Indiscriminate data aggregation in ecological meta-analysis underestimates impacts of invasive species

ANTON, ANDREA; GERALDI, NATHAN R.; LOVELOCK, CATHERINE E.; APOSTOLAKI, EUGENIA T.; BENNETT, SCOTT; CEBRIAN, JUST; KRAUSE-JENSEN, DORTE; MARBÀ, NURIA; MARTINETTO, PAULINA; PANDOLFI, JOHN M.; SANTANA-GARCON, JULIA; DUARTE, CARLOS M.

Nature Ecology & Evolution

Springer Nature

Año: 2020 vol. 4 p. 315 - 317

Exotic species are a growing ecological threat, although their factual ecological effects are currently debated. Our global meta-analysis recently reported that marine exotic species have an overall significant, but modest, effect on native communities. Thomsen2 argues that the data in this meta-analysis were aggregated in a manner that might underestimate the ecological impacts of marine exoticspecies. Here we discuss the data aggregation methodologies proposed by Thomsen and evaluate, when possible, whether the findings meet the expectations.