Data, R analysis, and supplementary information from: Pollinator risks and recovery from air pollutant interactions during the fossil fuel transition
Data files
Jul 21, 2026 version files 437.90 KB
-
functions.R
10.89 KB
-
Meta-analysis_script.Rmd
30.32 KB
-
Metatable.csv
59.33 KB
-
README.md
3.83 KB
-
Supplementary_Information.pdf
333.54 KB
Abstract
This data package supports a meta-analysis of how tropospheric ozone (O3) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), individually and in combination, affect insect pollinator performance during the fossil fuel energy transition. It contains raw effect-size data (log response ratios, lnRR) and comprehensive metadata extracted from 22 experimental studies (87 effect sizes total) identified through a systematic literature review. The primary data file includes study identifiers, bibliographic references, pollutant type and concentrations, pollinator and plant taxa, performance metrics (searching efficiency, feeding efficiency, abundance), experimental design details, country of study, sample sizes, means, standard deviations, and clustering information for shared controls and multiple outcomes. Accompanying files provide the full reproducible R Markdown workflow (including custom functions for bias-corrected effect-size calculation and variance-covariance matrix construction for non-independent data), as well as the complete Supplementary Information PDF. The dataset and code enable full reproduction of the analyses, extension with additional studies, or secondary investigations into air pollutant impacts on pollinators and ecosystem services. These data, extracted from publicly available peer-reviewed literature, underpin all meta-analytic results in the associated manuscript, including the reported reductions in pollinator performance and the sub-additive interaction between O3 and NOx.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.s7h44j1qb
Description of the data and file structure
Meta-analysis dataset (Metatable.csv):
Raw meta-analysis data extracted from 22 experimental studies (87 effect sizes total) identified through a systematic literature review (Web of Science, up to 9 January 2025). Variables include study identifiers, bibliographic details (including full references of all source studies), pollutant type and concentration (O₃ and/or NOx), pollinator taxon/species, performance metric (searching efficiency, feeding efficiency, abundance), experimental method, country, and the raw values needed to calculate effect sizes and sampling variances.
Analysis files and supplementary information:
Supplementary_Information.pdf: Detailed methods, additional results, tables, and supporting material that accompanies the manuscript, including a detailed description of the analysis.
R markdown file (Meta-analysis_script.Rmd): Provides code used to clean the data, calculate effect sizes, construct variance-covariance matrices to account for shared controls, run multilevel meta-analyses, test for publication bias and concentration dependence, and generate all tables and figures. Knitting this file reproduces the content of the Supplementary Information. All packages used are cited and publicly available.
Functions file (functions.R): Includes custom/helper R functions adapted for the meta-analysis pipeline. This file is sourced by the R markdown file.
Files and variables within Meta-analysis dataset
Contains one main sheet with the following key variables:
Core identifiers:
- studyid: Unique identifier for each publication
- infoid: Unique identifier for each effect size (row)
- Bibliographic fields: Authors, Publication.Year, Article.Title, Journal, DOI, Country (of study), full.reference
Pollutant and design:
- Pollutant: O3, NO2, or O3xNO2
- Location: lab, glasshouse, polytunnel, field, or controlled field (Free-Air Enrichment or FAE)
- cP_conc / eP_conc: Control and elevated pollutant concentrations in ppb
- sharedcontrolcluster: Links effect sizes sharing the same control group
- multipleoutcomecluster: Links multiple effect sizes from the same experimental unit
Biological information:
- Insect.Order, Insect.Family, Insect.Species, Common.name
- Plant.Order, Plant.Family, Plant.Species
- Performance: searching efficiency, feeding efficiency, or abundance
- Measurement: Further information of performance parameter measured
- Units: Units of measurement
- Source: Figure or table within publication where measurement was extracted from
Raw data for effect-size calculation:
- Nc / Ne – Sample sizes for control/elevated air pollution treatments
- Xc / Xe – Means for control/elevated air pollution treatments
- Error_c / Error_e – Standard errors for control / elevated air pollution treatments
- Dev_c / Dev_e – Standard deviations for control / elevated air pollution treatments
Code/software
Required software:
- R (≥ 4.3.0 recommended)
- RStudio (recommended)
Key packages (loaded in the Rmd and cited therein):
- metafor, orchaRd, tidyverse, patchwork, here, MCMCglmm, corpcor
Workflow:
- Place all files in one folder.
- Open Meta-analysis_script.Rmd in RStudio.
- Run the setup chunk (it sources functions.R and loads the data).
- Knit the document to reproduce the Supplementary Information and all analyses.
Access information
All data were extracted from published peer-reviewed studies via a systematic search completed on 9 January 2025. No external raw datasets were used beyond the published literature.