Damped oscillations of the giant reed Arundo donax (Poaceae)

The slender upright culms of the giant reed (Arundo donax L.) are often exposed to dynamic wind loads causing significant swaying. The giant reed has slightly tapered hollow stems (4-6 m high) with flat leaves and an extensive underground rhizomatous system with solid branches bearing adventitious roots. Quantitative analyses of videorecordings prove that A. donax responds to dynamic deflections of the stem with damped harmonic bending oscillations. The logarithmic decrement can be used to calculate the relative damping, as a measure of the plant's capacity to dissipate vibrational energy. Plants with leaves have a significantly higher damping compared to plants without leaves. A comparison of the relative damping of plants with and without leaves shows that this finding is only partly due to aerodynamic resistance of the leaves. Structural damping also contributes considerably to the overall damping of the foliate A. donax stem. By stepwise removal of the underground plant organs the influence of rhizome, roots, and soil on the vibrational behavior was determined. The data indicate that underground plant organs as well as leaf sheaths covering the nodes have no significant influence on damping.