Evolution of Tree Design: Vascular Cambium Mechanics, Wood Parameters, Growth, and Architecture/Biomechanics of Earliest Trees

该项目将重建早期植物在泥盆纪（4 - 3.45亿年前）殖民陆地时生长的第一批树木和灌木的木质支撑组织的生长和特征。最早的植物没有现在在现代植物中发现的根、茎、枝和叶。但到了泥盆纪中晚期，一些植物有了这些特征，少数植物有了生长能力和木质组织，可以支撑高大的灌木和树木。这些最初的树木凭借其高度和扩展而具有相当大的优势，例如孢子和种子的传播更成功，以及更好地竞争光线和栖息地空间。研究人员将研究化石树木、茎和根的细胞模式，以重建这些第一批木本植物的生长和机械特征。此外，本研究获得的精细解剖学信息将有助于我们了解哪些植物群（化石和现代）关系最密切。制造木材的能力似乎已经进化了好几次。这项研究将解决植物结构设计的普遍性问题，特别是阐明哪些共同特征是获得树生长形式所必需的，哪些是物种家族史的结果，从而提供进化信息。

This project will reconstruct the growth and characteristics of woody support tissues of the first trees and shrubs that grew when early plants colonized the land in the Devonian (400-345 million years ago). The earliest plants lacked the roots, stems, branches, and leaves that are now found in modern plants. But by Mid to Late Devonian times, some plants had these features, and a few had developed growth capabilities and woody tissues that could support tall shrubs and trees. These first trees enjoyed considerable advantages by virtue of their height and spread, such as greater success of spore and seed dispersal and better competition for light and habitat space. The investigators will study cell patterns of fossil woods, stems, and roots to reconstruct the growth and mechanical features of these first woody plants. Additionally, the fine-scale anatomical information obtained in this study will contribute to our knowledge of which plant groups (fossil and modern) are most closely related. The ability to produce wood appears to have evolved several times. This study will resolve questions of the universality of plant construction design, specifically elucidating which common traits are necessary to attain a tree growth form and which are the result of a species' family history and are thus evolutionarily informative.