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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Urbana, Illinois » Global Change and Photosynthesis Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #218083
Title: Meta-analysis: the past, present and future

Author
item Ainsworth, Elizabeth - Lisa
item ROSENBERG, MICHAEL - ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
item WANG, XIANZHONG - IU-PU AT INDIANAPOLIS

Submitted to: New Phytologist
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/2007
Publication Date: 12/1/2007
Citation: Ainsworth, E.A., Rosenberg, M.S., Wang, X. 2007. Meta-analysis: the past, present and future. New Phytologist. 176(4):742-745.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This meeting report highlighted the "Synthesizing Ecological Studies in a Changing World Using Meta-analysis" session at the 2007 Ecological Society of American meeting. The use of meta-analysis in the field of ecology has increased exponentially since its introduction in the early 1990’s. Meta-analysis is a set of statistical techniques that enable researchers to combine the results from a number of independent studies. Meta-analysis is therefore the analysis of analyses, as implied by the name. The techniques for ecological meta-analysis have been borrowed from other disciplines, primarily the medical, physical and behavioral sciences. These techniques have also been adapted for ecology and new metrics have been developed specifically for ecological questions. Further, the development of easy-to-use statistical software has rapidly expanded the use of meta-analyses in ecology. An organized oral session at the 2007 ESA meeting focused on the historical evolution of meta-analyses in ecology, the current use in synthesizing results from global change studies, and the future of meta-analyses in ecology.