What Is an Elevational Range?

AbstractElevational distributions have long fascinated scientists, an interest that has burgeoned with studies of predicted upslope range shifts under climate change. However, this body of work has yielded conflicting results, perhaps due to varied conceptual and statistical approaches. Here I explore how ecological processes and researcher decisions shape the patterns characterized by elevational ranges. I use community science data to illustrate (1) that elevational ranges include variation in abundance; (2) that elevational ranges are usually estimated, not observed directly; (3) that elevational ranges are dynamic across short distances and time intervals; and (4) that how we describe elevational ranges has consequences for inference of range shifts. I present a conceptual framework for understanding elevational ranges across multiple spatial scales and propose that elevational distributions are governed by scale-dependent processes. This framework implies that accurately quantifying elevational ranges and learning how they are formed or maintained requires matching questions to their appropriate scale domain. I provide a list of best practices for studying elevational ranges and highlight promising directions for future research into these complex phenomena.