SFI Distinguished Professor Geoffrey West and collaborators at MIT have proposed a model that they say predicts maximum tree heights in different environments.
The model takes in basic meteorological data -- such as average annual temperature, precipitation, humidity, and solar radiation -- and computes how tall a tree is likely to grow under those conditions.
Linking tree height to meteorology requires an understanding not only of plant mechanics but also of fractal geometry, according to the authors. Tree branches form a fractal, and this network structure determines much about tree height.
The team's research results, published in PLOS One, are consistent with local meteorological data and tree measurements obtained from the US Forest Service, with a few exceptions.
SFI External Professor Jim Brown, a professor of biology at the University of New Mexico, is quoted in an R&D Magazine article about the work. A BBC online article quotes MIT researcher Chris Kempes, and former REU student at SFI.
Read the R&D Magazine article (July 18, 2011)
Read the BBC article (August 4, 2011)
Read the Physorg.com article (July 18, 2011)
Read the PLOS One paper (June 13, 2011)