ABSTRACT
The situation in functional plant ecology is that quite a large number of detailed field experiments and ecophysiological studies on one or a few species have accumulated, more than have been satisfactorily digested, interpreted, and generalized. A phylogenetic contrast, or radiation, is a branch-point in the phylogeny and the set of branches descending from it. In the simplest case it is a pair of species descended from a common ancestor. A brief outline is provided of the debate about whether phylogeny should be regarded as an alternative explanation to present-day functionality. Common ancestry or phylogeny is seen as a source of confounding or error that requires controlling for; in competition with explanations that invoke natural selection or functionality continuing into the present day. In summary, evolution by natural selection has given rise to cross-correlated patterns of traits among present-day species.
