Ecological Trends in the Wood Anatomy of Trees, Shrubs and Climbers from Europe

Abstract

Ecological trends for occurrence of certain vessel, tracheid and fibre characteristics. have been analysed for 505 species (belonging to 221 genera and 71 families) from Europe, Cyprus, and Madeira. Macroclimatic gradients from boreal, via temperate to mediterranean are strongly related with a decreasing incidence of scalariform perforations, (almost) exclusively solitary vessels, and fibre-tracheids (i. e., fibres with distinctly bordered pits). In this sequence the incidence of different vessel size classes (vessel dimorphism) and vascular tracheids increases. Ring-porous tendencies and spiral vessei thickenings have their peaks in the temperate zone. The subtropical flora of Madeira shows low values for the percentage of species with any of the above attributes.