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Comment on "Changes in climatic water balance drive downhill shifts in plant species' optimum elevations"
Nathan L Stephenson1, Adrian J Das
1US Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Three Rivers, CA 93271, USA. nstephenson@usgs.gov
Abstract:
Crimmins et al. (Reports, 21 January 2011, p. 324) attributed an apparent downward elevational shift of California plant species to a precipitation-induced decline in climatic water deficit. We show that the authors miscalculated deficit, that the apparent decline in species' elevations is likely a consequence of geographic biases, and that unlike temperature changes, precipitation changes should not be expected to cause coordinated directional shifts in species' elevations.
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