La présente thèse est consacrée à l'étude sémiotique de la dimension passionnelle des écritsjournalistiques sur la crise de 2008. Dans une perspective théorique, cette thèse contribue auquestionnement général de la sémiotique des passions développée par Greimas et Fontanille.Elle décrit l'adaptation théorique significative que la sémiotique des passions réalise en ajoutantà la description du processus de production des états passionnels des écrits journalistiques decrise, un préalable qui est le potentiel passionnel des situations économiques et sociales. Dupoint de vue méthodologique, ce travail s'inscrit dans le contexte d'une sémiotique ouverte surl'interdisciplinarité. Il se situe à l'intérieur d'un cadre épistémologique où les frontières entresémiotique des passions, anthropologie, économie et sociologie deviennent perméables. Pourcela, nous avons sélectionné, entre autres, le niveau des formes de vie et la sémiotique desinteractions développée par Landowski qui permettent une analyse spécifique des relations auxautres et à l'action. Le discours journalistique sur la crise marque ainsi le point de départ d'uneréflexion sémiotique relative à une question sociale d'actualité. Notre travail de recherche définittout d'abord l'écriture journalistique selon un point de vue génératif qui montre les constituantsles plus simples comme reliés aux constituants les plus complexes dans un parcours qui lesorganise et provoque des échanges. Dans un second temps, nous démontrons que les effetspassionnels existants dans le système économique sont le résultat de défaillances provenantd'une incompatibilité de positionnement interne des différents acteurs entre rationalité et liberté.Enfin, la troisième partie présente l'analyse du corpus de presse et expose le processus deproduction des états passionnels. / This thesis is devoted to the semiotic study of the passionate dimension of journalistic writingsabout the 2008 financial crisis. From a theoretical perspective, this thesis contributes to thegeneral questioning of the semiotics of passions developed by Greimas and Fontanille. Itdescribes the significant theoretical adaptation that semiotics of passions provided, by adding tothe description of the production process of passionate states journalistic writings crisis, theprerequisite of the emotional potential of economic and social situations. From a methodologicalpoint of view, this work is written in the context of open interdisciplinary semiotics. It is locatedwithin an epistemological framework in which the boundaries between semiotics of passions,anthropology, economics and sociology become permeable. For this, we have selected, amongothers, the level of life forms and semiotic interactions developed by Landowski that allow specificanalysis of relationships with others and with action. The journalistic discourse on the crisis thusmarks the starting point of a semiotic reflection on a topical social issue. Our three-step analysisinitially defines journalistic writing as a generative perspective which shows the simplestcomponents as related to complex components in a course that organizes and provokesexchange. The second step shows that the existing passion effects in the economic system arethe result of failures from an incompatibility in internal positioning between the different actors�rationality and freedom. The third part presents the news corpus and exposes the process ofproduction of passionate states.

Les diatomées sont des microalgues ubiquistes d'une diversité exceptionnelle. Cela en fait de bons indicateurs de la qualité des écosystèmes aquatiques et sont utilisées depuis plus de 50 ans. Depuis l'année 2000, la Directive Cadre Européenne sur l'Eau impose leur utilisation pour évaluer la qualité écologique des cours d'eau. Un cadre typologique doit être utilisé afin de comparer des rivières comparables entre elles, c'est-à-dire des rivières de mêmes régions bioclimatiques, coulant sur les mêmes substrats géologiques et à des altitudes comparables. Différentes classifications écorégionales ont été définies sur la base de ces paramètres. Nous avons montré qu'à une échelle couvrant 4 pays (Espagne, France, Italie, Suisse) et à une régionale (Nord-est de la France), les écorégions et la géologie sont déterminantes pour expliquer les communautés. Les paramètres caractérisant la pollution sont moins importants. Contrairement à certains auteurs, nous n'avons pas observé d'homogénéisation des communautés lorsque le niveau de pollution augmente. D'autre part nous n'avons pas observé de communautés restreintes géographiquement : cela permettrait de rassembler des écorégions distinctes géographiquement mais présentant les mêmes caractéristiques physiques. Les diatomées présentent une diversité spécifique très importante qui peut être un frein à leur utilisation en routine. Nous avons montré qu'en augmentant la précision de détermination (de la subdivision à l'espèce), les performances d'évaluation de la pollution augmentait mais beaucoup moins que le nombre de taxons. Les performances d'évaluation entre le genre et l'espèce sont d'ailleurs proches, alors qu'il y a dix fois plus d'espèce que de genres. Nous avons montré aussi que des métriques simplificatrices (formes de vie, guildes écologiques) permettaient d'évaluer aussi bien le niveau en nutriment que des indices diatomiques basés sur les espèces. Ces métriques apportent des informations supplémentaires en termes de structure de biofilm qui ne sont accessible aux données en espèce. Enfin, la pollution des rivières par les micropolluants devient une préoccupation sociétale croissante. Nous avons émis l'hypothèse que les diatomées pouvaient être de bons candidats pour évaluer la pression en herbicides. Quatre expérimentations de 2 mois ont été réalisées en mésocosmes lotiques. Nous avons montré que les diatomées vivant entourées de matrices polysaccharidiques épaisses étaient plus résistantes aux pesticides dissous. Au contraire les diatomées présentant une surface cellulaire de contact importante avec l'eau étaient défavorisées. Ce type de métrique pourrait être utilisé in situ à plus large échelle. Nous concluons sur l'intérêt d'intégrer ces métriques à la bioindication par les diatomées. Mais également nous soulignons l'importance de croiser la phylogénie et l'écologie pour mieux comprendre quelles pressions environnementales ont forcées les diatomées à s'adapter. Si ces pressions peuvent être reliées à des pressions anthropiques, la bioindication par les diatomées en sera améliorée. / Diatoms are ubiquitous microalgae of an extreme diversity. This made them good indicators of aquatic ecosystems quality and they are used since 50 years for this purpose. Since year 2000, the European Water Framework Directive requires their use to assess the ecological quality of watercourses. A typological framework has to be used in order to compare comparable rivers between each other, that is, rivers of the same bioclimatic regions, flowing on the same geological substrate at similar altitudes. Various ecoregional classifications were defined on the basis of these parameters. We showed at a scale covering 4 countries (Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland) and at a regional scale (north-east France) that ecoregions and geology are determinant to explain communities. Parameters characterizing pollution were less important. Unlike some authors, we did not observe any homogenization of the communities when pollution level was increasing. Moreover, we did not observe geographically restricted communities: this would enable to aggregate ecoregions geographically distinct but presenting the same physical characteristics. Diatoms display a very important specific diversity which can be a problem for their routine use. We showed that when increasing determination precision (from sub-division to species), pollution assessment performances were increasing but much less than the number of taxa. Assessment performances between genus and species are similar anyway, whereas there are ten time more species than genera. We also showed that using simplifying metrics (life-forms, ecological guilds) enable assessing nutrient level as well as diatom indices based on species. These metrics bring additional information about biofilms structure that is not available with species data. At last, micropollutants pollution in rivers is of increasing concern to citizens. We hypothesized that diatoms could be good candidates to assess herbicide pressure. Four experiments lasting 2 months were conducted in lotic mesocosms. We showed that diatoms surrounded by thick exopolysaccharid matrices were more resistant to dissolved pesticides. On the over hand, diatoms presenting an important cell surface contact with water were disadvantaged. This kind of metric could be used in situ at a larger scale. We conclude on the interest to integrate such metrics to diatom bioassessment. But we also strength the importance to cross phylogeny and ecology to better understand which environmental pressure forced diatoms adapt. If these pressures can be related to anthropogenic pressures, diatom bioassessment will be improved.

Στην παρούσα μελέτη καταγράφεται η αγγειώδης χλωρίδα των τοίχων της πόλης της Πάτρας, καθώς και οι θέσεις των taxa πάνω στους τοίχους. Εντοπιστήκαν 167 taxa. Η χλωρίδα αναλύεται περαιτέρω σε σχέση με την τοπική εξάπλωση των taxa, καθώς και από βιολογική και χωρολογική άποψη και συγκρίνεται η ποικιλότητα και η ποιοτική ομοιότητα της χλωρίδας που εμφανίζεται στους τοίχους του κέντρου, της παραθαλάσσιας και της προαστιακής περιοχής της πόλης. Η ποικιλότητα στο σύνολο της χλωρίδας των τοίχων στην Πάτρα βρέθηκε Η΄= 1,97 και η συνολική τιμή του δείκτη κυριαρχίας Simpson είναι D = 0,23. Tα αποτελέσματα συγκρίνονται με τις χλωρίδες τοίχων άλλων ελληνικών και ξένων πόλεων. Eπίσης, τονίζεται η σπουδαιότητα των τοίχων ως αστικοί βιότοποι και διατυπώνονται προτάσεις για τη σωστή διαχείρισή τους. / The aim of the present study was to survey the wall vascular flora of the Greek city of Patras in SW Peloponnese. 167 taxa were identified. The flora is analysed in relation to the local distribution of the taxa as well as by biological and chorological aspect. There has been comparison between the diversity and the quality similarities among the walls of centre, maritime and suburban transect of the city. The overall diversity found is H = 1,97 and D = 0,23. The results are compared with wall floras of other cities.

This thesis considers some conflicts involving indigenous peoples that arise from the universal standardization of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) over Plant Genetic Resources (PGR). My study presents the research problem of how to include indigenous peoples in dialogue as a prerequisite for conflict transformation. To better understand this problem, and potential solutions, I conducted participatory action research (PAR) through an ethnographic case study of Himalayan farmers working with the grassroots network Navdanya. The study explores the research question: how do Garhwali farmers experience grassroots mobilization for biodiversity and indigenous knowledge (IK) conservation? This question is intended to generate data for conflict resolution analysis on how to engage indigenous peoples in dialogue on the subject of IPRs over PGR. I discuss five themes that emerge from the data collected including: experiences and strategies in grassroots mobilization, culture and sharing, the seed, climate change and women. My research is divided into three separate, but interrelated elements. Firstly, I discuss my methodological choices and experiences. Secondly, I present the ethnographic research, thematic data analysis and draw conclusions. Finally, I frame the literature in the context of the theory of structural violence to explain the significance of conflicts arising from IPRs over PGR in the context of the erosion of IK systems and biodiversity.

Plants established next to other plants may have their performance positively or negatively affected by their neighbors, which characterizes interactions of facilitation and competiton, respectively. Facilitation and competition, however, may occur simultaneously and understanding which one predominates in pairwise interactions under different ecological contexts is important to comprehend the structure of plant communities. According to the stress-gradient hypothesis (SGH), facilitation is expected to prevail in more severe environments, but the outcome of interactions may change depending on features of interacting individuals, such as life form and ontogenetic stages. As harsh conditions and high diversity of plant life-forms are characteristic of coastal dunes, the amount of studies about plant interactions has been rapidly increasing in these ecosystems, with apparent divergent conclusions. However, until now, there is not a systematic and quantitative synthesis about the factors affecting the net outcome of facilitation and competition in these ecosystems. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the effects of environmental stress and the simultaneous influence of plant life form and ontogenetic stage on the outcome of facilitation and competition in coastal dunes around the world. We used four performance measures to estimate the outcome of interactions: abundance, survival, growth, and reproduction. Contrary to what was expected by SGH, we found that negative impacts of neighbors on plant reproduction increase towards more arid conditions, but this effect was not observed for other performance measures. Our results also indicate that woody neighbors facilitate the survival of woody seedlings and the reproduction of herbs, while herbaceous neighbors facilitate the growth of other herbaceous plants. Overall, the outcome of plant interactions in coastal dunes depends on the performance variable measured and on both environmental conditions and plant features, indicating an interaction between these factors. Such interaction and different mechanisms underlying facilitation and competition should be more investigated in the future. The global scale of our meta-analysis supports generalization of important processes of succession and conservation in coastal dunes. Benefits of woody neighbors to the survival of woody seedlings corroborate the concept of successional feedbacks in the beach-inland physiognomic gradient, and our results reinforce the use of nurse plants in coastal dunes as a valuable tool to restoration of these endangered ecoystems / Plantas estabelecidas nas proximidades de outras plantas podem ter sua performance afetada positiva ou negativamente por seus vizinhos, caracterizando, respectivamente, interações de facilitação e competição. Considerando que ambas as interações podem ocorrer de forma simultânea, compreender o predomínio de cada uma delas em diferentes contextos ecológicos é fundamental para o entendimento da estrutura de comunidades vegetais. De acordo com a hipótese do gradiente de estresse (HGE), a facilitação tende a predominar em ambientes mais severos, mas o balanço das interações depende ainda das características dos indivíduos envolvidos, como forma de vida e estágio ontogenético. Como condições ambientais severas e alta diversidade de formas de vida vegetais são características de planícies costeiras, o número de estudos investigando interações entre plantas tem aumentado rapidamente nesses ambientes, com conclusões aparentemente divergentes. No entanto, ainda não há uma síntese sistemática e quantitativa dos fatores que afetam o balanço entre facilitação e competição nesses ecossistemas. Nós realizamos uma meta-análise em escala global para investigar os efeitos do estresse ambiental e a influência simultânea da forma de vida e do estágio ontogenético das plantas sobre o balanço entre facilitação e competição em planícies costeiras. Utilizamos quatro variáveis de performance para estimar o balanço de interações: abundância, sobrevivência, crescimento e reprodução. Ao contrário do predito pela HGE, encontramos que impactos negativos de plantas vizinhas sobre a reprodução de outras plantas aumentam com a aridez do ambiente, mas que esse efeito não é observado para outras variáveis de performance. Nossos resultados também mostram que vizinhos lenhosos facilitam a sobrevivência de plântulas lenhosas e a reprodução de plantas herbáceas, enquanto vizinhos herbáceos facilitam o crescimento de outras herbáceas. De modo geral, o balanço das interações depende da variável de performance medida e tanto de condições ambientais quanto de características das plantas, indicando que esses fatores interagem. Tal interação e os diferentes mecanismos subjacentes à facilitação e à competição devem ser melhor investigados no futuro. A maior sobrevivência de plântulas lenhosas na presença de vizinhos lenhosos corrobora a ideia de retroalimentação positiva no processo sucessional que caracteriza o gradiente fisionômico da praia ao interior. Nossos resultados também reforçam o potencial do uso de plantas-berçários como ferramenta para restauração de planícies costeiras degradadas

A identificação de atributos funcionais de colêmbolos associada com sua caracterização taxonômica responde aos impactos causados por mudanças de uso e manejo, além de terem um efeito sobre os processos funcionais do solo. Além disso, a descrição de atributos funcionais visa também atender o crescente interesse de investigar mecanismos relacionados com os processos de montagem de comunidade, tais como a convergência e divergência de atributos funcionais. Este trabalho teve três objetivos: 1) investigar a composição e estrutura de comunidades de colêmbolos em relação a alterações de uso do solo e diferentes ofertas de forragem através de uma abordagem funcional e taxonômica; 2) avaliar a existência de filtros ambientais e diferenciação de nichos dentro das comunidades; 3) avaliar o efeito de diferentes grupos funcionais dos colêmbolos no funcionamento do solo. Para isto, foram realizamos três estudos, sendo avaliados no primeiro estudo diferentes usos do solo (mata, campo e eucalipto) e no segundo estudo quatro níveis de ofertas de forragem. Como resultado principal de ambos os estudos, observamos que os de índices taxonômicos, tais como riqueza e diversidade de espécies, podem apresentar padrões diferentes dos índices funcionais, porém ambas as abordagens foram sensíveis aos tratamentos avaliados. De modo geral, o aumento da riqueza e diversidade de colêmbolos não é diretamente relacionado com o aumento da diversidade funcional. Também foi observado em ambos os estudos que a composição e estrutura das comunidades de colêmbolos foram afetadas significativamente pela existência de um filtro ambiental e pela diferenciação de nicho ecológico, uma vez que observamos convergência e divergência de atributos funcionais significativamente relacionados com os gradientes estudados. O terceiro estudo, realizado em condições de microcosmos, consistiram em 6 tratamentos e um controle, sendo os tratamento a combinação de diferentes grupos funcionais de colêmbolos. De modo geral, os resultados mostram que a presença de colêmbolos não afetou significativamente o tamanho da comunidade microbiana do solo, porém estimulou a mineralização de C e N. A presença de apenas um grupo funcional de colêmbolos estimulou a atividade microbiana, sendo estes significativamente diferentes do tratamento controle. Estas diferenças são ainda maiores quando há duas e três grupos funcionais no mesmo microcosmo. O estímulo sobre a comunidade microbiana possivelmente deve-se aos diferentes nichos ocupados pelos colêmbolos dentro do solo, pelas modificações na composição microbiana e pela redistribuição de nutrientes no interior do solo. Palavra-chave: colêmbolos; filtro ambiental; interação biológica; regras de montagem; campos; uso do solo; grupo funcional; atributo funcional; convergência de atributos; divergência de atributos. / Traits-based approach (functional traits) associated with taxonomical description in collembolan communities can response to environmental changes and have a directly effect on soil functioning. Furthermore, trait-based approach also aims to attend the growing interest in investigating mechanisms that are related to assembly process in communities, such as trait-convergence and trait-divergence assembly patterns. This work was three objective: 1) investigating the composition and structure of Collembola communities regarding environmental changes in soil and litter induced by land-use and grassland management using both taxonomic and functional approaches; 2) assessing the existence of environmental filtering and biotic interaction within collembolan communities; 3) evaluating the effect of three collembolan life-form on soil functioning. To this, we carried out three studies to investigate these objectives which two of them was carried out in three land-uses types (study 1) and four herbage allowance (study 2).The results of the studies 1 and 2 showed that taxonomic indices such as richness and taxonomical diversity and functional indices can have different patterns in collembolan communities, but both approaches are sensitive to the treatments evaluated. In general, increasing the richness and diversity of collembola was not directly related with the increase of the functional diversity. We also observed in both studies the composition and structure of Collembolan communities are significantly affected by the existence of an environmental filtering and biotic interaction, since we observed significantly trait-convergence and trait- divergence related to ecological gradients tested. Our findings show that functional traits provide a better understanding of the response of communities to biotic and abiotic changes. The third study was carried out in microcosm conditions and consisted of 6 different combinations of collembolan life-form. Overall, our results showed that collembolan life-forms did not significantly affect microbial biomass but collembolan life-forms affected microbial activities. The presence of only one life-form stimulated C and N mineralization regarding to their CO2 and enzymatic activities, but these stimulations were higher when there was two or three life-forms in the same microcosm. We suggest that stimulation on the microbial community is due to different niches occupied by each collembolan life-form, the changes on microbial composition and redistribution of nutrients in the soil.

A identificação de atributos funcionais de colêmbolos associada com sua caracterização taxonômica responde aos impactos causados por mudanças de uso e manejo, além de terem um efeito sobre os processos funcionais do solo. Além disso, a descrição de atributos funcionais visa também atender o crescente interesse de investigar mecanismos relacionados com os processos de montagem de comunidade, tais como a convergência e divergência de atributos funcionais. Este trabalho teve três objetivos: 1) investigar a composição e estrutura de comunidades de colêmbolos em relação a alterações de uso do solo e diferentes ofertas de forragem através de uma abordagem funcional e taxonômica; 2) avaliar a existência de filtros ambientais e diferenciação de nichos dentro das comunidades; 3) avaliar o efeito de diferentes grupos funcionais dos colêmbolos no funcionamento do solo. Para isto, foram realizamos três estudos, sendo avaliados no primeiro estudo diferentes usos do solo (mata, campo e eucalipto) e no segundo estudo quatro níveis de ofertas de forragem. Como resultado principal de ambos os estudos, observamos que os de índices taxonômicos, tais como riqueza e diversidade de espécies, podem apresentar padrões diferentes dos índices funcionais, porém ambas as abordagens foram sensíveis aos tratamentos avaliados. De modo geral, o aumento da riqueza e diversidade de colêmbolos não é diretamente relacionado com o aumento da diversidade funcional. Também foi observado em ambos os estudos que a composição e estrutura das comunidades de colêmbolos foram afetadas significativamente pela existência de um filtro ambiental e pela diferenciação de nicho ecológico, uma vez que observamos convergência e divergência de atributos funcionais significativamente relacionados com os gradientes estudados. O terceiro estudo, realizado em condições de microcosmos, consistiram em 6 tratamentos e um controle, sendo os tratamento a combinação de diferentes grupos funcionais de colêmbolos. De modo geral, os resultados mostram que a presença de colêmbolos não afetou significativamente o tamanho da comunidade microbiana do solo, porém estimulou a mineralização de C e N. A presença de apenas um grupo funcional de colêmbolos estimulou a atividade microbiana, sendo estes significativamente diferentes do tratamento controle. Estas diferenças são ainda maiores quando há duas e três grupos funcionais no mesmo microcosmo. O estímulo sobre a comunidade microbiana possivelmente deve-se aos diferentes nichos ocupados pelos colêmbolos dentro do solo, pelas modificações na composição microbiana e pela redistribuição de nutrientes no interior do solo. Palavra-chave: colêmbolos; filtro ambiental; interação biológica; regras de montagem; campos; uso do solo; grupo funcional; atributo funcional; convergência de atributos; divergência de atributos. / Traits-based approach (functional traits) associated with taxonomical description in collembolan communities can response to environmental changes and have a directly effect on soil functioning. Furthermore, trait-based approach also aims to attend the growing interest in investigating mechanisms that are related to assembly process in communities, such as trait-convergence and trait-divergence assembly patterns. This work was three objective: 1) investigating the composition and structure of Collembola communities regarding environmental changes in soil and litter induced by land-use and grassland management using both taxonomic and functional approaches; 2) assessing the existence of environmental filtering and biotic interaction within collembolan communities; 3) evaluating the effect of three collembolan life-form on soil functioning. To this, we carried out three studies to investigate these objectives which two of them was carried out in three land-uses types (study 1) and four herbage allowance (study 2).The results of the studies 1 and 2 showed that taxonomic indices such as richness and taxonomical diversity and functional indices can have different patterns in collembolan communities, but both approaches are sensitive to the treatments evaluated. In general, increasing the richness and diversity of collembola was not directly related with the increase of the functional diversity. We also observed in both studies the composition and structure of Collembolan communities are significantly affected by the existence of an environmental filtering and biotic interaction, since we observed significantly trait-convergence and trait- divergence related to ecological gradients tested. Our findings show that functional traits provide a better understanding of the response of communities to biotic and abiotic changes. The third study was carried out in microcosm conditions and consisted of 6 different combinations of collembolan life-form. Overall, our results showed that collembolan life-forms did not significantly affect microbial biomass but collembolan life-forms affected microbial activities. The presence of only one life-form stimulated C and N mineralization regarding to their CO2 and enzymatic activities, but these stimulations were higher when there was two or three life-forms in the same microcosm. We suggest that stimulation on the microbial community is due to different niches occupied by each collembolan life-form, the changes on microbial composition and redistribution of nutrients in the soil.

A identificação de atributos funcionais de colêmbolos associada com sua caracterização taxonômica responde aos impactos causados por mudanças de uso e manejo, além de terem um efeito sobre os processos funcionais do solo. Além disso, a descrição de atributos funcionais visa também atender o crescente interesse de investigar mecanismos relacionados com os processos de montagem de comunidade, tais como a convergência e divergência de atributos funcionais. Este trabalho teve três objetivos: 1) investigar a composição e estrutura de comunidades de colêmbolos em relação a alterações de uso do solo e diferentes ofertas de forragem através de uma abordagem funcional e taxonômica; 2) avaliar a existência de filtros ambientais e diferenciação de nichos dentro das comunidades; 3) avaliar o efeito de diferentes grupos funcionais dos colêmbolos no funcionamento do solo. Para isto, foram realizamos três estudos, sendo avaliados no primeiro estudo diferentes usos do solo (mata, campo e eucalipto) e no segundo estudo quatro níveis de ofertas de forragem. Como resultado principal de ambos os estudos, observamos que os de índices taxonômicos, tais como riqueza e diversidade de espécies, podem apresentar padrões diferentes dos índices funcionais, porém ambas as abordagens foram sensíveis aos tratamentos avaliados. De modo geral, o aumento da riqueza e diversidade de colêmbolos não é diretamente relacionado com o aumento da diversidade funcional. Também foi observado em ambos os estudos que a composição e estrutura das comunidades de colêmbolos foram afetadas significativamente pela existência de um filtro ambiental e pela diferenciação de nicho ecológico, uma vez que observamos convergência e divergência de atributos funcionais significativamente relacionados com os gradientes estudados. O terceiro estudo, realizado em condições de microcosmos, consistiram em 6 tratamentos e um controle, sendo os tratamento a combinação de diferentes grupos funcionais de colêmbolos. De modo geral, os resultados mostram que a presença de colêmbolos não afetou significativamente o tamanho da comunidade microbiana do solo, porém estimulou a mineralização de C e N. A presença de apenas um grupo funcional de colêmbolos estimulou a atividade microbiana, sendo estes significativamente diferentes do tratamento controle. Estas diferenças são ainda maiores quando há duas e três grupos funcionais no mesmo microcosmo. O estímulo sobre a comunidade microbiana possivelmente deve-se aos diferentes nichos ocupados pelos colêmbolos dentro do solo, pelas modificações na composição microbiana e pela redistribuição de nutrientes no interior do solo. Palavra-chave: colêmbolos; filtro ambiental; interação biológica; regras de montagem; campos; uso do solo; grupo funcional; atributo funcional; convergência de atributos; divergência de atributos. / Traits-based approach (functional traits) associated with taxonomical description in collembolan communities can response to environmental changes and have a directly effect on soil functioning. Furthermore, trait-based approach also aims to attend the growing interest in investigating mechanisms that are related to assembly process in communities, such as trait-convergence and trait-divergence assembly patterns. This work was three objective: 1) investigating the composition and structure of Collembola communities regarding environmental changes in soil and litter induced by land-use and grassland management using both taxonomic and functional approaches; 2) assessing the existence of environmental filtering and biotic interaction within collembolan communities; 3) evaluating the effect of three collembolan life-form on soil functioning. To this, we carried out three studies to investigate these objectives which two of them was carried out in three land-uses types (study 1) and four herbage allowance (study 2).The results of the studies 1 and 2 showed that taxonomic indices such as richness and taxonomical diversity and functional indices can have different patterns in collembolan communities, but both approaches are sensitive to the treatments evaluated. In general, increasing the richness and diversity of collembola was not directly related with the increase of the functional diversity. We also observed in both studies the composition and structure of Collembolan communities are significantly affected by the existence of an environmental filtering and biotic interaction, since we observed significantly trait-convergence and trait- divergence related to ecological gradients tested. Our findings show that functional traits provide a better understanding of the response of communities to biotic and abiotic changes. The third study was carried out in microcosm conditions and consisted of 6 different combinations of collembolan life-form. Overall, our results showed that collembolan life-forms did not significantly affect microbial biomass but collembolan life-forms affected microbial activities. The presence of only one life-form stimulated C and N mineralization regarding to their CO2 and enzymatic activities, but these stimulations were higher when there was two or three life-forms in the same microcosm. We suggest that stimulation on the microbial community is due to different niches occupied by each collembolan life-form, the changes on microbial composition and redistribution of nutrients in the soil.

Plants established next to other plants may have their performance positively or negatively affected by their neighbors, which characterizes interactions of facilitation and competiton, respectively. Facilitation and competition, however, may occur simultaneously and understanding which one predominates in pairwise interactions under different ecological contexts is important to comprehend the structure of plant communities. According to the stress-gradient hypothesis (SGH), facilitation is expected to prevail in more severe environments, but the outcome of interactions may change depending on features of interacting individuals, such as life form and ontogenetic stages. As harsh conditions and high diversity of plant life-forms are characteristic of coastal dunes, the amount of studies about plant interactions has been rapidly increasing in these ecosystems, with apparent divergent conclusions. However, until now, there is not a systematic and quantitative synthesis about the factors affecting the net outcome of facilitation and competition in these ecosystems. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the effects of environmental stress and the simultaneous influence of plant life form and ontogenetic stage on the outcome of facilitation and competition in coastal dunes around the world. We used four performance measures to estimate the outcome of interactions: abundance, survival, growth, and reproduction. Contrary to what was expected by SGH, we found that negative impacts of neighbors on plant reproduction increase towards more arid conditions, but this effect was not observed for other performance measures. Our results also indicate that woody neighbors facilitate the survival of woody seedlings and the reproduction of herbs, while herbaceous neighbors facilitate the growth of other herbaceous plants. Overall, the outcome of plant interactions in coastal dunes depends on the performance variable measured and on both environmental conditions and plant features, indicating an interaction between these factors. Such interaction and different mechanisms underlying facilitation and competition should be more investigated in the future. The global scale of our meta-analysis supports generalization of important processes of succession and conservation in coastal dunes. Benefits of woody neighbors to the survival of woody seedlings corroborate the concept of successional feedbacks in the beach-inland physiognomic gradient, and our results reinforce the use of nurse plants in coastal dunes as a valuable tool to restoration of these endangered ecoystems / Plantas estabelecidas nas proximidades de outras plantas podem ter sua performance afetada positiva ou negativamente por seus vizinhos, caracterizando, respectivamente, interações de facilitação e competição. Considerando que ambas as interações podem ocorrer de forma simultânea, compreender o predomínio de cada uma delas em diferentes contextos ecológicos é fundamental para o entendimento da estrutura de comunidades vegetais. De acordo com a hipótese do gradiente de estresse (HGE), a facilitação tende a predominar em ambientes mais severos, mas o balanço das interações depende ainda das características dos indivíduos envolvidos, como forma de vida e estágio ontogenético. Como condições ambientais severas e alta diversidade de formas de vida vegetais são características de planícies costeiras, o número de estudos investigando interações entre plantas tem aumentado rapidamente nesses ambientes, com conclusões aparentemente divergentes. No entanto, ainda não há uma síntese sistemática e quantitativa dos fatores que afetam o balanço entre facilitação e competição nesses ecossistemas. Nós realizamos uma meta-análise em escala global para investigar os efeitos do estresse ambiental e a influência simultânea da forma de vida e do estágio ontogenético das plantas sobre o balanço entre facilitação e competição em planícies costeiras. Utilizamos quatro variáveis de performance para estimar o balanço de interações: abundância, sobrevivência, crescimento e reprodução. Ao contrário do predito pela HGE, encontramos que impactos negativos de plantas vizinhas sobre a reprodução de outras plantas aumentam com a aridez do ambiente, mas que esse efeito não é observado para outras variáveis de performance. Nossos resultados também mostram que vizinhos lenhosos facilitam a sobrevivência de plântulas lenhosas e a reprodução de plantas herbáceas, enquanto vizinhos herbáceos facilitam o crescimento de outras herbáceas. De modo geral, o balanço das interações depende da variável de performance medida e tanto de condições ambientais quanto de características das plantas, indicando que esses fatores interagem. Tal interação e os diferentes mecanismos subjacentes à facilitação e à competição devem ser melhor investigados no futuro. A maior sobrevivência de plântulas lenhosas na presença de vizinhos lenhosos corrobora a ideia de retroalimentação positiva no processo sucessional que caracteriza o gradiente fisionômico da praia ao interior. Nossos resultados também reforçam o potencial do uso de plantas-berçários como ferramenta para restauração de planícies costeiras degradadas

The species-rich genus Peperomia (Black Pepper relatives) is the only genus among early diverging angiosperms where epiphytism evolved. The majority of fruits of Peperomia release sticky secretions or exhibit hook-shaped appendages indicative of epizoochorous dispersal, which is in contrast to other flowering plants, where epiphytes are generally characterized by fruit morphological adaptations for anemochory or endozoochory. We investigate fruit characters using Cryo-SEM. Comparative phylogenetic analyses are applied for the first time to include life form and fruit character information to study diversification in Peperomia. Likelihood ratio tests uncover correlated character evolution. We demonstrate that diversification within Peperomia is not homogenous across its phylogeny, and that net diversification rates increase by twofold within the most species-rich subgenus. In contrast to former land plant studies that provide general evidence for increased diversification in epiphytic lineages, we demonstrate that the evolution of epiphytism within Peperomia predates the diversification shift. An epiphytic-dependent diversification is only observed for the background phylogeny. An elevated frequency of life form transitions between epiphytes and terrestrials and thus evolutionary flexibility of life forms is uncovered to coincide with the diversification shift. The evolution of fruits showing dispersal related structures is key to diversification in the foreground region of the phylogeny and postdates the evolution of epiphytism. We conclude that the success of Peperomia, measured in species numbers, is likely the result of enhanced vertical and horizontal dispersal ability and life form flexibility but not the evolution of epiphytism itself.