As trees get taller and heavier, sprouting branches in various directions, they must augment their support structure -- their trunk -- to maintain stability. Until now, scientists weren't sure exactly how they did it.

New research suggests most healthy trees have a built in system, called vertical proprioception, that allows them to respond to weight increases with radial growth of the stem.

Scientists were able to demonstrate the vertical proprioception system by altering the aerial weight of a downy birch trees and measuring the response. Researchers found most trees responded to added weight by thickening their trunk.

The response was most pronounced in trees with an ability to bend and flex their trunks. Static trees weren't able to thicken their trunk as efficiently in response to added aerial weight.

"Even though the idea of plants sensing their own weight and thickening their stem accordingly sounds intuitive, our study is the first one to address this question in trees," Juan Alonso-Serra, professor of biological and environmental Sciences at the University of Helsinki, said in a news release.

To further illuminate the vertical proprioception system, researchers compared the trunk-thickening abilities of normal downy birch trees to a naturally occurring species of birch mutant called elimäki. After growing upright for three months, elimäki trees suddenly bend from the base and collapses.

When scientists added weight to the branches of elimäki trees during their initial three months of normal growth, they were unable to increase their trunk thickness in response. Scientists tracked this inability to a single position within the birch genome. In the future, researchers hope to isolate the specific mutated gene responsible for the elimäki's abnormal growth pattern.

Researchers published their analysis of the birch tree and its vertical proprioception abilities this week in the journal Current Biology.

Related Links
Forestry News - Global and Local News, Science and Application

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Yanomami leader pleads with world to save Amazon from Bolsonaro
Paris (AFP) Jan 30, 2020
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro "does not understand the value of the Amazon forest... nor like the people who live in it", the leader of the Yanomami people said Thursday. Davi Kopenawa hit out at the far-right leader of his country, and at US President Donald Trump, at the opening of an exhibition in Paris on the best known indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest. "Just like during the military dictatorship (in Brazil), we have someone in power who does not like the indigenous peoples, d ... read more