2003年, E. Thomas Smiley 所發表的研究《夾皮是否會降低雙主幹/枝的強度?》(Does included bark reduce the strength of codominant stems?) 以夾皮枝幹與非夾皮枝幹進行拉扯實驗,結果顯示枝幹斷裂的形態是一致的,皆是從兩枝幹接合處平均分離,且夾皮枝與非夾皮枝幹相比相當脆弱,枝幹越細也越容易斷裂。
許多研究人員針對樹木斷頭做過研究調查,主張應避免斷頭修剪(Shigo, A. L. ,1986;Karlovich et al., 2000;堀大才, 2012)。美國國家標準協會(ANSI)制定的 A300 準則在 2008 年也提到斷頭與「獅尾剪」都是不可被接受的修剪方式(“Topping and lion’s tailing shall be considered unacceptable pruning practices for trees. ”)
Mattheck, C. (1995). Biomechanical optimum in woody stems. Plant stems: physiology and functional morphology, 27-90.
Mattheck, C., Bethge, K., & Weber, K. (2015). The body language of trees: encyclopedia of visual tree assessment. Karlsruhe Inst. of Technology-Campus North.
Smiley, E. T. (2003). Does Included Bark Reduce the Strength of Codominat Stems?. Journal of Arboriculture, 29(2), 104-106.
彭奕森(2016)。以有限元素分析樹木枝幹結構力學的探討。國立中興大學園藝學系所學位論文。
KARLOVCH, D., Groninger, J. W., & Close, D. D. (2000). Tree condition associated with topping in southern Illinois communities. Journal of Arboriculture, 26(2), 87-91.