Microplastic effects on zooplankton: meta-analysis dataset and code (48 studies; 1,468 effect sizes)

Published: 19 January 2026| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/hfpprnf8j7.1
Contributors:
Zhiyi Ma, wulai xia, haojie su, jianfeng chen, jiaojiao yang, qingyang rao, ping xie

Description

This dataset provides the extracted data used in our systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of microplastics on zooplankton. It accompanies the manuscript “Meta-analysis Reveals Microplastics Pose High Risks to Zooplankton in a Warming World” (submitted to the Journal of Hazardous Materials). The dataset is organized as three Excel files: 1) EffectSize_Dataset.xlsx Extracted observation-/effect-size–level dataset used for all meta-analyses (n = 1,468 observations from 48 studies). It contains study metadata and experimental descriptors (e.g., year, location, taxon/species, polymer, particle shape/size/color, exposure duration, temperature, feeding, etc.), concentration information (original and standardized units where applicable), endpoint category (growth/survival/reproduction/physiology), and effect-size statistics (effect size and corresponding variance/SE as used in the meta-analysis models). 2) Included_Studies.xlsx Full list of studies included after screening, with bibliographic information (author, year, title, etc.) and identifiers used to link to EffectSize_Dataset.xlsx. 3) Endpoint_Dictionary.xlsx A dictionary mapping the detailed response indicators reported in primary studies to the four endpoint categories used in the meta-analysis (growth, survival, reproduction, physiology). Notes: Missing values are coded as blank/NA. Variable names and endpoint definitions follow the manuscript and supplementary tables/figures. When citing this dataset, please use the DOI assigned upon publication: DOI: [to be added].

Files

Steps to reproduce

1) Download the three files in this dataset (EffectSize_Dataset.xlsx; Included_Studies.xlsx; Endpoint_Dictionary.xlsx). 2) Effect sizes and sampling variances were calculated as described in the accompanying manuscript (Methods). 3) Analyses were conducted in R (version X.X.X) using metafor and related packages; a multilevel random-effects meta-analytic framework was applied as specified in the manuscript. 4) Endpoint categorization follows Endpoint_Dictionary.xlsx (growth/survival/reproduction/physiology). 5) To reproduce all results/figures exactly, the full R scripts and session information can be obtained from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Institutions

  • Yunnan University
  • Hebei University
  • Institute of Hydrobiology Chinese Academy of Sciences

Categories

Ecology, Toxicology, Environmental Science, Environmental Pollution, Aquatic Biology

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