Knowledge

Compartmentalization of decay in trees

Source 📝

256:, is created by new growth of specialised woody tissue on the exterior of the tree, isolating tissue present at the time of infection from subsequent growth. This is the strongest wall, and often the only one which can completely halt the spread of infection by closing the wound with new wood. When only the fourth wall remains intact, the result is something most people have seen walking through the woods or in a park: a living tree with a completely rotted-out interior. In such cases, all the tissue present at the time of injury has become infected, but new healthy tissue has been allowed to continue to grow outside of the fourth wall. 122: 25: 293: 195: 241:
The third wall is formed by ray cells, which are groups of radiating cells oriented perpendicularly to the stem axis, dividing the stem into segments not entirely unlike the slices of a pie. These groups of cells are not continuous and vary in length, height and thickness, forming a
246:-like barrier to tangential spread of decay. After wounding, some ray cells are also altered chemically, becoming toxic to some microorganisms. This is the strongest wall at the time of wounding, prior to the growth of the fourth wall. 269:
are frequently called upon to analyze the danger posed to people or property by a damaged or decaying tree. By knowing how decay is likely to spread, such hazard tree analyses may be more accurate, thereby preventing unnecessary
235:
interior and exterior to the wound, thus slowing the radial spread of decay. This wall is the second weakest, and is continuous except where intersected by ray cells (see next section).
42: 182:
Shigo expanded this theory to claim that when trees are wounded, they respond to the infected wood with both chemical and physical changes to limit the decay, which he called
160:, in which living things can develop from non-living things, scientists traditionally believed that tree decay led to fungal growth. With the advent of 225:, polyphenolic deposits, anti-fungal substances and (in conifers) by the closure of the bordered pits linking vessel cells. This wall is the weakest. 89: 61: 68: 75: 108: 57: 206:
undergo changes to form "walls" around the wound, slowing or preventing the spread of disease and decay to the rest of the tree.
46: 325:
Shigo, A.L. (1984). "Compartmentalization: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding How Trees Grow and Defend Themselves".
307: 82: 365: 355: 281:
shows that a wound's proximity to leaf mass greatly influences compartmentalization as well as wound closure.
35: 265:
By increasing understanding of how trees respond to decay, CODIT has had many applications. For example,
157: 360: 278: 221:, so plugging it slows the vertical spread of decay. Tissues are plugged in various ways, such as with 145: 121: 171:
in the early 20th century theorized the opposite was the case, and developed a new model for
334: 222: 172: 126: 214: 338: 370: 203: 349: 168: 298: 271: 231:
The second wall is formed by the thick-walled, lignin-rich cells of the latewood
232: 161: 24: 306:
Except for the introduction, most of this article is based on information from
288: 218: 141: 266: 292: 217:
above and below the wound. This tissue runs up and down the length of the
165: 125:
Example of compartmentalization, with radial and circular walling, in an
194: 193: 176: 120: 243: 18: 213:
The first wall is formed by plugging up normally conductive
310:
Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 419 (April 1979),
16:
Plant defense mechanism against wood-decay pathogens
179:infect the wounds, and the result is decayed wood. 49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 8: 140:) is a model developed by plant pathologist 202:According to CODIT, when a tree is wounded 277:Work done by Dr. Edward F. Gilman at the 109:Learn how and when to remove this message 58:"Compartmentalization of decay in trees" 134:Compartmentalization Of Decay In Trees 7: 47:adding citations to reliable sources 339:10.1146/annurev.py.22.090184.001201 14: 291: 23: 327:Annual Review of Phytopathology 312:Tree Decay: An Expanded Concept 34:needs additional citations for 274:, property damage, or injury. 252:The fourth wall, known as the 156:In keeping with the theory of 1: 387: 175:: when trees are wounded, 198:CODIT model walls labeled 199: 158:spontaneous generation 152:Theoretical background 130: 279:University of Florida 197: 124: 184:compartmentalization 43:improve this article 308:USDA Forest Service 200: 164:, however, German 131: 146:wood-decay fungus 119: 118: 111: 93: 378: 366:Plant physiology 356:Forest pathology 342: 301: 296: 295: 261:Practical impact 127:Acer platanoides 114: 107: 103: 100: 94: 92: 51: 27: 19: 386: 385: 381: 380: 379: 377: 376: 375: 346: 345: 324: 321: 297: 290: 287: 263: 215:vascular tissue 192: 154: 144:after studying 115: 104: 98: 95: 52: 50: 40: 28: 17: 12: 11: 5: 384: 382: 374: 373: 368: 363: 358: 348: 347: 344: 343: 333:(1): 189–214. 320: 319:External links 317: 316: 315: 314:by Alex Shigo. 303: 302: 286: 283: 262: 259: 258: 257: 247: 236: 226: 191: 188: 153: 150: 117: 116: 99:September 2010 31: 29: 22: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 383: 372: 369: 367: 364: 362: 359: 357: 354: 353: 351: 340: 336: 332: 328: 323: 322: 318: 313: 309: 305: 304: 300: 294: 289: 284: 282: 280: 275: 273: 268: 260: 255: 251: 248: 245: 240: 237: 234: 230: 227: 224: 220: 216: 212: 209: 208: 207: 205: 196: 189: 187: 185: 180: 178: 174: 170: 169:Robert Hartig 167: 163: 159: 151: 149: 147: 143: 139: 135: 128: 123: 113: 110: 102: 91: 88: 84: 81: 77: 74: 70: 67: 63: 60: –  59: 55: 54:Find sources: 48: 44: 38: 37: 32:This article 30: 26: 21: 20: 361:Horticulture 330: 326: 311: 299:Trees portal 276: 272:tree removal 264: 254:barrier zone 253: 249: 238: 228: 210: 201: 183: 181: 155: 137: 133: 132: 105: 96: 86: 79: 72: 65: 53: 41:Please help 36:verification 33: 233:growth ring 162:germ theory 350:Categories 285:References 173:tree decay 148:patterns. 142:Alex Shigo 129:of 5 years 69:newspapers 267:arborists 166:forester 250:Wall 4. 239:Wall 3. 229:Wall 2. 223:tylosis 211:Wall 1. 190:Process 83:scholar 85:  78:  71:  64:  56:  371:Trees 204:cells 177:fungi 138:CODIT 90:JSTOR 76:books 244:maze 219:stem 62:news 335:doi 45:by 352:: 331:22 329:. 186:. 341:. 337:: 136:( 112:) 106:( 101:) 97:( 87:· 80:· 73:· 66:· 39:.

Index


verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
"Compartmentalization of decay in trees"
news
newspapers
books
scholar
JSTOR
Learn how and when to remove this message

Acer platanoides
Alex Shigo
wood-decay fungus
spontaneous generation
germ theory
forester
Robert Hartig
tree decay
fungi

cells
vascular tissue
stem
tylosis
growth ring
maze
arborists
tree removal

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.