Summary• Despite the abundance and diversity of timber tree legumes in the West African rainforest, their ability to form nitrogen-fixing nodules in symbiosis with rhizobia, and their response to rhizobial inoculation, remain poorly documented.• In the first part of this study the occurrence of nodulation was determined in 156 leguminous species growing in six natural forest areas in Guinea, mostly mature trees. In the second part, an in situ experiment of rhizobial inoculation was performed on eight selected tree species belonging to three genera: Albizia, Erythrophleum and Millettia .• Of the 97 plant species and 14 genera that had never been examined before this study, 31 species and four genera were reported to be nodulated. After 4 months of growing in a nursery and a further 11 months after transplantation of plants to the field, we observed a highly significant ( P < 0.001) and positive effect of inoculation with Bradyrhizobium sp. strains on the growth of the eight tree species tested.• The importance of determining the nodulation ability of unexplored local trees and subsequently using this information for inoculation in reforestation programmes was demonstrated.

Mediterranean forests are found in the Mediterranean basin, California, the South African Cape Province, South and southwestern Australia and parts of Central Chile. They represent 1.8 % of the world forest areas of which the vast majority is found in the Mediterranean basin, where historical and paleogeographic episodes, long-term human influence and geographical and climatic contrasts have created ecosystemic diversity and heterogeneity. Even if evergreen is dominant, deciduous trees are also represented, with different forest types including dense stands with a closed canopy (forests sensu stricto) and pre-forestal or pre-steppic structures with lower trees density and height. The Mediterranean basin is also a hot spot of forest species and genetic diversity, with 290 woody species versus only 135 for non-Mediterranean Europe. However, the characteristics of the Mediterranean area (long-standing anthropogenic pressure, significant current human activity and broad biodiversity) make it one of the world’s regions most threatened by current changes. Four examples of Mediterranean forest types, present in south and north of the Mediterranean basin and more or less threatened, are developed in order to show that linking “hard sciences” and humanities and social sciences is necessary to understand these complex ecosystems. We show also that these forests, in spite of specific climatic constraints, can also be healthy and productive and play a major ecological and social role. Furthermore, even if the current human activity and global change constitute a risk for these exceptional ecosystems, Mediterranean forests represent a great asset and opportunities for the future of the Mediterranean basin