Anatomical Adaptations to Environmental Conditions

Abstract

In this chapter we compare anatomical structures of various species within plant communities. Combinations of similar environmental factors cause similar growth conditions, and therefore form plant communities with similar characteristics (such as plant size, life form and growth form, leaf properties and physiological behavior). This principle is expressed in large-scale vegetation zones as well as in small-scale plant communities. The similarity in species composition was the basis for phytosociology (Braun-Blanquet 1951, Reinalter 2007). In the following we explore if this similarity is also evident with respect to wood anatomy.