| Abstract Detail
Developmental and Structural Section Barlett, Jeff [1], Wheeler, E.A. [2], Rodgers, S.L. [3]. Variations in Wood Anatomy. Present and Past. THE InsideWood database for modern dicots has wood anatomical information for some 200 families and 2,500 genera, representing at least 8,000 species. The original database was based on work done by L. Chalk, Oxford, during preparation of “Anatomy of the Dicotyledons.” The wood anatomical literature and original observations have been used to edit this database and enhance its content. Editing is on-going. One “problem” with the database is that some genera have homogeneous wood anatomy, while others do not, so that the number of species any one description represents varies. Conversely, some species (usually those of commercial importance and with a wide geographic range) have multiple descriptions as the observations of different authors vary. Nonetheless, information from this database has been used to address questions about the general distribution of selected wood anatomical characters, character correlations, and patterns of wood anatomical diversity. Much recent work has been devoted to investigating the trade-offs between hydraulic efficiency, safety, and mechanical strength. As shown by numerous other studies, and shown here on a wide geographic scale, incidences of quantitative vessel characteristics differ significantly between temperate and tropical regions, and between trees and shrubs. These differences are paralleled within selected orders as well. Data for fossil woods (1500 descriptions) show changes in these and other wood anatomical features through time, many generally consistent with past changes in climate. Investigations of the distribution and co-occurrence of wood anatomical features have a long tradition, with many studies dating from the 1930’s to 1950s. The questions about distribution and co-occurrence of wood anatomical features Metcalfe and Chalk and Bailey and his students raised are revisited using the InsideWood database and the additional data it contains.
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Related Links:
wood anatomy database
International Association of Wood Anatomists
1 - College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum, Price, Utah, 84501
2 - N.C. State University, Wood & Paper Science, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, USA
3 - N.C. State University, D.H. Hill Library, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, USA
Keywords:
wood anatomy
angiosperms.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 22-10
Location: 312/Bell Memorial Union
Date: Monday, July 31st, 2006
Time: 4:15 PM
Abstract ID:503 |
