Putting non-structural compounds on the map of plant life history strategies: a commentary on Schoonmaker et al.

Abstract

The seminal works of J. Philip Grime established that long-lived plants, like trees, have evolved a continuum of life strategies, spanning from competitors to stress tolerators, that optimize the capture and use of resources under habitats ranging from high to low productivity, respectively (Grime 1977, 2006). Competitors succeed in productive habitats by quickly capturing resources and colonizing space; resources are invested in new biomass to foster further capture. Conversely, the stress- tolerant strategy succeeds in unproductive habitats through a slow and costly-to-construct biomass, which does not require high rates of resource inputs but at the same time is highly resistant against potential losses of the invested resources (e.g., herbivory). These two strategies are comparable to the two end points of the leaf- or plant-economic spectrum, spanning from slow-growing–resource conservative to fast-growing–resource acquisitive (Reich et al. 1997, Westoby et al. 2002, Diaz et al. 2004...