ABSTRACT
Whereas the mechanical performance of plant organs has often been discussed in evolutionary biology [1,2], tree biomechanics has rarely been considered in the context of functional ecology. Functional ecology aims at understanding the functions of organisms that result in fluxes of biomass or energy within an ecosystem, e.g., a forest. This discipline studies the processes controlling these fluxes, at either the scale of an individual, community, or ecosystem, with their response to natural or anthropic environmental variations.
