ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 3714
Session = 3.6.2


BIOMECHANICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE PROGYMNOSPERM VASCULAR CAMBIUM


Galtier, J., Meyer-Berthaud, B., Rowe, N. P., Scheckler, S. E., & Speck, T., Lab. Paleobotanique, Place E. Bataillon, CP062, University of Montpeiller


The appearance of the bifacial vascular cambium was a major innovation in land plant evolution. Mechanical and hydraulic properties of wood permitted conductance and support to be carried out by one tissue conferring developmental and physiological advantages over existing growth forms. In archaeopterids the bifacial cambium and entire periderm permitted development of large-bodied trees, mechanically sound canopies and possibly 'adaptive growth' under varying mechanical constraints. Archaeopterid developmental innovation is explored via biomechanical models based on new fossils from Morocco and compared with growth of aneurophytes, contemporaneous 'tree'-like forms of the Late Devonian and mechanical behaviour of modern woody trees.


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