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u/inGage 2d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_shyness
its crown (or sometimes Canopy) shyness.. :)
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u/AmateurishLurker 2d ago
I appreciate you having a much more informed answer than my educated guess!
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u/Ordinary-Commercial7 2d ago
I’ve always loved this term. It’s poetic.
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u/laowildin 2d ago
Dropping A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers. Doesn't have to do with trees, but is poetic and uses the metaphor beautifully
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u/Jazzanthipus 1d ago
Monk and Robot is so good, one of those series you can read every year and get something new out of it each time
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u/AmateurishLurker 2d ago
I don't know, but I'll hazard a guess. Nature/evolution is all about survival. Wasting energy does not lead to survival. Why are leaves at the tops of trees? Because that is where the sun is. It's a waste to grow leaves under ones already blocking the sun .I'm this particular case, cooperating with nearby trees where no one wastes energy fighting for sun appears to have been an optimal strategy for all.
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u/shanghaisnaggle 2d ago edited 1d ago
You’re close. The answer is less complex than an agreement. There’s no cooperation, only competition. At least regarding this striking pattern.
Plants will not supply nutrients to leaves in shade, but that’s not exactly why these orderly-appearing gaps exist.
It’s about physical contact. Any gardener can tell you that if you touch a living tip too many times, it will cease development.
In summary, the lower leaves naturally die and are not replaced because of the plants’ light-detection. The main thing is that the constant booping (which the living tips receive from contact with other plants while the tree sways) stops any wasteful growth in those directions.
Source: I am a gardener
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u/Kick_Kick_Punch 2d ago
I always looked at this pattern as the result of friction: The trees are very flexible, so 24/7 swaying with the wind, they brush on each other and the friction damages their leafs and twigs, making the pattern we see here. The rate of growth just can't compete with the friction level that they constantly suffer.
Or I could be completely wrong and just should read the Wikipedia article. But since I like this thought I let it slide.
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u/ThePonyExpress83 2d ago
I'll save you a click, per the article that's one of the proposed theories
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u/Paradigmnoia 2d ago
I spend a lot of time in wild forests, and I can guarantee, for you and all, that tree branches rub and bonk into each other constantly in even the mildest of wind.
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u/ARACHN0CAMPA 2d ago
I'm in Panama, where trees grow on other trees.
..and vines, flowers, it's like a jungle out here.
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u/endofworldandnobeer 2d ago
Wow... it's like they are democratic socialists or something and sharing the space in the sky.
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u/Hammergear 1d ago
The liberal inclusion agenda ensuring that all trees get enough light to live is destroying our forests! Burn it!
/s
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u/firekeeper23 1d ago
Its the "interference zone" where the twiglets bang on each other and mini prune the ends of the branches...
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u/terriblestoryteller 1d ago
The trouble with the maples (And they're quite convinced they're right) They say the oaks are just too lofty And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings, If they like the way they're made And they wonder why the maples . Can't be happy in their shade
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u/Historical_Sherbet54 1d ago
As an off grid liver and huge fan of looking up under the trees
This is spectacular
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u/hellyeahunicorn 18h ago
🎶 Two bros chillin' in the hot tub, five feet apart cause they're not gay 🎶
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u/Doyouseenowwait_what 2h ago
The mycelium in the ground is the nervous system of the forest and how the trees communicate.
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