From An Introduction to Ecological Genomics by Van Straalen and Roelofs:

Despite the importance of allocations and trade-offs in life-history theory, reliable empirical measurements are difficult. This is especially annoying because often the outcome of an optimization procedure depends critically on the shape of a trade-off function… [emphasis mine]

This had my roommate and I in fits of giggles over breakfast this morning. Clearly, we need to get out more.