Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) with contorted trees, end of dry season. Grande Sertão Veredas Nat. Park, Brazil. Stemless palm is Attalea geraensis. The cerrado is-a biodiversity hotspot.
Two explanations, probably complementing each other, explain the contorted shape of savanna (cerrado) trees: fires may kill the terminal bud, forcing the development of lateral shoots (Coutinho 1992 in França 2002, p. 25); and, unlike forest species, savanna species enjoy plenty of light and do not need to grow upward, which may lead to a somewhat random growth (William Hoffmann, personal comunication). Experiments under fire protection have shown that some savanna species naturally grow contorted (Ribeiro, personal communication), whereas even when grown if full light, forest species grow upward, as they are genetically programmed to reach for light (Hoffman, personal communication).
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Photo credit: © Jacques Jangoux / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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