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| Archaeopteris
| Earliest Modern Tree "Archaeopteris, an extinct tree that made up most of the forests across the earth in the Late Devonian period, had the same structure as modern trees... Archaeopteris made the world almost modern in terms of ecosystems that surround us now...." www.research.vt.edu/resmag/sc99/old_tree.html |
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A general model
for the structure and allometry
of plant vascular systems
Vascular plants vary in size by about twelve orders of magnitude, and a single individual sequoia spans nearly this entire range as it grows from a seedling to a mature tree. Size influences nearly all of the structural, functional and ecological characteristics of organisms. Here we present an integrated model for the hydrodynamics, biomechanics and branching geometry of plants, based on the application of a general theory of resource distribution through hierarchical branching networks to the case of vascular plants. The model successfully predicts a fractal-like architecture....
Pythagoras Tree Fractal
(Symmetrical)
Introducing Fractal Geometry
The Texture of Reality
see 5-page illustrated summary
HOW TREES SURVIVE
by Dr. Alex Shigo
Trees are the tallest, most massive, longest-living organisms ever to grow on earth.....
The big question is, how do trees do it?
The answer lies in concepts of biology and mechanical engineering....
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Hypothesis for survival
Because trees cannot move away from potentially destructive agents and conditions, they have grown in ways that give them the capacity to adjust rapidly after being threatened by agents or conditions that could cause strain or death.
The capacity to adjust is a genetic feature called vigor. The program of vigor of an organism is defined by the limits of factors essential for survival. For example, one tree may have broad limits for water utilization. When drought occurs, it will still survive. Another tree may have very narrow limits for water utilization. Even the slightest disruption in availability of water would lead to strain or even death.
A vigor code then determines the limits for such essential factors as space, water, elements, temperature and soil pH.
The vigor of an organism cannot be measured until a life threatening stimulus contacts the organism.
When any potentially destructive stimulus occurs, the ability of the tree to adjust will be due not only to its vigor, or genetic code, but to its vitality. A tree that is very vigorous by nature of its genetic code may be growing on a rock. It would not be very vital. What this means is that for survival, both the vigor and vitality of a tree must be optimized......
Terry Mock
Executive Director
Champion Tree Project
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
www.championtreeproject.org
TreeOfLife@bigplanet.com
phone....Trees are highly compartmented, woody, shedding, perennial plants. Trees are generating systems. Every growth period, trees form new compartments over older ones. Trees grow as their apical and vascular meristems produce cells that differentiate to form all parts of the tree. The important part to remember is that trees grow as new parts form in new spatial positions.....
www.chesco.com/~treeman/SHIGO/SURVIVE.html
by species — by state — by size — by height
The Earth Restoration and Reforestation Alliance — www.championtrees.org — updated 5/4/2007