Comment on "The response of vegetation on the Andean flank in western Amazonia to Pleistocene climate change"

Science. 2011 Sep 30;333(6051):1825; author reply 1825. doi: 10.1126/science.1207888.

Abstract

Cárdenas et al. (Reports, 25 February 2011, p. 1055) used the presence of Podocarpus pollen and wood to infer ≥5°C cooling of Andean forests during Quaternary glacial periods. We show that (i) Podocarpus has a wide elevation range in the Neotropics, and (ii) edaphic factors cannot be discounted as a factor governing its distribution. Paleoecologists should therefore reevaluate Podocarpus as a cool-temperature proxy.

Publication types

  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Altitude*
  • Biodiversity*
  • Climate Change*
  • Ecosystem*
  • Fossils*
  • Plants*
  • Trees*