A leaf is resilient to damage as its veins route flow around an injury (black circle in the first image). Stomatal patchiness (second image) in a leaf may regulate water flux under conditions of stress. Access a related movie here. See also Physical Review Focus story.
From the article:
Damage and Fluctuations Induce Loops in Optimal Transport NetworksEleni Katifori, Gergely J. Szöllősi, and Marcelo O. Magnasco
Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 048704 (2010)
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