What is it about?
This straightforward paper links the mass of a planet to the capacity of plant-like organisms to transport water. Given certain physical constraints, the height of plants is limited by the gravitational force and this in turn affects the velocity of winds at the surface.
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Why is it important?
Understanding ecosystems on exoplanets constrains what kinds of life is possible and hence quantifies our place in the cosmos. More generally, it also contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary potential of the habitable exoplanets we are discovering through various programmes.
Perspectives
Many of the papers that address biological productivity or evolutionary potential of planets are generic in their output. This is the first paper to apply simple physical constraints to address a key biological component of habitable exoplanets. Given the mass of a planet how substantial will vegetation grow? From here, we can begin to address the climate systems of habitable planets and the kinds of biological niche that are available.
Dr David Sinclair Stevenson
Carlton le Willows Academy
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Planetary mass, vegetation height and climate, International Journal of Astrobiology, January 2019, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s1473550418000484.
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