Abstract: The strongly fragrant thermogenic inflorescences of Taccarum ulei (Araceae) are highly attractive to nightactive scarab beetles of Cyclocephala celata and C. cearae (Scarabaeidae, Cyclocephalini), which are effective pollinators of plants in the wild in northeastern Brazil. GC-MS analysis of headspace floral scent samples of T. ulei established that two constituents, (S)-2-hydroxy-5- methyl-3-hexanone (an aliphatic acyloin rarely detected in flowers) and dihydro-b-ionone (an irregular terpene) accounted for over 96% of the total scent discharge. Behavioral tests (in both field and cages) showed that male and female C. celata and C. cearae were attracted to traps baited with a synthetic mixture of both compounds; however, they were also responsive to (S)-2-hydroxy-5-methyl-3-hexanone alone, which thus functions as a specific attractive cue. These findings support other recent research in suggesting that angiosperms pollinated by cyclocephaline scarab beetles release floral odors of limited complexity in terms of numbers of compounds, but often dominated by unusual compounds that may ensure attraction of specific pollinator species. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Abstract: Because of the symbiotic nature of endophytes, this survey aims to investigate the probability of discovering antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic activities in leaf endophytic microbes. We isolated 138 cultivable microbes (121 fungi, 3 bacteria and 14 unidentified or unknown microbes) from 24 plant species, a significant relative proportion of which exhibited antifungal and cytotoxic potential against Candida albicans ATCC 10213 and the human cell lines KB (uterine cervical carcinoma), MDA-MB-435 (melanoma), and MRC5 (normal human lung fibroblasts). Three active fungal extracts were fractionated, resulting in the isolation of eight compounds. Seven had been described in the literature including the following: acremonisol A, semicochliodinol A, cochliodinol, griseofulvin, pyrenocin A, novae zelandin A and alterperylenol. A previously unreported compound named pyrrocidine C was isolated from Lewia infectoria SNB-GTC2402 and identified by spectroscopic analysis. As in pyrrocidines A and B, this compound is a cis-substituted decahydrofluorene with a quaternary carbon at C-5 and opposite stereochemistry at C-8 corresponding to C-6 of pyrrocidines A and B.© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Fire-free forest conversion with organic inputs as an alternative to slash-and-burn could improve agro-ecosystem sustainability. We assessed soil carbon mass changes in a sandy-clayey and well-drained soil in French Guiana after forest clearing by the chop-and-mulch method and crop establishment. At the experimental site of Combi, native forest was cut down in October 2008; woody biomass was chopped and incorporated into the top 20cm of soil. After about one year of legume and grass cover, three forms of land management were compared: grassland (Urochloa ruziziensis), maize/soybean crop rotation with disk tillage and in direct seeding without tillage. There were four replicates. We measured 14.16kgm-2 of carbon in 2mm-sieved soil down to 2m depth for the initial forest. Forest clearing did not induce significant soil compaction; neither did any specific agricultural practice. In converted soils, C stocks were measured in the 0-30cm layer after each crop for three years. Carbon mass changes for soil fractions <2mm (soil C stock) and >2mm (soil C pool) in the 0-5, 5-10, 10-20 and 20-30cm soil layers were assessed on an equivalent soil mass basis. One year and 1.5 years after deforestation, higher C stocks (+0.64 to 1.16kgCm-2yr-1) and C pools (+0.52 to 0.90kgCm-2yr-1) were measured in converted soils, compared to those of the forest into the top 30cm of soil. However, the masses of carbon in these converted soils declined later. The highest rates of carbon decrease were measured between 1.5 and 2 years after forest conversion in the <2mm soil fraction, from 0.46kgCm-2yr-1 (in grassland soils) to 0.71kgCm-2yr-1 (in cropland under no tillage). The carbon pool declined during the third year at rates of 0.41kgCm-2yr-1 (cropland under disk tillage) to 0.76kgCm-2yr-1 (grassland soils). Three years after forest conversion, C masses in the top 30cm of soils for grassland showed similar values than for forest. In comparison, the carbon stock in cropped soils managed under no tillage in direct seeding (without mulch) was significantly 17% and 16% lower than in forest and grassland soils, respectively. None of the studied agricultural practices succeeded in accumulating carbon from the chopped forest biomass. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Abstract: The water and nutrient uptake mechanisms used by vascular epiphytes have been the subject of a few studies. While leaf absorbing trichomes (LATs) are the main organ involved in resource uptake by bromeliads, little attention has been paid to the absorbing role of epiphytic bromeliad roots. This study investigates the water and nutrient uptake capacity of LATs vs. roots in two epiphytic tank bromeliads Aechmea aquilega and Lutheria splendens. The tank and/or the roots of bromeliads were watered, or not watered at all, in different treatments. We show that LATs and roots have different functions in resource uptake in the two species, which we mainly attributed to dissimilarities in carbon acquisition and growth traits (e.g., photosynthesis, relative growth rate, non-structural carbohydrates, malate), to water relation traits (e.g., water and osmotic potentials, relative water content, hydrenchyma thickness) and nutrient uptake (e.g., 15 N-labelling). While the roots of A. aquilega did contribute to water and nutrient uptake, the roots of L. splendens were less important than the role played by the LATs in resource uptake. We also provide evidenced for a synergistic effect of combined watering of tank and root in the Bromelioideae species. These results call for a more complex interpretation of LATs vs. roots in resource uptake in bromeliads. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

Abstract: We compared the ant assemblages from four very heterogeneous habitats over a short-distance elevational gradient of vegetation (due to the presence of an inselberg) at the Nouragues Research Station, French Guiana. We focused on litter-dwelling ants, combining the use of pitfall traps and the Winkler method according to the Ants of the Leaf Litter Proto-col. This permitted us to note (1) a high leaf-litter ant diversity overall and a decreasing diversity gradient from the lowland rainforest to the top of the inselberg, and (2) differences in species density, composition and functional struc-ture. While the ant assemblages on the plateau and inselberg can be considered functionally similar and typical of an Amazonian rainforest, that of the transition forest, relatively homogenous, rather corresponded to an ant fauna typical of open areas. By contrast, the liana forest assemblage was unexpectedly richer and denser than the others, sheltering a litter-dwelling ant fauna dominated by numerous and abundant cryptic species. These taxonomical and functional dissi-milarities may reflect the influence of the environmental heterogeneity, which, through variable abiotic conditions, can contribute to maintaining a notably rich ant biodiversity in these Neotropical habitats.