title: Comment on "The response of vegetation on the Andean flank in western Amazonia to Pleistocene climate change".
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, 505 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801-3750, USA. punyasena@life.illinois.edu
authors.forename: Surangi W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Punyasena
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Dalling
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jaramillo
authors.forename: Benjamin L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Turner
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D044822:Biodiversity; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D005580:Fossils; D010944:Plants; D014197:Trees