Code and data for: Global synthesis reveals systematic variation in trophic transfer efficiency across and within ecosystems

We conducted a comprehensive literature search using both ISI Web of
Science and Scopus databases on May 31, 2025. The search yielded a total
of 1543 articles, including 1151 unique entries. We then adopted a
cross-search strategy and implemented a supplemental literature filtering
process based on citation relevance using the following predefined set of
criteria: (i) TTE values must be estimated directly from empirical data
rather than indirectly from statistical fitting or optimization (e.g.,
Ecopath models); (ii) energy/nutrient representation should employ flux
measures such as ingestion, assimilation, and production rather than
biomass; and (iii) TTE should be assessed using the ratio of the same
metric between adjacent trophic levels (e.g., productionn+1 / productionn)
rather than focusing solely on its components, such as predation
efficiency, assimilation efficiency, or growth efficiency. Based
on these criteria, we identified 122 studies for our analysis, which
contributed a total of 1,849 estimates of TTE (i.e., samples for our
analysis). To understand the drivers of TTEe, we examined both
ecosystem-level (e.g., ecosystem type, ecosystem origin, and temperature)
and species-level (i.e., resource type, consumer type, and trophic level)
factors.