Editing Joinery (section)

===Dimensional stability===
Timber expands and contracts in response to [[moisture content|humidity]], usually much less so longitudinally than in the radial and tangential directions. As [[vascular plant|tracheophytes]], trees have [[Lignin|lignified]] [[Tissue (biology)|tissues]] which transport resources such as water, minerals and photosynthetic products up and down the plant. While lumber from a harvested tree is no longer alive, these tissues still absorb and expel water causing swelling and shrinkage of the wood in kind with change in humidity.<ref>Wood Movement, [http://www.woodworkdetails.com/knowledge/wood/movement WoodworkDetails.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215185042/http://www.woodworkdetails.com/knowledge/wood/movement |date=2012-12-15 }}</ref> When the dimensional stability of the wood is paramount, [[quarter sawing|quarter-sawn]] or [[Rift sawing|rift-sawn]] lumber is preferred because its grain pattern is consistent and thus reacts less to humidity.