Finessing the fracture energy barrier in ballistic seed dispersal.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Deegan RD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3325694 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Finessing the fracture energy barrier in ballistic seed dispersal.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20120319 14
Fracture is a highly dissipative process in which much of the stored elastic energy is consumed in the creation of new surfaces. Surprisingly, many plants use fracture to launch their seeds despite its seemingly prohibitive energy cost. Here we use Impatiens glandulifera as model case to study the impact of fracture on a plant's throwing capacity. I. glandulifera launches its seeds with speeds up to 4 m/s using cracks to trigger an explosive release of stored elastic energy. We find that the see ...[more]
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