Response to Qian et al. (2017): Daily and seasonal climate variations are both critical in the evolution of species’ elevational range size

Abstract

In their recent critique, Qian et al. stated that the results of structural equation modeling analysis (SEM) in Chan et al. were flawed. Here, we show that the source of the difference, in their reanalysis, is that Qian et al. did not follow the standard, iterative strategy of SEM, which allows researchers to evaluate which model offers the best account of the data in both absolute and relative terms. Here, we provide step-by-step instructions to reproduce our published results. We address—and aim to resolve—Qian et al.'s concerns regarding SEM. Moreover, in our original paper, we used three distinct statistical methods—hierarchical partitioning, SEM and stationary bootstrap—to show that different temporal scales of environmental variability differentially impact the elevational range size (ERS) of species. We believe it is time to move on to probing the pressing issue of how and why climatic variability impacts ERS.