ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the basic physical principles and phenomena that influence the mechanical behavior of trees. These principles can provide, at best, only guidance when predicting the mechanical behavior of trees. To understand biomechanics, it is important to have a clear understanding of the definition of terms associated with the various parameters that are applied in the field. These parameters include strength, flexibility, brittleness and viscoelasticity. The presented concepts pertain generally to all trees, regardless of whether they grow in the tropics, deserts, temperate, alpine, boreal ecosystems, or in urban or natural environments. The chapter deals with a treatment of the static and dynamic loadings experienced by a vertical cylinder with a radius of 0.03 m and a length (height) of 1.5 m subjected to a uniform wind speed of 11 m/s. These loads are far less important than the stresses they produce. The treatment of biomechanical principles that followed allows one to calculate these stresses.
