark anatomy and mechanical stress. The mechanical state of bark was measured in 15 tropical tree species from various botanical families on vertical mature trees, and related to the anatomical structure of the bark. Significant tensile or compressive longitudinal stresses were observed in the stems of most species. Tensile longitudinal stress was observed in various botanical families and was always associated with fibers arranged in a trellis-like structure and strong dilatation of rays. The highest tensile stress was recorded in species with gelatinous fibers forming a treillis. Compressive stress was typically associated with a large amount of sclereids in the bark, supporting the differentiation of sclereids as a potential origin of the generation of longitudinal compressive stresses in bark. In species exhibiting both a fibrous trellis structure and a significant amount of sclereids, the sign of longitudinal stress may depend on the balance between these two mechanisms.

Abstract: Cracidae is the most threatened avian family in the Neotropics, mainly because of habitat destruction, heavy hunting pressure and poaching. In French Guiana, Black Curassows are heavily hunted, although basic knowledge of the ecological and demographical traits of the species remains limited. Such a gap prevents any attempt to assess the impact of hunting and to help stakeholders to develop proposals ensuring hunting sustainability. The spatial relationship between animals and their habitat is important for conservation management, being related to population densities through complex patterns. Here, we report on a radio-tracking study of Black Curassows in tropical primary rainforest, in Nouragues National Reserve, French Guiana. The aims of the study were to estimate home range size and its variation across seasons, and to quantify movement patterns of the birds. We captured and fitted VHF tags to four adults, and tracked them for 10 to 21.5 months. Daily movements were recorded, and home ranges estimated using the Kernel Density method, for two consecutive wet seasons and one dry season. Using 95% and 50% Kernel densities, the average annual home range and core area were 96.3± 32.6 ha (SE) and 22.8 ± 2.8 ha respectively. Home ranges appeared spatially stable over the two years, and overlapped between neighbouring groups. During the dry season, Black Curassows did not migrate but tended to enlarge their home range, with greater daily movements and higher home range overlap. Although additional data are still needed, our results can help to improve the knowledge and management of this poorly studied species