Why are so many trees hollow?

被引:12
|
作者
Ruxton, Graeme D. [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ St Andrews, Sch Biol, St Andrews KY16 9TH, Fife, Scotland
关键词
herbivory; plant defences; termites; wood; NORTHERN AUSTRALIA; GROWTH; SURVIVAL; TERMITES; FAILURE;
D O I
10.1098/rsbl.2014.0555
中图分类号
Q [生物科学];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
In many living trees, much of the interior of the trunk can be rotten or even hollowed out. Previously, this has been suggested to be adaptive, with microbial or animal consumption of interior wood producing a rain of nutrients to the soil beneath the tree that allows recycling of those nutrients into new growth via the trees roots. Here I propose an alternative (non-exclusive) explanation: such loss of wood comes at very little cost to the tree and so investment in costly chemical defence of this wood is not economic. I discuss how this theory can be tested empirically.
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页数:3
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