Foreword: Studying plants with functional-structural models

Abstract

Functional-structural plant models (FSPM) explore the manifold relations between a plant's structure and the processes that underlie its growth and development. Here we introduce selected papers presented at the 5th International Workshop on Functional-Structural Plant Models, held in Napier, New Zealand, 2007. The papers range from the microscopic scale of meristems to the macroscopic scales of whole plants and plant communities, and cover a wide range of plants, from algae to trees. The topics include examples of comprehensive functional-structural models, models of key processes such as partitioning of resources, software for modelling plants and plant environment, data acquisition techniques and applications of functional-structural plant models. © CSIRO 2008.