Meta-analytical evidence for frequency-dependent selection across the tree of life

Explaining the maintenance of genetic variation in fitness related traits within populations is a fundamental challenge in ecology and evolutionary biology. Frequency-dependent selection (FDS) is one mechanism that can maintain such variation, especially when selection favours rare variants (negative FDS). However, our general knowledge about the occurrence of FDS, its strength and direction remain fragmented, limiting general inferences about this important evolutionary process. We systematically reviewed the published literature on FDS and assembled a database of 747 effect sizes from 101 studies to analyse the occurrence, strength, and direction of FDS, and the factors that could explain heterogeneity in FDS. Using a meta-analysis, we found that overall, FDS is more commonly negative, although not significantly when accounting for phylogeny. An analysis of absolute values of effect sizes, however, revealed the widespread occurrence of modest FDS. However, negative FDS was only signif..., , , # Data from: Meta-analytical evidence for frequency-dependent selection across the tree of life

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.73n5tb357](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.73n5tb357)

All the analyses and functions to replicate the study are in Code.R

Data is found in Data_FDS.csv

## Description of the data and file structure

metadata with the description of every variable is Metadata.csv

NA = Not available