Life history eharaeters. whieh are generally eonsidered to be of eritieal signifteanee in evolution, consist of various pheiiotypie trails eoneerned with growth and reproduetion. Siiite.s ot Hie history eharaeters are frequently referred to as 'strategies'. These are hypotheses whieh attempt to e.xplain the adaptive .signifieanee of partieular suites of eharaeters. This paper reviews lije history eharaeters of speeies belonging to various orders of brown algae (Phaeophyeeae) and diseusses their possible adaptive .'^igni/ieanee. together with the e.xtent to whieh they are eonsistent with opportunistie. stress tolerant and biotieally eompetent strategies. In general, speeies belonging to the same order have broadly similar suites of life history eharaeters and. thus, to some degree they share eomparable adaptive strategies. For e.\ample. the Laminariales, Fueales and Durvillaeales inelude a high proportion of biotieally eompetent speeies. many ofthe Dietyotales appear to be stress tolerant, and the Eetoearpales are typieally opportunistie. The two heteromorphie generations of speeies in the Seytosiphonales are viewed as having divergent strategies, the erustose stages showing a greater degree of stress toleranee than the opportunislie ereet stages.