Sophie Everbach

Trees are always on the hunt for light. The variety of growth forms seen in the forest is a testament to this photic need; individuals differentially find, occupy, and maintain branches in available light gaps despite the mechanical stressors of gravity and wind. A tree’s structural ability to respond to mechanical stress, while also balancing hydraulic efficiency, resistance to cavitation and carbohydrate storage, is therefore key to its resource acquisition success and survival. I study these mechanical-hydraulic-storage tradeoffs in tension wood, the stress-modified wood tissue that forms in response to gravity.