Consequences of the fractal architecture of trees on their structural measures.

abstract

• While the mechanics of trees are well known, a systematic and comprehensive study of the mechanical consequences of a tree's fractal structure has been lacking. Here, we analyze the structure of botanical trees using computer modeling and show that many relevant measures of support throughout all the branches of a tree follow specific patterns which can be described by characteristic probability distributions and well-defined spatial relationships. Most notably, moments, forces, and axial and shear stresses throughout the different branches all exhibit power-law distributions. These results suggest a new approach to the study of the mechanics of trees, one accounting for the implications of the above results.

published proceedings

• J Theor Biol

author list (cited authors)

• Pluciski, M., Pluciski, S., & Rodrguez-Iturbe, I.

citation count

• 5

complete list of authors

• Pluciński, Mateusz||Pluciński, Szymon||Rodríguez-Iturbe, Ignacio

publication date

• March 2008

publisher

• Elsevier  Publisher

published in

• Journal of Theoretical Biology  Journal

keywords

• Computer Simulation
• Fractals
• Models, Biological
• Models, Structural
• Trees

PubMed Central ID

• 18083196

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.10.042

start page

• 82

end page

• 92

volume

• 251

issue

• 1

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.10.042