Plant strategy theories: a comment on Craine (2005)

Summary It is suggested that arguments concerning the nature of primary plant strategies could have been resolved more rapidly by reference to older literature relating to the behaviour of solutes in the rhizosphere and by more active programmes of plant trait screening. The critique of CSR theory in Craine (2005 ) is rejected largely on the basis that it misunderstands the role of fundamental and proximal controls on vegetation composition (sensu Welden & Slauson 1986 ). The ‘way forward’ advocated in Craine (2005 ) is flawed in its exclusive reliance on competition experiments. Recent progress in community and ecosystem ecology is strongly related to an increasing recognition of the declining importance of competition in unproductive or heavily disturbed environments.