Consequences of the fractal architecture of trees on their structural measures. Academic Article uri icon

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