In defense of P values: comment on the statistical methods actually used by ecologists.

In recent years, a persuasive argument has been made for the use of information criterion (IC) model selection in place of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) based on P values (Johnson 1999, Burnham and Anderson 2002, Johnson and Omland 2004). In this issue, Murtaugh (2014) questions the basis for this argument. We comment on this paper from the perspective of early-career ecologists and present the results of an informal survey of our colleagues on their choice of statistical methods. Specifically, we ask to what extent the IC approach has supplanted traditional hypothesis testing. Finally, we address issues related to the use and interpretation of P values, the Akaike information criterion (AIC), and effect sizes in ecological studies.