Comment on "Worldwide evidence of a unimodal relationship between productivity and plant species richness"

Andrew T. Tredennick; Peter B. Adler; James B. Grace; W Stanley Harpole; Elizabeth T. Borer; Eric W. Seabloom; T. Michael Anderson; Jonathan D. Bakker; Lori A. Biederman; Cynthia S. Brown; Yvonne M. Buckley; Cheng-Jin Chu; Scott L. Collins; Michael J. Crawley; Philip A. Fay; Jennifer Firn; Daniel S. Gruner; Nicole Hagenah; Yann Hautier; Andy Hector; Helmut Hillebrand; Kevin P. Kirkman; Johannes M. H. Knops; Ramesh Laungani; Eric M. Lind; Andrew S. MacDougall; Rebecca L. McCulley; Charles E. Mitchell; Joslin L. Moore; John W. Morgan; John L. Orrock; Pablo L. Peri; Suzanne M. Prober; Anita C. Risch; Martin Schuetz; Karina L. Speziale; Rachel J. Standish; Lauren L. Sullivan; Glenda M. Wardle; Ryan J. Williams; Louie H. Yang

doi:10.1126/science.aad6236

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Comment on "Worldwide evidence of a unimodal relationship between productivity and plant species richness"

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Abstract

Fraser et al . (Reports, 17 July 2015, p. 302) report a unimodal relationship between productivity and species richness at regional and global scales, which they contrast with the results of Adler et al . (Reports, 23 September 2011, p. 1750). However, both data sets, when analyzed correctly, show clearly and consistently that productivity is a poor predictor of local species richness.

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Andrew T. Tredennick, Peter B. Adler, James B. Grace, W Stanley Harpole, Elizabeth T. Borer, Eric W. Seabloom, T. Michael Anderson, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori A. Biederman, Cynthia S. Brown, Yvonne M. Buckley, Cheng-Jin Chu, Scott L. Collins, Michael J. Crawley, Philip A. Fay, Jennifer Firn, Daniel S. Gruner, Nicole Hagenah, Yann Hautier, Andy Hector, Helmut Hillebrand, Kevin P. Kirkman, Johannes M. H. Knops, Ramesh Laungani, Eric M. Lind, Andrew S. MacDougall, Rebecca L. McCulley, Charles E. Mitchell, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, John L. Orrock, Pablo L. Peri, Suzanne M. Prober, Anita C. Risch, Martin Schuetz, Karina L. Speziale, Rachel J. Standish, Lauren L. Sullivan, Glenda M. Wardle, Ryan J. Williams, Louie H. Yang. 2016. Comment on "Worldwide evidence of a unimodal relationship between productivity and plant species richness". https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad6236

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