A tese versa sobre a detecção e avaliação de padrões de coexistência de espécies arbóreas, buscando esclarecer as relações entre a diversidade fito-estrutural e os fatores condicionantes em escalas local e regional em uma zona de contato entre duas regiões fitoecológicas (Florestas Ombrófilas Mista e Densa). O trabalho está dividido em duas abordagens; a primeira trata de um inventário fitossociológico de comunidades definidas como “sítios”, onde o grau de singularidade local é avaliado através da identidade das espécies com maior valor de importância (VI) estrutural e de suas possíveis conexões fitogeográficas, bem como através de indicadores de diversidade alfa e beta. Na segunda abordagem, comunidades são definidas estatisticamente (Multivariada, Análise do Valor Indicador das Espécies) com base na composição e abundância de espécies (área basal dos troncos), testando-se a hipótese de que comunidades distintas devem diferir pelo menos na diversidade específica, fertilidade do solo e ou produtividade primária (produção de serrapilheira PS). O estudo foi realizado no Centro de Pesquisas e Conservação da Natureza Pró-Mata, localizado na borda sudeste do Planalto Meridional Brasileiro (29o30’S; 50o11’W). Cinco sítios de 100m x 100m (dois sítios no planalto, dois na encosta e um na borda planalto-encosta) foram selecionados, onde em cada sítio as árvores (DAP>10 cm) foram medidas e determinadas em vinte e uma unidades amostrais de 100m2 (regularmente distribuídas). Sessenta e seis espécies foram levantadas, no conjunto Cabralea canjerana e Myrcia retorta tiveram os maiores valores de importância. A primeira caracteriza a encosta e a segunda o planalto, sendo ambas co-dominantes no sítio da borda do planalto-encosta. Riqueza e diversidade foram maiores nessa borda, menor no planalto e intermediária na encosta. A beta-diversidade apresenta-se maior com medidas de abundância do que apenas com a composição de espécie, em função da diferenciação das dominantes, caracterizando comunidades discretas, indicando ao mesmo tempo um contínuo gradiente florístico. As análises de ordenação e agrupamento foram utilizadas com dois tamanhos de unidade amostral (100 m2 e 500 m2), das quais somente a última apresentou padrões interpretáveis, similares aos obtidos fitossociologicamente nos sítios, onde dois principais tipos de vegetação apresentam afinidades fitogeográficas e riqueza de espécies peculiares. Os subgrupos refletiram processos histórico-ecológicos mais recentes, como a perturbação antrópica e condições locais especiais. A determinação de espécies com valores indicadores significativos é útil para a diferenciação ecológica dos tipos de comunidades. Apenas uma comunidade diferiu significativamente das demais na fertilidade do solo, devido à condição especial topográfica e litológica. A produção de serrapilheira destas florestas foi similar aos valores médios das florestas brasileiras tropicais e subtropicais. Conclui-se que, na zona de transição estudada, tende a ter um ecótono da vegetação associado à transição geomorfológica planalto-encosta. Algumas considerações sobre o alcance metodológico de detecção de biodiversidade e das perspectivas de pesquisas integradas sobre os processos ecossistêmicos são apresentadas. / This thesis searches to detect patterns of the arboreal species coexistence on a transition zone of two phyto-ecological regions, Mixed and Dense Rainforests, contributing to the knowledge of ecological processes on the local to regional scale. The work is divided in two approaches; the first is a phytosociological inventories aiming to answer if in this zone exists a set of local communities with similar floristic-structural patterns, or not, and what are their phytogeographical affinities; the second tests the hypothesis that the communities types statistically defined have indicator species and differs in specific diversity attributes, soil fertility and the primary productivity (litterfall). The study was carried out at CPCN Pró-Mata, a research center located on the southeastern border of the Meridional Brazilian Plateau (29o30’S; 50o11’W). Five sites of 100 x 100m (two plateau sites, two slope sites, and one plateau-slope site) were selected; the trees (DBH>10cm) were measured and determined and twenty-one sampling units of 100m2 (regularly distributed), in each site. Sixty-six species were surveyed. Cabralea canjerana and Myrcia retorta had the highest importance value indexes. The first species characterizes the slope; the second species characterizes the plateau; and both are co-dominant at the slope-plateau site. Richness and diversity (Shannon index) were higher at slope-plateau transition, lower at the plateau and intermediate at the slopes. The Beta diversity shows that the sharpness between slope and plateau communities is more associated to species abundance than to species composition only. The Ordination and Cluster analyses were used with two sized sampling units (100 m2 and 500m2), which only the latter showed interpretable patterns, similar to those phytosociological results, where emerges the two main vegetation types indicated the broader regional floristic affinities and its influence on species richness. The sub-groups reflected more recent local historical-ecological processes, mainly identified as anthropic disturbance regime and special local conditions. The Indicator Species Analysis was very responsive to the present objective helping to define the best indicative species and ecological context. Soils differ significantly only for one group, differentiated by special topographic condition and lithologic origin. The annual litterfall of these forests were equivalent among sites and they are similar to register for average the tropical and subtropical Brazilian forests. Conclude that in this transition zone trends to have a vegetation ecotone is associated to the geomorphologic transition slope-plateau. Then, communities types statistically defined reflect hierarchically phytoecological regional affinities and particular ecological conditions. Some considerations about methodological biodiversity detection integrated to researches about ecosystem process are shown.

[pt] A compreensão da estrutura e funcionalidades ecológicas inscritas na transformação da Mata Atlântica fluminense, compreendida por fragmentos florestais em meio à crescente urbanização, são de suma importância ao entendimento do conteúdo da paisagem via história ambiental e ecologia da paisagem. A complexidade ambiental característica da contemporaneidade geográfica instaura a coadunação de diversas abordagens tanto epistemológicas quanto metodológicas na apreensão da paisagem enquanto mosaico e resultante das multiescalares intervenções de seus elementos fundantes: estruturais e funcionais. Tais elementos encontram-se estabelecidos sob diferenciadas condições devido à orientação da encosta –vertentes soalheiras e Noruega - apresentam níveis de umidade, temperatura e precipitações diferenciadas em até 160 porcento. O estudo utiliza os parâmetros e métodos de análise ambientais como: fitossociologia, físico-química do solo, aporte, decomposição e retenção hídrica de serrapilheira na compreensão da resultante ecológica das distintas orientações e sítios topográficos. Para tanto a influência de tais variáveis na produtividade florestal foram analisadas utilizando-se 12 coletores de serrapilheira no sítio amostral da bacia do Camorim – sítio St. Agostinho, relancionando-os aos dados de pluviosidade da estação meteorológica do Riocentro (GEORIO). Foram realizadas coletas quinzenais para a produção e trimestrais para o estoque de serrapilheira durante um ano. A produção de serrapilheira na orientação NE (bacia do Camorim) foi de 10.733,80 kg.ha.ano-1 e superior em relação à orientação SW no mesmo período (Bacia do Caçambe), com 9.463,88 kg.ha.ano-1, sendo a fração folhas preponderante às demais. Os resultados sugerem a influência tanto dos usos pretéritos – legado dos carvoeiros, quilombolas e agricultores tradicionais – quanto das variáveis ecológicas – orientação de encosta, sítio topográfico, precipitação e a condição vegetacional da floresta atlântica, etc. Entretanto, os limites analíticos vão além da impossibilidade de generalizar e simplificar a paisagem. As imprecisões científicas – comuns aos diversos campos epistemológicos – inscrevem-se na abordagem co-evolutiva ao apontar os desafios da padronização e modelagem da paisagem. A transformação da Mata Atlântica mesmo que no recorte espacial (bacias do Camorim e Caçambe) adotado, não é passível de simplificação analítica e os resultados obtidos confirmam tais limitações. / [en] The comprehension of the ecological structure and functions wrote by transformation of Atlantic Rainforest, understood as forest fragments involved by rising urbanization, is of basic importance in the understanding of the landscape by Environmental History and Landscape Ecology. The characteristically environmental complexity of the contemporary Geography settles the approaches convergence both epistemological as methodological in the landscape understandings, so as a patch and as a resultant of the multiscalar actions of their foundations elements: structurals and functionals ones. These elements are found under different conditions due to slope aspect – with different humidity, temperature and rainfall almost as 160 percent in the north slope. The currently study uses some parameters and environmental analysis as: phytosociology, soil phical-chemestry and litterfall production, decomposition and hydrological retention capacity in the understanding of the ecological resultants of the different orientation and topographic sites – soalheira and noruega slope. To investigate the influence of these variables on the forest productivity the litter dynamics were analyzed employing 12 littertraps randomly distributed at the sample site in Camorim basin – St. Agostinho site, and investigating the relation between pluviosity regime using rainfall data from GEORIO Metereological Station of Riocentro. The samples were collected at each 15 days for litter production and at three months for litter stock during one year. The litter production at NE aspect (Camorim Basin) was 10.733,80 kg.ha.ano-1 and greater than that found at Caçambe Basin (SW) - 9.463,88 kg.ha.ano-1, with leaf fraction greater than the others. The results suggest that the past uses - environmental legacy of the use of the coal collectors, quilombolas and traditional agriculture – and the ecological variables – slope aspects, topographic sites, precipitation, and rainforest vegetal condition etc. Despite that, the analytical limits bypass the impossibilities of landscape simplification. The science inaccuracies – common to all epistemological science areas – are written on the coevolutive approache when shows the challenges of landscape standardization and modeling. The rainforest transformation, even in the case of a well known adopted area (Camorim and Caçambe basins), were not easy to an analytical simplification as was demonstrated by the observed results.

A tese versa sobre a detecção e avaliação de padrões de coexistência de espécies arbóreas, buscando esclarecer as relações entre a diversidade fito-estrutural e os fatores condicionantes em escalas local e regional em uma zona de contato entre duas regiões fitoecológicas (Florestas Ombrófilas Mista e Densa). O trabalho está dividido em duas abordagens; a primeira trata de um inventário fitossociológico de comunidades definidas como “sítios”, onde o grau de singularidade local é avaliado através da identidade das espécies com maior valor de importância (VI) estrutural e de suas possíveis conexões fitogeográficas, bem como através de indicadores de diversidade alfa e beta. Na segunda abordagem, comunidades são definidas estatisticamente (Multivariada, Análise do Valor Indicador das Espécies) com base na composição e abundância de espécies (área basal dos troncos), testando-se a hipótese de que comunidades distintas devem diferir pelo menos na diversidade específica, fertilidade do solo e ou produtividade primária (produção de serrapilheira PS). O estudo foi realizado no Centro de Pesquisas e Conservação da Natureza Pró-Mata, localizado na borda sudeste do Planalto Meridional Brasileiro (29o30’S; 50o11’W). Cinco sítios de 100m x 100m (dois sítios no planalto, dois na encosta e um na borda planalto-encosta) foram selecionados, onde em cada sítio as árvores (DAP>10 cm) foram medidas e determinadas em vinte e uma unidades amostrais de 100m2 (regularmente distribuídas). Sessenta e seis espécies foram levantadas, no conjunto Cabralea canjerana e Myrcia retorta tiveram os maiores valores de importância. A primeira caracteriza a encosta e a segunda o planalto, sendo ambas co-dominantes no sítio da borda do planalto-encosta. Riqueza e diversidade foram maiores nessa borda, menor no planalto e intermediária na encosta. A beta-diversidade apresenta-se maior com medidas de abundância do que apenas com a composição de espécie, em função da diferenciação das dominantes, caracterizando comunidades discretas, indicando ao mesmo tempo um contínuo gradiente florístico. As análises de ordenação e agrupamento foram utilizadas com dois tamanhos de unidade amostral (100 m2 e 500 m2), das quais somente a última apresentou padrões interpretáveis, similares aos obtidos fitossociologicamente nos sítios, onde dois principais tipos de vegetação apresentam afinidades fitogeográficas e riqueza de espécies peculiares. Os subgrupos refletiram processos histórico-ecológicos mais recentes, como a perturbação antrópica e condições locais especiais. A determinação de espécies com valores indicadores significativos é útil para a diferenciação ecológica dos tipos de comunidades. Apenas uma comunidade diferiu significativamente das demais na fertilidade do solo, devido à condição especial topográfica e litológica. A produção de serrapilheira destas florestas foi similar aos valores médios das florestas brasileiras tropicais e subtropicais. Conclui-se que, na zona de transição estudada, tende a ter um ecótono da vegetação associado à transição geomorfológica planalto-encosta. Algumas considerações sobre o alcance metodológico de detecção de biodiversidade e das perspectivas de pesquisas integradas sobre os processos ecossistêmicos são apresentadas. / This thesis searches to detect patterns of the arboreal species coexistence on a transition zone of two phyto-ecological regions, Mixed and Dense Rainforests, contributing to the knowledge of ecological processes on the local to regional scale. The work is divided in two approaches; the first is a phytosociological inventories aiming to answer if in this zone exists a set of local communities with similar floristic-structural patterns, or not, and what are their phytogeographical affinities; the second tests the hypothesis that the communities types statistically defined have indicator species and differs in specific diversity attributes, soil fertility and the primary productivity (litterfall). The study was carried out at CPCN Pró-Mata, a research center located on the southeastern border of the Meridional Brazilian Plateau (29o30’S; 50o11’W). Five sites of 100 x 100m (two plateau sites, two slope sites, and one plateau-slope site) were selected; the trees (DBH>10cm) were measured and determined and twenty-one sampling units of 100m2 (regularly distributed), in each site. Sixty-six species were surveyed. Cabralea canjerana and Myrcia retorta had the highest importance value indexes. The first species characterizes the slope; the second species characterizes the plateau; and both are co-dominant at the slope-plateau site. Richness and diversity (Shannon index) were higher at slope-plateau transition, lower at the plateau and intermediate at the slopes. The Beta diversity shows that the sharpness between slope and plateau communities is more associated to species abundance than to species composition only. The Ordination and Cluster analyses were used with two sized sampling units (100 m2 and 500m2), which only the latter showed interpretable patterns, similar to those phytosociological results, where emerges the two main vegetation types indicated the broader regional floristic affinities and its influence on species richness. The sub-groups reflected more recent local historical-ecological processes, mainly identified as anthropic disturbance regime and special local conditions. The Indicator Species Analysis was very responsive to the present objective helping to define the best indicative species and ecological context. Soils differ significantly only for one group, differentiated by special topographic condition and lithologic origin. The annual litterfall of these forests were equivalent among sites and they are similar to register for average the tropical and subtropical Brazilian forests. Conclude that in this transition zone trends to have a vegetation ecotone is associated to the geomorphologic transition slope-plateau. Then, communities types statistically defined reflect hierarchically phytoecological regional affinities and particular ecological conditions. Some considerations about methodological biodiversity detection integrated to researches about ecosystem process are shown.

While wildfire is globally most common in the savanna-grassland ecotone, the flammability of coastal temperate rainforests is considered low and little is known regarding historic fire activity. Reconstructing historical fire activity typically requires dendrochronological records from fire-scarred trees and post-fire cohorts, but this type of information is rare in perhumid temperate rainforests, which are dominated by dense fuels with high year-round moisture content. I reconstructed historic fire activity using fire scars, tree rings, soil charcoal, and remote sensing techniques in a 2000 km2 island group located within the Hakai Lúxvbálís Conservancy on the coastal margin of central British Columbia. I broadly assessed 13,000 years of fire activity with charcoal deposited in soils, and reconstructed late Holocene fire events with a 700-year chronology built from living fire-scarred trees and stand establishment data. I used a weight of evidence approach to hypothesize the origins of fires and whether First Nations intentionally utilized fire for resource management. Low-severity fires occurred most frequently in forests surrounding former First Nations habitation sites, and lightning strikes do not occur often enough to explain the observed temporal or spatial patterns of fire activity in the study area. Low-severity fires occurred approximately every 39 years, and were 25 times more likely to occur than previously estimated. Fires influenced the composition and structure of vegetation by creating a mosaic of vegetation types in different stages of succession, and thus increased the abundance of culturally important food plants. Fire events have not occurred in the study area since 1893, which also coincides with the reduction of First Nations activities in their traditional territories. My data are consistent with the hypothesis that humans intentionally used fire to manage resources, though further research and ethnographic data collected elsewhere in the region is required to corroborate these findings. Ecological legacies of historic fires remain visible on the present day landscape, and by reconstructing the historic range of fire cycle variability we gain a better understanding of human-driven fire activity and the abrupt changes that occurred in the 20th century. / Graduate

Este estudo objetivou estudar os carrapatos e a infecção por patógenos, e sua correlação com os vertebrados desta região entre 10/2007 e 09/2008 foram realizadas mensalmente doze visitas a uma área de floresta ombrófila densa da Amazônica na Estação Ecológica de Samuel. Foram coletados, 60 aves, 36 mamíferos, 14 répteis e 11 anfíbios. Em vida livre foram realizadas 80 coletas de carrapatos em um total de 39.600m em cerca de 2.640min (44h) e coletados 265 carrapatos adultos de quatro espécies, sendo elas: A. scalpturatum (81), A. latepunctatum (84), A. oblongogutattum (18), A. naponense (69) e 597 ninfas de Amblyomma sp. Dos 104 adultos (11,8% do total de carrapatos) foram testados para Anaplasmataceae, obtive-se 27 (25,9%) positivos e mais 36 adultos (total de 140) e 11 carrapatos foram positivos (1) A. scalpturatum, (4) A. latepunctatum, (3) A. naponense. É notável o impacto da hidrelétrica sobre a fauna de pequenos mamíferos. / This study was aimed to analyze the ticks and the pathogenic infections, and their correlation with the vertebrates of such a region from October 2007 to September 2008, 12 surveys were monthly carried out at the Samuel Ecological Station in an Amazonian dense ombrophilous forest. They were collected from 60 birds, 36 mammals, 14 reptiles, and 11 amphibians. Eighty(80) collections of free-living ticks were carried out within an area of about 39.000 meters, during 2.640 minutes (44 hours), and 265 adult ticks or four species were picked up as following: 81 A.scalpturatum, 84 A. latepunctatum, 18 A. oblongogutattum, 69 A. naponense , and 597 Amblyomma sp. nymphs. 104 the adults, which accounted for 11.8% of total of ticks collected, were tested for Anaplasmataceae, and 27 (25.9%) were positive. In the Rickettsia spp. sample, additionally to the above mentioned 104 ticks tested, 36 adult ticks (out of a total of 140) were positive. It is noteworthy the impact caused by the hydropower plant on the small mammal fauna.

Tropical forests, which provide important ecosystem functions and services, are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic pressures. This has resulted in an urgent need to understand tree species diversity of those forests. Where knowledge of that diversity is largely from the botanical surveys and local ecological studies, data must inevitably be up-scaled from point observations to the landscape and regional level if a holistic perspective is required. This thesis explores aspects of the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of canopy reflectance patterns over the forests of French Guiana, in order to assess whether this information could help defining an ecologically consistent forest typology. To gain insight into both the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of French Guiana’s forests, instrumental artefacts affecting the satellite data first had to be addressed. Data used in this study represent the spectral response of forest canopies, and the way in which such data are captured makes them susceptible to the ‘bi-directional reflectance distribution function’ (BRDF). BRDF indicates that objects do not reflect light in equal proportions in all directions (isotropically). Thus, forest canopies will reflect light anisotropically depending on factors including canopy roughness, leaf optical properties and inclination, and the position of the sun relative to the sensor. The second chapter of this thesis examines how BRDF affects the canopy reflectance of forests in French Guiana, and how not correcting for BRDF affects spectral classifications of those forests. When monthly reflectance data corrected for the artefact are examined, these suggest seasonally-occurring changes in forest structure or spectral properties of French Guiana’s forests. The third chapter of this thesis thus examines temporal effects of BRDF, and used cross-regional comparisons and plot-level radiative transfer modelling to seek to understand the drivers of the monthly variation of the forests’ canopy reflectance. For the latter, the Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART) model was used along with aerial laser scanning (ALS) observations over different forest structures, indicating that the observed variation in reflectance (and derivatives known as vegetation indices) could not be explained by monthly variations in solar direction. At the regional scale, it was also demonstrated that forests in the Guiana Shield possess temporal variation distinct from forests in central Africa or northern Borneo, forests also lying just above the Equator. Had the observed temporal variation in vegetation indices been the result of BRDF, it would have been expected that the forests in the three zones would have similar patterns of variation, which they did not. Central African forests appear to have their greening synchronized with rainfall, whereas forests in the Guianas appear synchronized with the availability of solar radiation. Further analysis of the vegetation index time-series of observations also indicated that different types of forests in French Guiana possess distinct patterns of temporal variation, suggesting that tropical forest types can be discriminated on the basis of their respective “temporal signatures.” That was exploited in the fourth chapter of the thesis, which maps forests in French Guiana based on their combined spatio-temporal canopy reflectance patterns and by so doing presents a novel way of addressing forest typology, based on ecologically meaningful information. The thesis presented demonstrates that it is possible to adequately address remote sensing data artefacts to examine patterns of spatial and temporal variation in tropical forests. It has shown that phenological patterns of tropical rainforests can be deduced from remote sensing data, and that forest types can be mapped based on spatio-temporal canopy reflectance patterns. It is thus an important contribution to understand the ecology of tropical forests in French Guiana and to improve the toolbox of scientists dealing with the identification of spatio-temporal patterns observable in forests at the landscape level.

Tropical rainforests contain exceptionally high biodiversity and account for >30% of the world's carbon fixed by photosynthesis. Consequently, there are compelling reasons to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms that maintain these highly diverse forests and of the potential long-term threats to their preservation. An important process shaping tropical plant communities is negative density dependence (NDD). NDD occurs when plant performance is negatively impacted by increased neighbourhood density. Reduced performance at high neighbourhood density is thought to arise through ecological interactions between plants and their natural enemies. Thus in a healthy ecosystem, trophic interactions play vital roles as mechanisms driving NDD and are important as dispersers facilitating escape from NDD mortality. However, interruption to ecological processes caused by human activities, such as hunting, can perturb NDD interactions and cause cascading effects throughout an ecosystem. In my thesis I investigate the role of dispersal and mortality in NDD dynamics of tropical tree communities, as well as investigating local and global impacts of removing ecological interactions in tropical rainforests. In my thesis, I begin by addressing the presence and variation in strength of NDD among tree species and ontogenetic stages, the mechanisms driving NDD, and the role of trophic interactions in this process. The Janzen-Connell hypothesis predicts that host-specific natural enemies drive NDD by selectively reducing conspecific density, and increase diversity by suppressing competitive exclusion, thus allowing heterospecifics to persist. In chapters 2 and 3 of this thesis, I show that mortality driven by conspecific NDD is prevalent at the early life stages, and this effect is considerably stronger during the year after germination. Furthermore, this process is driven exclusively by host-specific fungal pathogens, which cause mortality selectively among conspecifics and drive diversity. As seedlings age beyond their first year, NDD interactions become less impacted by conspecifics but are impacted by closely related neighbours or by general neighbourhood density, representing changes in the mechanism driving NDD as seedlings age, and a decline in host-specificity of natural enemies. Equally, relative growth rates (RGR) are reduced under high neighbourhood density irrespective of species identity. Results suggest insect herbivores are the strongest driver of reduced RGR but not mortality under increased neighbourhood density. As a consequence of stronger inter than intra-specific NDD effects on RGR, insects had no impact on seedling diversity in the short term. This study supports assertions that regionally rare species experience stronger NDD than common species, accounting for the high variability in species relative abundance in the tropics. In the second part of my thesis, I address the role of large vertebrate dispersers in shaping tropical tree communities and the consequences of defaunation for tree assemblage and carbon storage. Dispersal allows seeds to escape NDD and persist to reproductive maturity and is therefore vital for the maintenance of diversity. Vertebrates disperse the seeds of more than 70% of neo-tropical tree species. However, many large vertebrates are becoming scarce due to widespread hunting. The decline of large vertebrates and their role as dispersers is predicted to alter tree community composition. Additionally, large vertebrates are responsible for the dispersal of large-seeded species, which are linked to species with high wood density. With wood density positively associated with carbon storage, there is a potential cascading influence of defaunation on global carbon storage. We investigate the consequences of declining large vertebrate mortality agents in chapter 3, and the consequences of declining large vertebrate dispersers in chapters 4 and 5. Although community composition is altered in a defaunated forest, species dispersed by extirpated fauna do not appear to drive this. In fact we find that many species thought to be heavily reliant on extirpated fauna manage to persist. Although it is thought that the simultaneous loss of seed predation from large terrestrial vertebrates may create compensatory effects, we found little support for this, with an absence of large terrestrial vertebrates driving only temporary changes to species diversity. Neither a loss of large frugivores or large-seeded species lead to declines in species with high wood density, but we detect a worrying decline in large stemmed species, which has negative implications for carbon storage. Overall, my thesis highlights the importance of NDD and trophic interactions, particularly fungal pathogens, at the early life stages in shaping tropical tree communities and in maintaining diversity. I provide evidence that the removal of trophic interactions among larger natural enemies and dispersers does not impact community assemblage in the directional manner found in previous studies. I provide evidence for the variability in response to trophic interactions among species and ontogenetic stages. I show disproportionate relative importance among natural enemies and dispersers in the maintenance of tropical tree assemblage, with implications for conservation and for assessing the consequences for tree diversity under the influence of degradation.

Les rats introduits (Rattus spp.) sont des espèces invasives majeures menaçant la biodiversité sur la plupart des îles de laPlanète. Deux espèces, le rat noir (R. rattus) et le rat du Pacifique (R. exulans) vivent en sympatrie au sein des forêts deNouvelle-Calédonie, où la question de la faisabilité et de l' intérêt de leur contrôle (i.e. limitation locale de leur 'abondance)pour la conservation de la biodiversité native est posée. En raison d'un manque de cadre conceptuel des projets de contrôle,nous avons d'abord réalisé une synthèse et une analyse des opérations de contrôle de rats invasifs dans les milieux naturelsdes îles du monde. Puis, nous avons cherché à caractériser et à comprendre la dynamique des populations de ces deux espècesde rats sympatriques ainsi que leurs interactions avec la biodiversité native en forêt dense humide du massif du Mont Panié.Des opérations de piégeage létal et de capture-marquage-recapture ont montré que les rats noirs étaient plus abondants que lesrats du Pacifique. Les analyses de leur régime alimentaire ont révélé que les deux espèces ont à la fois des proies communeset des proies qui leur sont propres impliquant un renforcement ainsi qu'un élargissement de leurs impacts sur la biodiversiténative. Les rats consomment une grande majorité de fruits et de graines, d'invertébrés et de Squamates mais les oiseaux, quijustifient souvent la mise en place de projets de gestion de rats, ne semblent pas ici être une de leur proie préférentielle. Depotentiels effets positifs des rats sur la dispersion des graines ont également été mis en évidence au travers d'une comparaisondu potentiel germinatif de graines après passage par leur tractus digestif et celui de frugivores natifs. Enfin, nous avons puproposer des stratégies de piégeage létal afin de contrôler efficacement les populations de rats invasifs. Une meilleurecompréhension des impacts des rats en situation de sympatrie ainsi qu' une meilleure connaissance du lien entre densité de ratset intensité des effets sur la biodiversité permettraient d'optimiser les stratégies de contrôle de rats invasifs lorsquel'éradication n'est pas envisageable. / Introduced rats (Rattus spp.) are one of the major invasive species threatening native biodiversity on islands worldwide. Twospecies, the black rat (R. rattus) and the Pacifie rat (R. exulans) are sympatric in New Caledonian rainforests, where questionsasto the feasibility and the utility of their control (i.e. local limitation of their abundance) for the conservation of nativebiodiversity remain unanswered. ln response to the lack of a conceptual framework for control projects, we fi rst conducted areview of invasive rat control operations in island natural areas worldwide. Then we sought to characterize and understand thepopulation dynamics of these two sympa tric rat species and the ir interactions with native biodiversity in the rainforest of MontPanié mountain. Lethaltrapping operations and capture-mark-recapture showed that black rats were more abundant thanPacifie rats. Diet analysis revealed that the two species consume both shared and unshared prey likely resulting in astrengthening and a broadening oftheir impacts on native biodiversity, relative to the impact that each species would haveal one. Rats consume a large quantity of fruits and seeds, invertebrates, and Squamates. However, birds, which often justify theimplementation of rat management projects, do not appear here to be one of the ir preferred prey, either as adults or throughnest predation. A potential positive rat impact on seed dispersal was a Iso highlighted through a comparison of seedgermination after seeds had passed through rat versus native frugivore digestive tracts. Finally, we propose lethal trappingstrategies to efficiently control invasive rat populations. A better understanding ofboth rat impacts in sympatric situations,and the link between rat density and the intensity of their effects on biodiversity would allow optimizing rat control strategieswhen eradication is not feas ible.

La phylogéographie intègre l’information géographique et génétique pour inférer l’histoire démographique et les processus évolutifs des espèces. La présente étude recherche à travers les patrons de différenciation de l’ADN chloroplastique (ADNcp) au sein de Santiria trimera (Oliv.) H.J.LAM ex AUBR. [Emend. ONANA] la reconstitution d’une histoire des végétations des écosystèmes de forêts tropicales humides d’Afrique. Le modèle S. trimera est un arbre dioïque endémique des forêts humides d’Afrique dont les drupes sont dispersées par les primates et les oiseaux. Les formes morphologiques de ce modèle sont très variables et suscitent la délicate question de délimitation des espèces. Trois régions de l’ADNcp (l’intergène trnL-F, une portion du gène rbcL et l’intron rpl36-infA-rps8) ont été séquencées chez 377 individus issus de 42 populations de l’île de São Tomé, du Haut- et Bas-Guinéen pour étudier la phylogéographie. Des arbres phylogénétiques ont été réalisés sur des séquences d’un intron nucléaire du gène Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase (72 individus) et sur les trois régions chloroplastiques. Une analyse morphométrique a été réalisée sur des données collectées sur des arbres en fruits. A l’aide de 10 locus microsatellites nucléaires, nous avons déterminé la structure génétique entre trois morphotypes sympatriques et analysé la structure génétique spatiale au sein de chaque groupe génétique. Le séquençage de l’ADNcp a mis en évidence des doubles pics sur les chromatogrammes de séquences. L’analyse des séquences clonées de produits PCR, la distribution des sites à doubles pics dans les séquences et dans les populations et les états ancestraux des positions à doubles pics nous ont permis d’interpréter les doubles pics comme résultant d’une co-amplification d’une copie chloroplastique et de copies nucléaires des régions séquencées. Les pics majeurs ont été considérés comme les nucléotides d’ADNcp d’origine maternelle et les pics mineurs ont été exclus de notre jeu de données. Les domaines phytogéographiques de São Tomé, du Haut- et Bas-Guinéen ne partagent aucun haplotype chloroplastique. Le Bas-Guinéen montre une plus grande diversité génétique. Les zones de distribution des haplotypes rares coïncident avec les refuges forestiers hypothétiques. L’analyse morphométrique et la phylogénie des séquences d’ADNcp suggèrent conjointement la reconnaissance de deux espèces bien différenciées. La structure génétique au sein d’une même population présumée suggère que les trois morphotypes en sympatrie dans les populations du Gabon constituent deux réservoirs génétiques différenciés sans individus hybrides. Selon le Concept Biologique de l’Espèce, S. trimera est probablement un mélange de deux espèces. On peut définir une espèce constituée d’individus avec des racines échasses et petites folioles coriaces (SRsl) et une seconde espèce constituée à la fois d’individus avec des racines échasses et de grandes folioles papyracées (SRll) et d’individus sans racine échasse avec de grandes folioles coriaces (NSR). Au vu de ces résultats, la classification taxonomique de S. trimera nécessite une révision. La confusion de ces deux espèces dans les forêts du Gabon explique une plus forte divergence de lignées chloroplastiques sympatriques par rapport aux lignées issues des régions biogéographiques isolées. L’un des deux haplotypes principaux de l’espèce à grandes folioles (SRll + NSR) est distribué dans le nord du Gabon et l’autre est distribué dans le sud. Au sein de l’espèce à petites folioles (SRsl), les zones d’endémisme de lignées chloroplastiques se situent dans l’Ouest du Cameroun qui est considéré comme une zone de fort endémisme et de forte diversité en espèces. Globalement, les patrons phylogéographiques mis en évidence entre lignées chloroplastiques de S. trimera sont compatibles avec les hypothèses biogéographiques basées sur les patrons de diversité et d’endémisme des espèces. / Phylogeography combines geographic and genetic information to infer demographic history and evolutionary processes. The present study of the spatial structure of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) within Santiria trimera H.J.LAM ex AUBR. [Emend. ONANA], a primate- and bird-dispersed dioecious tree typical of African rainforests, provides insights into African vegetation history. This tree displays striking morphological variation which poses the problem of species delineation. Three regions of cpDNA (intergene trnL-F, a portion of rbcL gene and intron rpl36-infA-rps8) were sequenced in 377 individuals from 42 populations from São Tomé island and from Upper- and Lower-Guinean forests to study phylogeography. To study genetic divergence among morphotypes of S. trimera, phylogenies of a nuclear intron of Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase from 72 individuals and concatenated sequences of the three cpDNA sequences were compared to morphological data from fruit-bearing trees. Using ten nuclear microsatellite markers, we defined the genetic structure among three sympatric morphotypes and analysed the spatial genetic structure within each genetic group. CpDNA sequences revealed double-peaks on sequence chromatograms. Sequences of cloned PCR products, the distribution of double peaks on sequences and in populations and ancestral nucleotides inferred from different taxa of the Burseraceae family enabled us to deduce that double peaks were due to the co-amplification of chloroplast and nuclear copies of the cpDNA region. Major peaks were considered as originating from maternal cpDNA. Subordinated peaks corresponding to the nuclear copies were excluded from our data set. The phytogeographic domains of São Tomé, Upper and Lower Guinea did not share any haplotype. Lower Guinea was the most diversified and the most divergent haplotypes were found in Gabonese forests. Endemism areas of haplotypes coincide with hypothetic forests refuges. Morphometric analyses and phylogenies cpDNA converge to delineating two well-differentiated species within S. trimera. Likewise, the genetic structure within one assumed population suggests that the three sympatric morphotypes constitute two genetically isolated populations without any hybrid. Following the Biological Species Concept, S. trimera is probably a mixture of two species in Lower Guinean forests. The first species is composed of all individuals with stilt roots and small leaflets (SRsl) and the second one is composed of both the morphotype with stilt roots, large and thin leaflets (SRll) and the morphotype without stilt roots with large and tough leaflets (NSR). In the view of our results, the taxonomical classification of S. trimera requires a revision. The confusion of both species in Gabonese forests explains that the highest divergence among chloroplast lineages was found in sympatric populations instead of among isolated biogeographic regions. One of the two major haplotypes of the second species (NSR + SRll) was distributed in the north of Gabon while the other haplotype was distributed in the south. Within the species with small leaflets (SRsl), areas of elevated haplotype endemism in West Cameroon coincided with hypothetic forest refuges. Overall, phylogeographic patterns within our model were in accordance with biogeographic hypotheses based on species endemism and diversity patterns.

No description available.