Faced with accelerating habitat loss and global climate change, plant ecologists need the ability to accurately predict changes in vegetation composition. To facilitate these analyses, a database of species traits within vegetation assemblages must be compiled. Plant ecology also lacks precise measurement and generality characteristic of the physical sciences. This is the synopsis presented by Hendry and Grime in the Introduction of Methods in Comparative Plant Ecology. Comparative Plant Ecology (CPE) and the Integrated Screening Program (ISP) offer a research program for achieving these goals. In brief, the CPE/ISP program involves measuring the traits of plants grown in a standardized environmental regime and comparing the results to individuals subjected to various treatments. Since CPE/ISP was developed using temperate terrestrial plants, the need for more inclusive methodologies is stressed.