The jury is still out regarding the generality of adaptive ‘transgenerational’ effects

Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar*, Malgorzata Lagisz, Nicholas P. Moran, Shinichi Nakagawa, Daniel W.A. Noble, Klaus Reinhold

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    48 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    A recent meta-analysis concluded, ‘transgenerational effects are widespread, strong and persistent’. We identify biases in the literature search, data and analyses, questioning that conclusion. Re-analyses indicate few studies actually tested transgenerational effects – making it challenging to disentangle condition-transfer from anticipatory parental effects, and providing little insight into the underlying mechanisms.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1715-1718
    Number of pages4
    JournalEcology Letters
    Volume23
    Issue number11
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2020

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