There's no place like home: seedling mortality contributes to the habitat specialisation of tree species across Amazonia

Understanding the mechanisms generating species distributions remains a challenge, especially in hyperdiverse tropical forests. We evaluated the role of rainfall variation, soil gradients and herbivory on seedling mortality, and how variation in seedling performance along these gradients contributes to habitat specialisation. In a 4-year experiment, replicated at the two extremes of the Amazon basin, we reciprocally transplanted 4638 tree seedlings of 41 habitat-specialist species from seven phylogenetic lineages among the three most important forest habitats of lowland Amazonia. Rainfall variation, flooding and soil gradients strongly influenced seedling mortality, whereas herbivory had negligible impact. Seedling mortality varied strongly among habitats, consistent with predictions for habitat specialists in most lineages. This suggests that seedling performance is a primary determinant of the habitat associations of adult trees across Amazonia. It further suggests that tree diversity, currently mostly harboured in terra firme forests, may be strongly impacted by the predicted climate changes in Amazonia

Short- and long-term influence of litter quality and quantity on simulated heterotrophic soil respiration in a lowland tropical forest

Heterotrophic soil respiration (SRH) alone can contribute up to 50% of total ecosystem respiration in tropical forests. Whereas the abiotic controls of SRH have been extensively studied, the influence of plant traits is less well characterised. We used field experiments and a modelling approach to test the relative influence of plant traits on SRH in lowland tropical forest in French Guiana. We measured leaf- and root litter traits for five common tree species and conducted a root decomposition experiment to evaluate the influence of root chemistry on decay rates. We measured SRH in trenched plots and used our field measurements to parameterize and test the Century model of soil C dynamics. Overall, the Century model performed well in simulating SRH, and species-specific root decomposition in Century corresponded well to decomposition rates measured in situ. Root litter characterized by low lignin-to-nitrogen ratios decomposed more rapidly than low-quality root litter during the first 6 months. Model runs over different time scales revealed that litter quality substantially influenced SRH on an annual time-scale by determining the rates of root- and leaf litter decomposition. However, litter mass had an overriding influence on SRH over the longer term in 20-year model runs. Synthesis Using simple plant trait data to parameterise the Century model, we were able to accurately simulate changes in SRH in a lowland tropical forest. Our results suggest that this approach could be used to predict changes in tropical soil C dynamics under global change scenarios by including data on changes in plant productivity and C inputs to the soil (for example litterfall and root turnover)

Seasonal variations in stem CO2 efflux in the Neotropical rainforest of French Guiana

International audienc

Variabilité saisonnière de la respiration du sol en forêt tropicale humide guyanaise

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Mesure automatisée de la respiration du sol : caractérisation et comparaison de deux systèmes

Afin de mesurer en continu la respiration du sol, deux laboratoires de l'INRA ont développé deux systèmes automatiques basés sur des designs et automatismes très similaires. Le choix de la mesure des échanges gazeux s'est porté sur les deux principes bien connus des méthodes dynamiques, à savoir, le système ouvert ou fermé (Field et al. 1989). Ces deux méthodes présentent chacune leurs avantages et leurs inconvénients et chaque équipe a fait ses choix en fonction du matériel disponible, des conditions environnementales de mesure, des budgets ou des techniques maîtrisées. La prise en compte poussée (calculs préalables, vérification a postériori) des problèmes potentiels de mesure rapportés dans la littérature a conduit à réaliser deux systèmes correctement dimensionnés

Variabilité saisonnière de la respiration du sol en forêt tropicale humide guyanaise

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The effect of drought on carbon storage capacity in a tropical rainforest of French Guiana

In a perfect-deficit approach (Yi, 2012), the daily maximum carbon storage capacity (CPC) of a given ecosystem for each year defines the perfect annual CPC curve. Deficits are the differences in the daily observational data for a given year against a perfect curve. The area between this curve and instantaneous canopy photosynthetic rates represents the potential productivity. Using an 11-year (2004 – 2014) eddy covariance flux and meteorological data, this perfect-deficit approach was used to examine the relationship between potential productivity and droughts occurring in 2005 and 2010 in a tropical rainforest of French Guiana, South America. Surprisingly, CPC deficits were only reduced by 24% (2005) and 19% (2010) from their respective perfect CPCs, indicating a subtle effect of drought to ecosystem productivity. Highest precipitation occurred in 2010 but precipitation deficits dropped drastically during this year (71% reduction from its perfect value) which reflects a drought condition. However, its deficits showed no correlation annually and seasonally. Soil water content (SWC) appeared to be the single driver for CPC deficits during long dry periods but is weakly correlated (r = 0.30; P <0.01 and r = 0.31; P <0.01, in 2005 and 2010, respectively). These results indicate that soil water is not a major limiting factor for productivity of this ecosystem during drought periods. In contrast, global radiation (Rg) corresponds to the peak of CPC deficits in 2010, but only 19% had been reduced from its ideal value. Yet, highest gross primary production (GPP) of 4106±231 gCm−2yr−1 occurred this year (mean 3753±231 gCm−2yr−1). Therefore, smaller deficits in Rg coupled with sufficient water may have induced higher productivity in 2010. Nevertheless, weaker correlations between potential productivity and climatic drivers may imply that other controlling aspects such as biological constraints may also have an effect to the dynamics of potential productivity during drought events, hence, must also be considered

Influence of Seasonal Variations in Soil Water Availability on Gas Exchange of Tropical Canopy Trees

Seasonal variations in environmental conditions influence the functioning of the whole ecosystem of tropical rain forests, but as yet little is known about how such variations directly influence the leaf gas exchange and transpiration of individual canopy tree species. We examined the influence of seasonal variations in relative extractable water in the upper soil layers on predawn leaf water potential, saturated net photosynthesis, leaf dark respiration, stomatal conductance, and tree transpiration of 13 tropical rain forest canopy trees (eight species) over 2yr in French Guiana. The canopies were accessed by climbing ropes attached to the trees and to a tower. Our results indicate that a small proportion of the studied trees were unaffected by soil water depletion during seasonal dry periods, probably thanks to efficient deep root systems. The trees showing decreased tree water status (i.e., predawn leaf water potential) displayed a wide range of leaf gas exchange responses. Some trees strongly regulated photosynthesis and transpiration when relative extractable water decreased drastically. In contrast, other trees showed little variation, thus indicating good adaptation to soil drought conditions. These results have important applications to modeling approaches: indeed, precise evaluation and grouping of these response patterns are required before any tree-based functional models can efficiently describe the response of tropical rain forest ecosystems to future changes in environmental conditions

Effect of substrate fertility on tank-bromeliad performances

International audiencePurpose: Members of the plant family Bromeliaceae can uptake nutrients directly from their leaves via leaf absorbing trichomes and their roots have long been reduced to anchorage function, thus overlooked. Recently, evidence has accumulated for a significant role for the roots of some species of tank bromeliads in both water and nutrients absorption. However, to date, little attention has been paid to the importance of the substrate fertility for the structure of the roots and the growth and performances of tank bromeliads.Methods: This study investigated the effect of substrate fertility on Aechmea aquilega regarding leaf and root traits, nutrient content, and growth. Seeds of this tank bromeliad were sowed in a greenhouse in French Guiana in three different substrates: a nutrient-poor, a nutrient-rich and a mixed substrate. The performances of 15-month-old A. aquilega were assessed by measuring leaf and root traits related to nutrient acquisition and resources capture.Results: We show that plants growing in nutrient-poor substrate grew twice slower and were smaller than plants grown on the nutrient-rich substrate with fewer leaves and roots, lower total dry mass, and smaller leaves and root length. Overall, 70% of measured traits responded significantly to the experimental treatments indicating that the response of A. aquilega to nutrient availability is a combination of physiological processes, leaf and root structure, and chemistry.Conclusion: This study is the first to show that the fertility of the substrate on which the bromeliad A. aquilega grows has a strong and lasting effect on the plant performances and may be a relevant factor for bromeliad ecolog