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.
Keywords: anticipatory effects; carry-over effects; condition-transfer effects; intergenerational effects; maternal effects; parental effects; parental programming; paternal effects; transgenerational plasticity.
© 2020 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.