Predicting the effects of climate change on the fertility of aquatic animals using a meta-analytic approach

Given that reproductive physiology is highly sensitive to thermal stress, there is increasing concern about the effects of climate change on animal fertility. Even a slight reduction in fertility can have consequences for population growth and survival, so it is critical to better understand and predict the potential effects of climate change on reproductive traits. We synthesised 1894 effect sizes across 276 studies on 241 species to examine thermal effects on fertility in aquatic animals. Our meta-analysis revealed that external fertilisers tend to be more vulnerable to warming than internal fertilisers, especially in freshwater species. We also found that increased temperature is particularly detrimental for gametes, and that under certain conditions, female fertility is more sensitive to warming than male fertility, challenging the prevailing view that males are more vulnerable. This work provides valuable new insights into the effects of temperature on fertility, with potential con...,
Literature Search and Data Collection 

This study was not pre-registered. To identify relevant studies for our meta-analysis, we used a large systematic map (Dougherty et al. 2024), which was created by searching published literature using the ISI Web of Science Core and following the ROSES Reporting Standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses guidelines and the PRISMA guidelines (Haddaway et al. 2018, O’Dea et al. 2021,Supplementary Table 8). Studies included in this systematic map were peer-reviewed journal articles or book chapters that measured one or more reproductive traits at two or more temperatures in non-human animals. The systematic map includes 427 papers that contain data on the effects of temperature on fertility in aquatic animals. We excluded 151 of these from our meta-analysis for a variety of reasons (Supplementary Figure 1, Supplementary Table 9). For example, we excluded studies with data on gonad developmental stages and gonad gene expression, which have no clear..., , # Predicting the effects of climate change on the fertility of aquatic animals using a meta-analytic approach

Welcome to the project repository for \"Predicting the Effects of Climate Change on the Fertility of Marine and Freshwater Animals Using a Meta-Analytic Approach.\" This README provides an overview of the project, explains how to run the code, and outlines the data used in the analysis.

## Table of Contents

* [Project Overview](#project-overview)
* [Files in the Repository](#files-in-the-repository)
* [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
* [Installation Instructions](#installation-instructions)
* [Running the Code](#running-the-code)
* [Understanding the Outputs](#understanding-the-outputs)
* [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting)
* [References](#references)

## Project Overview

This project explores the impact of climate change on the fertility of marine and freshwater animals using a meta-analytic approach. The analysis considers data from multiple studies, conducting meta-regressio...