Abstract Detail

Teaching Section

Rice, Stanley A. [1].

Testing ecological hypotheses using wood porosity measurements.

Early-successional trees grow faster than late-successional trees.  Faster growth requires greater water transport and therefore porosity.  We therefore expect early-successional trees to have wood that is more porous.  Botany students at Southeastern Oklahoma State University compared early-successional trees such as boxelder and cottonwood with late-successional trees such as black hickory and post oak.  Plant taxonomy students from the Wheaton College Science Station (Black Hills, SD) compared some of the same early-successional trees with late-successional trees such as bur oak.  Porosity was determined by microscopic observation of vessels in thin sections of wood from twigs.  Wood of early-successional trees was more porous than that of late-successional trees.  Measurements of density were also made, but the results were unclear, probably because twig density is influenced by many factors other than wood porosity.

1 - Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Biological Sciences, Box 4027, Durant, Oklahoma, 74701-0609, USA

Keywords:
porosity
succession
trees
wood anatomy.

Presentation Type: Paper
Session: 9-3
Location: Superior A (Cliff Lodge)
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2004
Time: 9:15 AM
Abstract ID:16