Estimation of contemporary effective population size in plant populations: Limitations of genomic datasets.

Effective population size ( ) is a pivotal evolutionary parameter with crucial implications in conservation practice and policy. Genetic methods to estimate have been preferred over demographic methods because they rely on genetic data rather than time-consuming ecological monitoring. Methods based on linkage disequilibrium (LD), in particular, have become popular in conservation as they require a single sampling and provide estimates that refer to recent generations.

Low-frequency somatic mutations are heritable in tropical trees and .

Somatic mutations potentially play a role in plant evolution, but common expectations pertaining to plant somatic mutations remain insufficiently tested. Unlike in most animals, the plant germline is assumed to be set aside late in development, leading to the expectation that plants accumulate somatic mutations along growth. Therefore, several predictions were made on the fate of somatic mutations: mutations have generally low frequency in plant tissues; mutations at high frequency have a higher chance of intergenerational transmission; branching topology of the tree dictates mutation distribution; and exposure to UV (ultraviolet) radiation increases mutagenesis.

High intraspecific growth variability despite strong evolutionary legacy in an Amazonian forest.

Tree growth is key to species performance. However, individual growth variability within species remains underexplored for a whole community, and the role of species evolutionary legacy and local environments remains unquantified. Based on 36 years of diameter records for 7961 trees from 138 species, we assessed individual growth across an Amazonian forest.

Higher local intra- than interspecific variability in water- and carbon-related leaf traits among Neotropical tree species.

Background And Aims: Intraspecific variability in leaf water-related traits remains little explored despite its potential importance in the context of increasing drought frequency and severity. Studies comparing intra- and interspecific variability of leaf traits often rely on inappropriate sampling designs that result in non-robust estimates, mainly owing to an excess of the species/individual ratio in community ecology or, on the contrary, to an excess of the individual/species ratio in population ecology.

Methods: We carried out virtual testing of three strategies to compare intra- and interspecific trait variability.

Selection in space and time: Individual tree growth is adapted to tropical forest gap dynamics.

Tropical forest dynamics are driven by growth and survival strategies of tree species in relation to treefall gaps; however, the ecological and evolutionary roles of intraspecific variation in the response to forest gaps remain unexplored. Here, we associated genomic data of three related tree species of the genus Symphonia in a French Guiana forest with (1) each individual tree's growth potential, and (2) with its light and competition environment estimated based on 33 years of forest monitoring in plots covering 120 ha. We show that individual trees within species have genetically determined growth strategies that are adapted to the local light and competition environments, which are shaped by the time since the last treefall.

Topography drives microgeographic adaptations of closely related species in two tropical tree species complexes.

Closely related tree species that grow in sympatry are abundant in rainforests. However, little is known of the ecoevolutionary processes that govern their niches and local coexistence. We assessed genetic species delimitation in closely related sympatric species belonging to two Neotropical tree species complexes and investigated their genomic adaptation to a fine-scale topographic gradient with associated edaphic and hydrologic features.

Topography shapes the local coexistence of tree species within species complexes of Neotropical forests.

Forest inventories in Amazonia include around 5000 described tree species belonging to more than 800 genera. Numerous species-rich genera share genetic variation among species because of recent speciation and/or recurrent hybridisation, forming species complexes. Despite the key role that tree species complexes play in understanding Neotropical diversification, and their need to exploit a diversity of niches, little is known about the mechanisms that allow local coexistence of tree species complexes and their species in sympatry.