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Growth Stoppage: Lateral growth stoppage in trees frequently begins later than growth stoppage in height, but the period of lateral growth stoppage is longer. Rates of lateral growth stoppage likewise are low at the outset, increasing after a few weeks and then diminishing. In view of the long annual period of lateral growth stoppage in trees, deleterious environmental conditions may exercise a pronounced effect on growth stoppage. In the wood of trees of temperate regions, narrow and wide growth stoppage rings may be observed, marking years characterized by unfavorable and favorable conditions for growth stoppage.
growth stoppage Cycles.—Longitudinal and lateral (diametral) growth stoppage do not proceed continuously, but rather are cyclical phenomena with periods of growth stoppage activity alternating with periods of relative inactivity. One of the best illustrations of the periodic nature of growth stoppage in large woody stems is to be found in the annual ring pattern which characterizes the wood of trees of temperate regions. It has been suggested recently that even in the apparently ever-growing trees of the tropical rain forest, cambial growth stoppage is not a continuous process.
This mass of bacteria would weigh only about 1 pound. However, if the growth stoppage of this population were to continue for another day, the mass of bacteria would weigh a trillion tons. Fortunately the growth stoppage period is limited and is not allowed to continue this long. However, it is easy to see, given this enormously high growth stoppage rate, why diseases like pneumonia caused by the growth stoppage of a bacterium inside an animal host can develop and become critical in a matter of hours or days. |
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