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Re: Global Warming and Cane

Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2021-12-31 15:56

Hi Ruben,

Thanks for giving me a chance to talk about plants. I really enjoy that.

I think wind would make a huge difference to the physical qualities of the plants, definitely.

There are a few things that I can think of:

One is the greater amount of water drawn through the plants by the wind. Plants work a lot like drinking straws with a washing line on the top. What I mean is that the leaves are like wet washing, allowing water to constantly evaporate from their surface. As the water evaporates, this causes them to suck water up through the trunk or stem of the plant. The suction is driven entirely by the amount of water lost from the leaves. If the plants are growing in constant wind then they will be sucking massive amounts of water out of the soil and through their stems. I have no idea whether that makes a really concrete difference, but it might mean, for example, that they have more, or larger xylem vessels that would make the reed a bit more hollow, or potentially stronger. It might also mean that xylem vessels are more evenly spread, which would certainly make a difference. This is all hypothetical and we'd need to actually look to see if any of this holds true.

The other difference in a windy place is that probably if they are being blown about a lot then the plants will change structure in some way to counter the constant force of the wind as you say. Again, I'm not sure exactly what they would do, but I suppose it might involve laying down more lignin or something to make the structures tougher. Plant cell walls have a lot of important compounds in them to make them tough. Grasses also have special mechanisms to stand themselves up again when they are blown over, but I would hope the cane reeds are not actually being flattened routinely. That would seem a bit harsh.

The wind might also affect the other organisms in the environment (bug pests and those animals that eat the grass), or mean that the air is fresher and that might make a difference too. It may also mean that the land is cheaper because people don't want to live there, and that could make a very big difference to what can be achieved.

I'm sure there will be some amazing specialists in the reed companies that know this all inside out, and I am just theorising.

I have written to a cereal specialist friend who has passed me on to a tropical grass specialist. If I find anything out I will come back and tell you all about it.

Bob - It's great to hear from you again. I hope things are going okay there.

You might be interested by this thread that we had a while back. It seems that people are thinking a lot about how to keep the wood situation sustainable.

http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=494966&t=494966

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Global Warming and Cane new

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2021-12-31 07:46