Functional traits and speciation of tropical African species: the case of genus Guibourtia Benn

Nowadays, comparative ecology approach is widely used to understand mechanisms of speciation. In evolutionary biology, few studies take into account the importance of physiological traits as criteria for interspecific differentiation, although such an approach is particularly suited to infer the adaptive capacities of taxa. The genus Guibourtia Benn (Fabaceae / Caesalpinioideae), composed of 13 species in Africa, seems an ideal candidate for this study. As a matter of fact, this model includes not only species of different vegetation ecosystems (forest and savanna) but also morphologically very similar species found in various areas with different climates and soils (sandy, clayloam, limestone, hydromorph). Addressing speciation issues, our study seeks to test the hypothesis that populations of closely related species should be studied in terms of both functional traits and phylogeny. In this research, two questions are asked: (i) what are the phylogenetic differences within the genus Guibourtia? (ii) To what extent phylogeny, functional traits and bioclimatic envelope are linked?
The results of the study will help to realize the distribution modeling of different evolutionary units of Guibourtia using a dynamic vegetation model (CARAIB) in order to propose strategies for conservation and sustainable management in the context of Central African forests.