Acronyms ... 33
Figures ... 37
Tables ... 43
Introduction ... 47
Climate change: drivers and consequences ... 49
Forests and climate change ... 50
Wood anatomy and tree-ring studies ... 55
Wood density and wood anatomy ... 59
Original contribution and thesis outline ... 62
Datasets ... 64
Study sites ... 66
Chapter 1: The variability of growth-ring distinctness in the Tropics ... 71
Abstract ... 74
Introduction ... 75
Materials and methods ... 77
Results ... 81
Discussion... 84
Conclusion ... 89
Acknowledgments ... 89
Chapter 2: The wood density – wood anatomy relationship of eight tropical species ... 91
Abstract ... 96
Introduction ... 98
Material and Methods ... 100
Results ... 106
Discussion... 117
Acknowledgments ... 122
Chapter 3. Study of the influence of the precipitation seasonality on wood density variability 123 Abstract ... 128
Introduction ... 129
Materials and Methods ... 131
Results ... 139
Discussion... 147
Acknowledgments ... 153
Thesis discussion ... 155
General conclusion and recommendations for further studies ... 166
Take home message ... 167 References... 169 Supplementary material ... 201 Annex 1 : List of species and the description of all their ring boundaries of the RMCA collection studied in Paper 1 ... 203 Annex 3: Additional illustrations for Paper 3 ... 225 Annex 4: Scientific Curriculum Vitae ... 245
