Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42397922›Full record

ArticleScience advances2026

Global synthesis reveals systematic variation in trophic transfer efficiency across and within ecosystems.

Danping Wu, Junjie Zheng, Shipeng Nie, Hong Huang, Jingyi Li, Ulrich Brose, Jonathan M Chase, Jingyun Fang, Shaopeng Wang

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Danping WuInstitute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and State Key Laboratory of Vegetation Structure, Function and Construction (VegLab), Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0009-0000-1400-6436
Junjie ZhengInstitute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and State Key Laboratory of Vegetation Structure, Function and Construction (VegLab), Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-6794-3586
Shipeng NieInstitute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and State Key Laboratory of Vegetation Structure, Function and Construction (VegLab), Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-9894-5517
Hong HuangInstitute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and State Key Laboratory of Vegetation Structure, Function and Construction (VegLab), Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0009-0007-0165-1584
Jingyi LiInstitute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and State Key Laboratory of Vegetation Structure, Function and Construction (VegLab), Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-0479-3656
Ulrich BroseInstitute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-9156-583X
Jonathan M ChaseGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-5580-4303
Jingyun FangInstitute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and State Key Laboratory of Vegetation Structure, Function and Construction (VegLab), Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0003-0094-731X
Shaopeng WangInstitute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and State Key Laboratory of Vegetation Structure, Function and Construction (VegLab), Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-9430-8879

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Trophic transfer efficiency (TTE) describes the proportion of energy or nutrients transferred from one trophic level to the next. A common assumption holds that ~10% of energy is transferred upward. This rule of thumb has shaped ecological models and discussions of sustainability, but broad empirical tests are lacking. We compiled 2052 TTE estimates from 122 studies across ecosystems. Average energy transfer efficiency (TTE

Indexed as

EcosystemFood ChainAnimalsFresh Water

Identifiers

PMID42397922
PMCPMC13330895

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.