A meta-analysis of shrub density as a predictor of animal abundance

Facilitative interactions between shrub and animal species can shape the structure and composition of various ecosystems. Here, we tested whether the density of woody plants such as shrubs can be used to predict the local abundance of animal populations in a meta-analysis. Keyword searches on ISI Web of Science using the “density”, “facil*”, “shrub*”, and “animal*” returned 753 studies. Full-text review for shrub density, animal abundance or density, and sampling effort in total number of days resulted in a total of 113 independent observations that reported shrub density and animal abundance. shrub density positively predicted estimated animal abundance locally particularly in desert and grassland ecosystems. Shrub density can be used as an effective measure in predicting local animal abundances for wildlife biology and ecological research.