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Genotypic variability enhances the reproducibility of an ecological study.

  • Milcu A Ecotron (Unité Propre de Service 3248), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Campus Baillarguet, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France. alex.milcu@cnrs.fr.
  • Puga-Freitas R Institut de l'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, France.
  • Ellison AM Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, USA.
  • Blouin M Institut de l'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, France.
  • Scheu S Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
  • Freschet GT Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5175, Université de Montpellier/Université Paul Valéry - École Pratique des Hautes Études, Montpellier, France.
  • Rose L Department of Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
  • Barot S Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Institut de l'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.
  • Cesarz S German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
  • Eisenhauer N German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
  • Girin T Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, INRA, AgroParisTech, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, Versailles, France.
  • Assandri D Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Grugliasco, Italy.
  • Bonkowski M Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Terrestrial Ecology Group, Institute for Zoology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
  • Buchmann N Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Butenschoen O Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
  • Devidal S Ecotron (Unité Propre de Service 3248), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Campus Baillarguet, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.
  • Gleixner G Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Postfach 100164, Jena, Germany.
  • Gessler A Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Institute of Landscape Biogeochemistry, Müncheberg, Germany.
  • Gigon A Institut de l'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, France.
  • Greiner A Department of Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
  • Grignani C Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Grugliasco, Italy.
  • Hansart A Département de Biologie, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université de recherche Paris Sciences & Lettres Research University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Service 3194 (Centre de Recherche en Écologie Expérimentale et Prédictive-Ecotron IleDeFrance), Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, France.
  • Kayler Z Swiss Federal Research Institute, Zürcherstrasse 111, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
  • Lange M Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Postfach 100164, Jena, Germany.
  • Lata JC Institut de l'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France.
  • Le Galliard JF Département de Biologie, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université de recherche Paris Sciences & Lettres Research University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Service 3194 (Centre de Recherche en Écologie Expérimentale et Prédictive-Ecotron IleDeFrance), Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, France.
  • Lukac M School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
  • Mannerheim N Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Müller MEH Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Institute of Landscape Biogeochemistry, Müncheberg, Germany.
  • Pando A Agroécologie, AgroSup Dijon, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France.
  • Rotter P Department of Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
  • Scherer-Lorenzen M Department of Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
  • Seyhun R Institut de l'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France.
  • Urban-Mead K Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5175, Université de Montpellier/Université Paul Valéry - École Pratique des Hautes Études, Montpellier, France.
  • Weigelt A German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
  • Zavattaro L Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Grugliasco, Italy.
  • Roy J Ecotron (Unité Propre de Service 3248), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Campus Baillarguet, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.
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  • 2018-01-17
Published in:
  • Nature ecology & evolution. - 2018
Brachypodium
Environment
Europe
Genotype
Medicago truncatula
Reproducibility of Results
Research Design
English Many scientific disciplines are currently experiencing a 'reproducibility crisis' because numerous scientific findings cannot be repeated consistently. A novel but controversial hypothesis postulates that stringent levels of environmental and biotic standardization in experimental studies reduce reproducibility by amplifying the impacts of laboratory-specific environmental factors not accounted for in study designs. A corollary to this hypothesis is that a deliberate introduction of controlled systematic variability (CSV) in experimental designs may lead to increased reproducibility. To test this hypothesis, we had 14 European laboratories run a simple microcosm experiment using grass (Brachypodium distachyon L.) monocultures and grass and legume (Medicago truncatula Gaertn.) mixtures. Each laboratory introduced environmental and genotypic CSV within and among replicated microcosms established in either growth chambers (with stringent control of environmental conditions) or glasshouses (with more variable environmental conditions). The introduction of genotypic CSV led to 18% lower among-laboratory variability in growth chambers, indicating increased reproducibility, but had no significant effect in glasshouses where reproducibility was generally lower. Environmental CSV had little effect on reproducibility. Although there are multiple causes for the 'reproducibility crisis', deliberately including genetic variability may be a simple solution for increasing the reproducibility of ecological studies performed under stringently controlled environmental conditions.
Language
  • English
Open access status
green
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Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/188707
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