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Science 24 February 2006:
Vol. 311. no. 5764, p. 1100
DOI: 10.1126/science.1121388
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Technical Comments

Comment on "On the Regulation of Populations of Mammals, Birds, Fish, and Insects" I

Wayne M. Getz* and James O. Lloyd-Smith

Sibly et al. (Reports, 22 July 2005, p. 607) concluded that density dependence acts far below the carrying capacity in most animal populations. We argue that the authors confused discrete and continuous models, that their best-fit models cannot explain observed oscillations, and that their estimation procedures appear biased. They also neglected trophic and migratory processes, which we demonstrate could underlie their empirical findings.

Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management, University of California at Berkeley, CA 94720–3114, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: getz{at}nature.berkeley.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)