Saturday, November 14, 2009

Most trees look like they are pruned to shape. What makes them so?

When you look at most trees, the leaves and branches look like they have been shaped in some specific manner. Sometimes liek an umbrella, sometimes like a cone and a lot more. I would like to know why individual branches do not undergo unlimited growth.

Most trees look like they are pruned to shape. What makes them so?
The reason for it is as follows-


1-Shape of the tree is the climatic and altitudinal adaptation to a said geographical and geological location.


2-These adaptation are the result of evolutionary consequence of millions of years-survival of the fittest and resulting into origin of a new species.


3-This is controlled by morphogenesis genes and their enzyme and hormone mediated regulatory mechanism.


4-Plant tend to acquire shape of minimum area and maximum energy at the location in question, resulting by making it's position more stable in the ecosystem or habitat.
Reply:Different from animals, trees cannot move to adapt to the environment. Thus, they developed another ability to adjust the grow direction, which makes them no definite shape even with one species in one region.


Trees are always with this feature. One branch can be taken as one unit. So they are called modular organism.
Reply:Plants usually meter resources so as to not waste a lot of carbon forming a branch that sticks out farther than necessary.





I think genetics play a major role, but physiology is equally important in dictating how a plant grows. I've heard from a botany professor that every leaf on a tree gets adequate sunlight to be its own self contained factory. It shares its surplus with the support mechanism, i.e., the branch and trunk.
Reply:probably when they grow, the wind blows shaping the leaves and stuff. :)
Reply:called genetics...same reason you look the way you do.
Reply:Plants generally grow only enough to gain access to light. This is controlled by IAA. (I think)
Reply:to simplify what one person has already said: you will notice that leaves are greener on the upper side. That is because the green (chlorophil) combines with sunlight to make food for the tree. Trees have evolved so that the maximum number of leaves get direct sunlight - for example, pointed at the top and boughs spread the widest at the base.
Reply:Depending on the climate for example trees that grow on a cliff top near the saltwater spray the growth would be stunted by wind and salt spray in a more sheltered valley trees would grow tall


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