Résumé

Large tropical trees store significant amounts of carbon in woody components and their distribution plays an important role in forest carbon stocks and dynamics. Here, we explore the properties of a new Lidar derived index, large tree canopy area (LCA) defined as the area occupied by canopy above a reference height. We hypothesize that this simple measure of forest structure representing the crown area of large canopy trees could consistently explain the landscape variations of forest volume and aboveground biomass (AGB) across a range of climate and edaphic conditions. To test this hypothesis, we assembled a unique dataset of high-resolution airborne Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) and ground inventory data in nine undisturbed old growth Neotropical forests. We found that the LCA for trees greater than 27 m (∼ 25–30 m) in height and at least 100 m2 crown size in a unit area (1 ha), explains more than 75 % of total forest volume variations, irrespective of the forest biogeographic conditions. When weighted by average wood density of the stand, LCA can be used as an unbiased estimator of AGB across all sites (R2 = 0.78, RMSE = 46.02 Mg ha−1, bias = 0.76 Mg ha−1). Unlike other Lidar derived metrics with complex nonlinear relations to biomass, the relationship between LCA and AGB is linear. A comparison with tree inventories across the study sites indicates that LCA correlates best with the crown area (or basal area) of trees with diameter textgreater 50 cm. The spatial invariance of the LCA–AGB relationship across the Neotropics suggests a remarkable regularity of forest structure across the landscape and a new technique for systematic monitoring of large trees for their contribution to AGB and changes associated with selective logging, tree mortality, and other types of forest disturbance and dynamics.

Auteurs, date et publication :

Auteurs Victoria Meyer , Sassan Saatchi , David B. Clark , Michael Keller , Grégoire Vincent , António Ferraz , Fernando Espírito-Santo , Marcus V. N. D'Oliveira , Dahlia Kaki , Jérôme Chave

Publication : Biogeosciences Discussions

Date : 2018

Pages : 1–38

Catégorie(s)

#CIRAD #FORET Paracou

Résumé

Leaf-level net photosynthesis (An) estimates and associated photosynthetic parameters are crucial for accurately parameterizing photosynthesis models. For tropical forests, such data are poorly available and collected at variable light conditions. To avoid over- or underestimation of modeled photosynthesis, it is critical to know at which photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) photosynthesis becomes light-saturated. We studied the dependence of An on PPFD in two tropical forests in French Guiana. We estimated the light saturation range, including the lowest PPFD level at which Asat (An at light saturation) is reached, as well as the PPFD range at which Asat remained unaltered. The light saturation range was derived from photosynthetic light-response curves, and within-canopy and interspecific differences were studied. We observed wide light saturation ranges of An. Light saturation ranges differed among canopy heights, but a PPFD level of 1,000 µmol m−2 s−1 was common across all heights, except for pioneer trees species that did not reach light saturation below 2,000 µmol m−2 s−1. A light intensity of 1,000 µmol m−2 s−1 sufficed for measuring Asat of climax species at our study sites, independent of the species or the canopy height. Because of the wide light saturation ranges, results from studies measuring Asat at higher PPFD levels (for upper canopy leaves up to 1,600 µmol m−2 s−1) are comparable with studies measuring at 1,000 µmol m−2 s−1.

Auteurs, date et publication :

Auteurs Lore T. Verryckt , David S. Ellsworth , Sara Vicca , Leandro Van Langenhove , Josep Peñuelas , Philippe Ciais , Juan M. Posada , Clément Stahl , Sabrina Coste , Elodie A. Courtois , Michael Obersteiner , Jérôme Chave , Ivan A. Janssens

Publication : Biotropica

Date : 2023

Volume : 52

Issue : 6

Pages : 1183-1193

Catégorie(s)

#FORET Paracou

Résumé

Plant leaf litter generally decomposes faster as a group of different species than when individual species decompose alone, but underlying mechanisms of these diversity effects remain poorly understood. Because resource C : N : P stoichiometry (i.e. the ratios of these key elements) exhibits strong control on consumers, we supposed that stoichiometric dissimilarity of litter mixtures (i.e. the divergence in C : N : P ratios among species) improves resource complementarity to decomposers leading to faster mixture decomposition. We tested this hypothesis with: (i) a wide range of leaf litter mixtures of neotropical tree species varying in C : N : P dissimilarity, and (ii) a nutrient addition experiment (C, N and P) to create stoichiometric similarity. Litter mixtures decomposed in the field using two different types of litterbags allowing or preventing access to soil fauna. Litter mixture mass loss was higher than expected from species decomposing singly, especially in presence of soil fauna. With fauna, sy...

Auteurs, date et publication :

Auteurs S. Barantal , H. Schimann , N. Fromin , S. Hattenschwiler

Publication : Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Date : 2014

Volume : 281

Issue : 1796

Pages : 20141682–20141682

Catégorie(s)

#CIRAD #FORET Paracou

Résumé

Detecting broad scale spatial patterns across the South American rainforest biome is still a major challenge. Although several countries do possess their own, more or less detailed land-cover map, these are based on classifications that appear largely discordant from a country to another. Up to now, continental scale remote sensing studies failed to fill this gap. They mostly result in crude representations of the rainforest biome as a single, uniform vegetation class, in contrast with open vegetations. A few studies identified broad scale spatial patterns, but only when they managed to map a particular forest characteristic such as biomass. The main objective of this study is to identify, characterize and map distinct forest landscape types within the evergreen lowland rainforest at the sub-continental scale of the Guiana Shield (north-east tropical South-America 10° North-2° South; 66° West-50° West). This study is based on the analysis of a 1-year daily data set (from January 1st to December 31st, 2000) from the VEGETATION sensor onboard the SPOT-4 satellite (1-km spatial resolution). We interpreted remotely sensed landscape classes (RSLC) from field and high resolution remote sensing data of 21 sites in French Guiana. We cross-analyzed remote sensing data, field observations and environmental data using multivariate analysis. We obtained 33 remotely sensed landscape classes (RSLC) among which five forest-RSLC representing 78% of the forested area. The latter were classified as different broad forest landscape types according to a gradient of canopy openness. Their mapping revealed a new and meaningful broad-scale spatial pattern of forest landscape types. At the scale of the Guiana Shield, we observed a spatial patterns similarity between climatic and forest landscape types. The two most open forest-RSLCs were observed mainly within the north-west to south-east dry belt. The three other forest-RSLCs were observed in wetter and less anthropized areas, particularly in the newly recognized “Guianan dense forest arch”. Better management and conservation policies, as well as improvement of biological and ecological knowledge, require accurate and stable representations of the geographical components of ecosystems. Our results represent a decisive step in this way for the Guiana Shield area and contribute to fill one of the major shortfall in the knowledge of tropical forests.

Auteurs, date et publication :

Auteurs Valéry Gond , Vincent Freycon , Jean-François Molino , Olivier Brunaux , Florent Ingrassia , Pierre Joubert , Jean-François Pekel , Marie-Françoise Prévost , Viviane Thierron , Pierre-Julien Trombe , Daniel Sabatier

Publication : International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation

Date : 2011

Volume : 13

Issue : 3

Pages : 357–367

Catégorie(s)

#CIRAD #FORET Paracou

Résumé

1. Ants are widespread in tropical rainforests, including in the canopy where territorially dominant arboreal species represent the main part of the arthropod biomass. 2. By mapping the territories of dominant arboreal ant species and using a null model analysis and a pairwise approach this study was able to show the presence of an ant mosaic on the upper canopy of a primary Neotropical rainforest (c. 1 ha sampled; 157 tall trees from 28 families). Although Neotropical rainforest canopies are frequently irregular, with tree crowns at different heights breaking the continuity of the territories of dominant ants, the latter are preserved via underground galleries or trails laid on the ground. 3. The distribution of the trees influences the structure of the ant mosaic, something related to the attractiveness of tree taxa for certain arboreal ant species rather than others. 4. Small-scale natural disturbances, most likely strong winds in the area studied (presence of canopy gaps), play a role by favouring the presence of two ant species typical of secondary formations: Camponotus femoratus and Crematogaster levior, which live in parabiosis (i.e. share territories and nests but lodge in different cavities) and build conspicuous ant gardens. In addition, pioneer Cecropia myrmecophytic trees were recorded.

Auteurs, date et publication :

Auteurs Alain Dejean , Arthur Compin , Jacques H. C. Delabie , Frédéric Azémar , Bruno Corbara , Maurice Leponce

Publication : Ecological Entomology

Date : 2025

Volume : 44

Issue : 4

Pages : 560-570

Catégorie(s)

#CIRAD #CNRS #FORET Nouragues #FORET Paracou

Auteurs, date et publication :

Auteurs Jana Dlouhá , Tancrède Alméras , Jacques Beauchêne , Bruno Clair , Meriem Fournier

Publication : Functional Ecology

Date : 2018

Catégorie(s)

#CIRAD #FORET Paracou

Auteurs, date et publication :

Auteurs Stéphane Traissac , Jean-Pierre Pascal , Lindsay Turnbull

Publication : Journal of Vegetation Science

Date : 2014

Volume : 25

Issue : 2

Pages : 491–502

Catégorie(s)

#CIRAD #CNRS #FORET Nouragues #FORET Paracou

Résumé

With the upcoming BIOMASS mission, P-band PolInSAR is expected to provide new perspectives on global forest aboveground biomass (AGB). However, its performance has not yet been fully evaluated for dense tropical forests with complex structure and very high biomass. Based on the TropiSAR campaign in French Guiana, we explored the challenges of the three most commonly used PolInSAR measures to capture AGB in tropical forests; coherence magnitude, interferometric phase, and backscatter. An improved AGB estimation approach was developed by integrating multiple information derived from single-baseline PolInSAR data. The approach involves ground-volume backscatter decomposition and combines volume backscatter with the retrieved forest height. Volume backscatter from the forest canopy was the best predictor of AGB for tropical forests, whereas the ground backscatter contribution was affected by the complex underlying surface and terrain slope. Both LiDAR- and PolInSAR-derived forest heights showed limited correlation with high AGB due to the varying forest basal area. The linear combination of PolInSAR-derived forest height and volume backscatter complemented each other and produced improved AGB estimates. Comparing three different PolInSAR data pairs, the proposed method produced an AGB map with an average R2 of 0.7 and RMSE of 34 tons/ha (relative RMSE of 9.4%) at a spatial resolution of 125 × 125 m2 for biomass between 250–500 tons/ha.

Auteurs, date et publication :

Auteurs Zhanmang Liao , Binbin He , Xingwen Quan , Albert I. J. M. van Dijk , Shi Qiu , Changming Yin

Publication : Remote Sensing of Environment

Date : 2019

Volume : 221

Pages : 489-507

Catégorie(s)

#CIRAD #FORET Paracou

Résumé

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Morphological variation in light-foraging strategies potentially plays important roles in efficient light utilization and carbon assimilation in spatially and temporally heterogeneous environments such as tropical moist forest understorey. By considering a suite of morphological traits at various hierarchical scales, we examined the functional significance of crown shape diversity and plasticity in response to canopy openness. METHODS We conducted a field comparative study in French Guiana among tree saplings of 14 co-occurring species differing in light-niche optimum and breadth. Each leaf, axis or crown functional trait was characterized by a median value and a degree of plasticity expressed under contrasting light regimes. KEY RESULTS We found divergent patterns between shade-tolerant and heliophilic species on the one hand and between shade and sun plants on the other. Across species, multiple regression analysis showed that relative crown depth was positively correlated with leaf lifespan and not correlated with crown vertical growth rate. Within species displaying a reduction in crown depth in the shade, we observed that crown depth was limited by reduced crown vertical growth rate and not by accelerated leaf or branch shedding. In addition, the study provides contrasting examples of morphological multilevel plastic responses, which allow the maintenance of efficient foliage and enable effective whole-plant light capture in shaded conditions under a moderate vertical light gradient. CONCLUSIONS This result suggests that plastic adjustment of relative crown depth does not reflect a strategy maximizing light capture efficiency. Integrating and scaling-up leaf-level dynamics to shoot- and crown-level helps to interpret in functional and adaptive terms inter- and intraspecific patterns of crown traits and to better understand the mechanism of shade tolerance.

Auteurs, date et publication :

Auteurs Marilyne Laurans , Gregoire Vincent

Publication : Annals of Botany

Date : 2016

Volume : 118

Issue : 5

Pages : 983–996

Catégorie(s)

#CIRAD #FORET Paracou

Résumé

In Neotropical rainforest canopies, phytotelmata (‘‘plant-held waters”) shelter diverse aquatic macroinvertebrate communities, including vectors of animal diseases. Studying these communities is difficult because phytotelmata are widely dispersed, hard to find from the ground and often inaccessible. We propose here a method for placing in tree crowns ‘‘artificial phytotelmata” whose size and shape can be tailored to different research targets. The efficacy of this method was shown while comparing the patterns of community diversity of three forest formations. We noted a difference between a riparian forest and a rainforest, whereas trees alongside a dirt road cutting through that rainforest corresponded to a subset of the latter. Because rarefied species richness was significantly lower when the phytotelmata were left for three weeks rather than for six or nine weeks, we recommend leaving the phytotelmata for twelve weeks to permit predators and phoretic species to fully establish themselves.

Auteurs, date et publication :

Auteurs Alain Dejean , Frédéric Petitclerc , Frédéric Azémar , Laurent Pélozuelo , Stanislas Talaga , Maurice Leponce , Arthur Compin

Publication : Comptes Rendus Biologies

Date : 2025

Volume : 341

Pages : 20–27

Catégorie(s)

#CIRAD #CNRS #FORET Nouragues #FORET Paracou