XVI International Botanical Congess

Functionally interdependent traits often show consistent correlations across taxa. Two related questions about these broad patterns of plant organization are of interest. Why do r species have higher or lower values in a set of functionally linked traits? What can account for deviations from the general pattern in a particular species? The answers to the 1st question lie in some combination of adaptive adjustments to environment set against characteristics fixed in the evolutionary lineage of a given species. The answers to the 2nd question lie in compromises arising through interactions among traits at the level of the plant as a whole, as opposed to just a particular pair of traits considered in isolation. I explore these aspects of the evolutionary ecology of plants using data on a broad range of tree species.