Aim: Ecologically driven diversification can create spectacular diversity in both species numbers and form. However, the prediction that the match between intrinsic (e.g. functional trait) and extrinsic (e.g. climatic niche) variables may lead to evolutionary radiation has not been critically tested

Studies of size-related plant traits have established a suite of mathematical functions describing whole plant investment and allocation. In parallel, studies of plant “economic spectra” have measured the scaling and variance composition of traits related to the major dimensions of both structure an