David Bruy

Institute of Research for Development | IRD · 123 - Plant Architecture, Functioning and Evolution (AMAP)

Une mission de trois semaines a eu lieu en Nouvelle-Calédonie en octobre 2023, visant principalement l'observation et la collecte des Lauraceae, Rutaceae, Balanopaceae, Sapindaceae et Clusiaceae (Garcinia), en cours d'étude. D'autres espèces ont été collectées opportunement au gré des hasards des rencontres sur le terrain. Dix-huit sites ont été pr...

Annonaceae is a major tropical plant family particularly diverse in tropical rain forests of the world. Although the classification and systematics of the family has significantly improved over the past decade, the most recent classification was based on a reduced set of plastid markers and incomplete genus‐level taxon sampling. This classification...

Vascular plants are exceptional among eukaryotes due to their outstanding genome size diversity which ranges ∼2,400-fold, including the largest genome so far recorded in the angiosperm Paris japonica (148.89 Gbp/1C). Despite available data showing that giant genomes are restricted across the Tree of Life, the biological limits to genome size expans...

About a third of New Caledonia is covered with ultramafic soils (UM) which hosts a rich flora (endemism > 85%) threatened by mining activities. This combination makes the ultramafic vegetation a floristic hotspot within a biodiversity hotspot. UM soils are distributed from sea level to 1618 m elevation with about two-thirds forming a large continuo...

Assessment methods have been developed to estimate a preliminary conservation status for species and subsequently to facilitate the building of Red Lists. Such pre-assessment methods could be particularly useful in the French Overseas Territories (FOTs) where Red Lists tend to be out-dated or absent and where a high number of endemic species face d...

New Caledonia is a tropical archipelago with very high biodiversity conservation challenges. Its flora is still imperfectly known while its ecosystems are increasingly degraded by various threats, including mining activity. In this context, there is an urgent need to describe the most threatened species so they can be accounted for in situ conserva...

The Herbarium of New Caledonia (NOU) was founded in 1961 within the Institut Français d’Océanie (now Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement) by J.P. Blanchon. Qualitatively and quantitatively enriched by the consecutive curators and associated staff, it is today rich of more than 90000 specimens including 834 nomenclatural types. These specime...

Six fern species are newly reported or substantiated as indigenous to New Caledonia: Davallia sessilifolia, Dicranopteris caudata, Dryopteris arborescens, Pteris terminalis, Trichomanes atrovirens, and T. kurzii. This is the first record of Dryopteris for New Caledonia. Our findings are based on extensive fieldwork, inspection of specimens in relev...

Conservation efforts in global biodiversity hotspots often face a common predicament: an urgent need for conservation action hampered by a significant lack of knowledge about that biodiversity. In recent decades, the computerisation of primary biodiversity data worldwide has provided the scientific community with raw material to increase our unders...

ABSTRACT A revision of Dendrobium Sw. sect. Rhizobium Lindl. in New Caledonia. Dendrobium Sw. sect. Rhizobium Lindl. is revised and illustrated for New Caledonia. This section consists of three species for the territory: Dendrobium bowmanii Benth, D. casuarinae Schltr. and D. vagans Schltr. The latter species, reported in 1981 in the Province Sud,...

New Caledonia is a biodiversity hotspot located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, recognized for the exceptional diversity of its vascular flora, comprising over 3400 species, 75% of which are endemic. Facing the daunting challenge of its preservation and in need of robust data to prioritize conservation efforts, botanists proposed the creation of a...

In the context of global change, tropical forests are increasingly affected by fires. Understanding the ecological processes driving forest recovery in fire-modified landscapes is a critical issue. We analyzed spatial and temporal (8 years) changes in functional and phylogenetic composition of tree communities during forest post-fire recovery in an...

A new species, Garcinia urceolata Munzinger, Bruy & M.Pignal, sp. nov. (Clusiaceae), is described from New Caledonia. It is restricted to North Province, from the Tchamba valley in the south to Mandjélia in the north of the main island of Grande-Terre, occurring in dense humid rainforests on non-ultramafic substrate. Material of this small tree spe...

Background and aims – New Caledonia is a hotspot of biodiversity in the world. Among the most diverse New Caledonian plant families is Rubiaceae, which consist of 30 genera containing 220 species, with a level of endemism of 93%. The tribe Gardenieae is represented by four genera, Gardenia (8 species), Aidia (2 species), Randia (7 species), and Atr...

The OCBIL theory comprises a set of hypotheses to comprehend the biota of old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapes (OCBILs). Here, we review evidence from the literature to evaluate the extent to which this theory could apply to the biodiversity hotspot of New Caledonia. We present geological, pedological and climatic evidence suggesting ho...

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research sp...

Flore du massif de Tiebaghi, Nouvelle-Calédonie

The diversification of ecological roles and related adaptations in closely related species within a lineage is one of the most important processes linking plant evolution and ecology. Plant architecture offers a robust framework to study these processes as it can highlight how plant structure influences plant diversification and ecological strategi...

L’évolution convergente des formes de croissance est un phénomène fondamental reliant l’écologie et l’évolution des plantes. Remarquablement illustré dans plusieurs systèmes insulaires, ce phénomène n’a jamais été clairement identifié en Nouvelle-Calédonie, pourtant connue pour la richesse et l’originalité de sa flore. Par une approche combinant ar...

Convergent evolution in growth habit is a fundamental phenomenon linking plant ecology and evolution. Remarkably illustrated in island biotas, this phenomenon has not clearly been identified in the distinctive and megadiverse New Caledonian biodiversity hotspot. Through an approach combining plant architecture, functional traits, taxonomy, phylogen...

A new species of Euphorbiaceae, Bocquillonia corneri, narrowly endemic to the extreme north-east of New Caledonia’s main island, is here highlighted, described and illustrated, based on original morphological and architectural characteristics. This new species differs notably by its unique monocaulous tree habit, while other Bocquillonia species ar...

The Araliaceae family is well represented in New Caledonia, where ca. 75 species occur with a great diversity of foliar types across genera (simple in Meryta, palmate in Plerandra, pinnate in Polyscias). How does leaf type affect the balance between leaf traits related to support and light interception? We conducted a comparative study on 270 leave...

Background: Lianas are an abundantand dynamic component of tropical forests, and their abundance ispredicted to increase with global change. A better understandingof factors that explain their distribution is required, especially onoceanic islands for which few data are available. Aims: Identifythe environmental factors that shape liana communities...