Wood structure explained by complex spatial source-sink interactions.
Wood is a remarkable material with great cultural, economic, and biogeochemical importance. However, our understanding of its formation is poor. Key properties that have not been explained include the anatomy of growth rings (with consistent transitions from low-density earlywood to high density lat...
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/344169 2024-01-14T10:09:26+01:00 Wood structure explained by complex spatial source-sink interactions. Friend, Andrew D Eckes-Shephard, Annemarie H Tupker, Quinten 2022-12-07T12:13:32Z application/pdf https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/344169 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.91593 eng eng Nature Research Department of Geography Nat Commun https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7362517 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/344169 doi:10.17863/CAM.91593 Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Article 2022 ftunivcam https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.9159310.5281/zenodo.7362517 2023-12-21T23:29:09Z Wood is a remarkable material with great cultural, economic, and biogeochemical importance. However, our understanding of its formation is poor. Key properties that have not been explained include the anatomy of growth rings (with consistent transitions from low-density earlywood to high density latewood), strong temperature-dependence of latewood density (used for historical temperature reconstructions), the regulation of cell size, and overall growth-temperature relationships in conifer and ring-porous tree species. We have developed a theoretical framework based on observations on Pinus sylvestris L. in northern Sweden. The observed anatomical properties emerge from our framework as a consequence of interactions in time and space between the production of new cells, the dynamics of developmental zone widths, and the distribution of carbohydrates across the developing wood. Here we find that the diffusion of carbohydrates is critical to determining final ring anatomy, potentially overturning current understanding of how wood formation responds to environmental variability and transforming our interpretation of tree rings as proxies of past climates. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
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Open Polar |
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Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
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ftunivcam |
language |
English |
description |
Wood is a remarkable material with great cultural, economic, and biogeochemical importance. However, our understanding of its formation is poor. Key properties that have not been explained include the anatomy of growth rings (with consistent transitions from low-density earlywood to high density latewood), strong temperature-dependence of latewood density (used for historical temperature reconstructions), the regulation of cell size, and overall growth-temperature relationships in conifer and ring-porous tree species. We have developed a theoretical framework based on observations on Pinus sylvestris L. in northern Sweden. The observed anatomical properties emerge from our framework as a consequence of interactions in time and space between the production of new cells, the dynamics of developmental zone widths, and the distribution of carbohydrates across the developing wood. Here we find that the diffusion of carbohydrates is critical to determining final ring anatomy, potentially overturning current understanding of how wood formation responds to environmental variability and transforming our interpretation of tree rings as proxies of past climates. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Friend, Andrew D Eckes-Shephard, Annemarie H Tupker, Quinten |
spellingShingle |
Friend, Andrew D Eckes-Shephard, Annemarie H Tupker, Quinten Wood structure explained by complex spatial source-sink interactions. |
author_facet |
Friend, Andrew D Eckes-Shephard, Annemarie H Tupker, Quinten |
author_sort |
Friend, Andrew D |
title |
Wood structure explained by complex spatial source-sink interactions. |
title_short |
Wood structure explained by complex spatial source-sink interactions. |
title_full |
Wood structure explained by complex spatial source-sink interactions. |
title_fullStr |
Wood structure explained by complex spatial source-sink interactions. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wood structure explained by complex spatial source-sink interactions. |
title_sort |
wood structure explained by complex spatial source-sink interactions. |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/344169 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.91593 |
genre |
Northern Sweden |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7362517 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/344169 doi:10.17863/CAM.91593 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.9159310.5281/zenodo.7362517 |
_version_ |
1788063950290550784 |