Résumé
Within tree communities, the differential use of soil N mineral resources, a key factor in ecosystem functioning, may reflect functional complementarity, a major mechanism that could explain species coexistence in tropical rainforests. Eperua falcata and Dicorynia guianensis, two abundant species cooccurring in rainforests of French Guiana, were chosen as representative of two functional groups with complementary N uptake strategies (contrasting leaf δ15N signatures related to the δ15N of their soil N source, or ). The objectives were to investigate if these strategies occurred under contrasted soil N resources in sites with distinct geological substrates representative of the coastal rainforests. Results showed that species displayed contrasting leaf δ15N signatures on both substrates, confirming their complementary N uptake strategy. Consequently, their leaf 15N can be used to trace the presence of inorganic N-forms in soils ( and ) and thus to indicate the capacity of soils to provide each of these two N sources to the plant community.