Location-scale models and cross validation to advance quantitative evidence synthesis.

ABSTRACT: Quantitative evidence synthesis is a prominent path towards generality in ecology. Generality is typically discussed in terms of central tendencies, such as an average effect across a compilation of studies, and the role of heterogeneity for assessing generality is less well developed. Heterogeneity examines the transferability of ecological effects across contexts, though between-study variance is typically assumed as constant (i.e., homoscedastic). Here, I use two case studies to show how location-scale models that relax the assumption of homoscedasticity and cross validation can combine to further the goals of evidence syntheses. First, I examine scale-dependent heterogeneity for a meta-analysis of plant native-exotic species richness relationships, quantifying the relationships among u

SUBMITTER: Blowes SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12834672 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature