Abstract Detail
A Symposium in Honor of Sherwin Carlquist Wheeler, E.A. [1]. Wood anatomical correlations and the fossil dicot wood record. A major theme in Sherwin Carlquist’s work has been “comparisons between wood anatomy and species, species groups, and their ecology and habit” [Ecological Factors in Wood Evolution: A Floristic Approach. 1977. Amer. J. Bot. 64: p. 887]. The correlations between wood anatomy and habitat Carlquist found in this 1977 study of southwestern Australian florulas are ones subsequently observed in other regions. This work has had especial value for developing hypotheses for experimental work on xylem function, especially wood’s conductive and mechanical functions. In Carlquist’s book “Comparative Wood Anatomy” he presented information on the incidence of various features and their systematic distribution, and commented on what features might be expected to co-occur, e.g., species with septate fibers are expected to not have abundant axial parenchyma. Data from the InsideWood database for extant woods (>5700 records) show support for the co-occurrences proposed by Carlquist. Data for fossil dicot woods (c. 1600 records) show that incidences of wood anatomical features have changed through time. These changes are examined in the context of the correlations between wood anatomy and ecology that have been articulated by Carlquist’s work. Some Cretaceous woods have an unusual combination of features and this raises questions about how trade-offs between the conductive, mechanical and storage functions of wood may have changed through time.
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Related Links:
International Association of Wood Anatomists
InsideWood. Wood anatomy resource
1 - N.C. State University, Wood & Paper Science, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, USA
Keywords:
wood anatomy
fossil wood
xylem density.
Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY10
Location: Continental B/Hilton
Date: Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
Time: 9:15 AM
Number: SY10003
Abstract ID:1705 | 