RESUMEN
There is extensive choice in R to support meta-analyses.Two packages in this ecosystem include meta and metafor and provide an excellent opportunity to apply a structured checklist previously developed for contrasts between R packages relevant to challenges in ecology and evolution.Meta is a direct, intuitive choice for rapid implementation of general meta-analytical statistics. Metafor is a comprehensive package best suited for relatively more complex models.Both packages provide estimates of heterogeneity, excellent visualization tools, and functions to explore publication bias.The package metafor has a steeper learning curve but greater rewards. Reference to the learning curve and capacities of the statistical software Stata provided a benchmark outside the R ecosystem and confirmed the consistency in statistics.The usefulness of meta-analyses is not just in the synthesis of the research but in the process of doing the scientific synthesis. Reporting of contrasts and checks for robust statistics is an important contribution to more transparent and reproducible scientific syntheses.
RESUMEN
Deserts are increasing in extent globally, but existing deserts are decreasing in health. The basic biology and ecology of foundation plant species in deserts are limited. This is a direct study that provides an estimate of the capacity for a locally dominant foundation shrub species in California to recover from damage. Desert shrubs are cleared and damaged by humans for many purposes including agriculture, oil and gas production, and sustainable energy developments; we need to know whether foundation species consistently facilitate the abundance and diversity of other plants in high-stress ecosystems and whether they can recover. A total of 20 Ephedra californica shrubs were clipped to the ground at a single site and systematically resampled for regrowth 2 years later. These shrubs were damaged once and regrew rapidly, and relatively, larger shrubs were not more resilient. This study provides evidence for what we termed the "Groot Effect" because smaller individuals of this shrub species can recover from significant aboveground damage and continue to have positive effects on other plant species (similar to the popular culture reference to a benefactor tree species). The density of other plant species was consistently facilitated while effects on diversity varied with season. These findings confirm that E. californica is a foundation species that can be an important restoration tool within the deserts of California in spite of extreme cycles of drought and physical damage to its canopy.