Mechanisms of plant competition for nutrients, water and light

Summary Competition for resources has long been considered a prevalent force in structuring plant communities and natural selection, yet our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie resource competition is still developing. The complexity of resource competition is derived not only from the variability of resource limitation in space and time and among species, but also from the complexity of the resources themselves. Nutrients, water and light each differ in their properties, which generates unique ways that plants compete for these resources. Here, we discuss the roles of supply pre‐emption and availability reduction in competition for the three resources when supplied evenly in space and time. Plants…