Silva Fennica : Special issues : Optimality approach in plant ecology
Optimality approach in plant ecology
Peer-reviewed papers from the Workshop on Challenges and Limitations of Optimality Approach in Plant Ecology, Hyytiälä, Finland, 9–12 April 2000
Published as Silva Fennica 36(3). 152 pages.
The motivation for the special issue, as well as the Hyytiälä workshop as a whole, was to assess the current challenges and opportunities of the optimality approach in plant ecophysiology and botany, through a wider exchange of information and opinion. It has been demonstrated that the method can be fruitful for both giving insights into how living things work, and for predictions of their responses to the environment. However, because use of the theory always involves a deep understanding of the processes underlying plant function, competition, selective pressures, and the evolutionary constraints – for all of which there is no general schema as yet – the method is by no means a simple machine that automatically produces useful or realistic models of plant function on a production-line basis. Each model must be carefully considered and tested, incorporating the best insights available in physiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. A major role of evolutionary theory in this process is simply the formulation of testable hypotheses, the evaluation of which can lead to important advances in our ecophysiological understanding and predictive ability.
METLA Editorial Office – TSal –
Comments