Carnivorous plant because light will be more limiting than nutrients. A plant can grow at zero investment in carnivory; this is also the "optimum" investment for a plant, as any investment in traps reduces net photosynthesis (growth) to less than the net photosynthesis of a plant that obtains its nutrients from soil alone. Carnivorous plants exist between these two extremes: the less limiting light and water are, and the more limiting soil nutrients are, the higher the optimum investment in carnivory, and hence the more obvious the adaptations will be to the casual observer. The most obvious evidence for this model is
Plant to plant communication via mycorrhizal networks be related; therefore, kin selection might improve inclusive fitness and explain why a plant might support a fungus that helps other plants to acquire nutrients. Receipt of defensive signals or cues from an infested plant would be adaptive, as the receiving plant would be able to prime its own defenses in advance of an attack by herbivores. Allelopathic chemicals transferred via CMNs could also affect which plants are selected for survival by limiting the growth of competitors through a reduction of their access to nutrients and light. Therefore, transfer of the different classes of infochemicals might prove adaptive for plants.