Figure 3

Correlations between the four network measures and redundancy. (A) Density (VLA), (B) loopiness, (C) meshedness and (D) robustness. Each network measure is plotted against the relative cost of redundancy for the five network dimensions; length, width, area, volume and theoretical conductance (see Methods). Relative costs and benefits are measured with respect to a MST analogue. Note, as loopiness, Density (VLA), robustness or meshedness increases, so too does the cost of redundancy. However, a 20% increase in length results in just a 5% increase in volume because the redundant veins are usually highest order veins. What little variability that exists in the redundancy costs of theoretical conductance, are not explained by loopiness, VLA, robustness or meshedness (Additional file 2: Table S1, S3).