Résumé
Gabon is a tropical country that still has vast forest areas, covering more than 80% of its territory. These forest areas contain a great diversity of tree species that are still little studied today, especially with regard to the different growth strategies of the species in relation to their properties. Indeed, current studies on temperate zone species seem to indicate that there are significant differences between the different ecological temperaments of trees with regard to their properties. The objective of our study was therefore to highlight these differences by analyzing 15 physical-mechanical properties of a panel of 49 tropical species from Gabon from the CIRAD database. The results show significant differences according to ecological temperament. Sciaphilous species show better mechanical properties but higher hydric deformations. These results would be related to variations in the anatomical and chemical characteristics of the wood.