%0 Journal Article %A Alexandru Milcu %A Ruben Puga-Freitas %A Aaron M. Ellison %A Manuel Blouin %A Stefan Scheu %A Thomas Girin %A Grégoire T. Freschet %A Laura Rose %A Michael Scherer-Lorenzen %A Sebastien Barot %A Jean-Christophe Lata %A Simone Cesarz %A Nico Eisenhauer %A Agnès Gigon %A Alexandra Weigelt %A Amandine Hansart %A Anna Greiner %A Anne Pando %A Arthur Gessler %A Carlo Grignani %A Davide Assandri %A Gerd Gleixner %A Jean-François Le Galliard %A Katherine Urban-Mead %A Laura Zavattaro %A Marina E.H. Müller %A Markus Lange %A Martin Lukac %A Michael Bonkowski %A Neringa Mannerheim %A Nina Buchmann %A Olaf Butenschoen %A Paula Rotter %A Rahme Seyhun %A Sebastien Devidal %A Zachary Kayler %A Jacques Roy %T Genotypic variability enhances the reproducibility of an ecological study %D 2017 %R 10.1101/080119 %J bioRxiv %P 080119 %X Many scientific disciplines currently are experiencing a “reproducibility crisis” because numerous scientific findings cannot be repeated consistently. A novel but controversial hypothesis postulates that stringent levels of environmental and biotic standardization in experimental studies reduces reproducibility by amplifying impacts of lab-specific environmental factors not accounted for in study designs. A corollary to this hypothesis is that the deliberate introduction of controlled systematic variability (CSV) in experimental designs can increase reproducibility. We tested this hypothesis using a multi-laboratory microcosm study in which the same ecological experiment was repeated in 14 laboratories across Europe. Each laboratory introduced environmental and genotypic CSV within and among replicated microcosms established in either growth chambers (with stringent control of environmental conditions) or glasshouses (with more variable environmental conditions). The introduction of genotypic CSV led to lower among-laboratory variability in growth chambers, indicating increased reproducibility, but had no significant effect in glasshouses where reproducibility also was lower. Environmental CSV had little effect on reproducibility. Although there are multiple causes for the “reproducibility crisis”, deliberately including genetic variation may be a simple solution for increasing the reproducibility of ecological studies performed in controlled environments. %U https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2017/08/08/080119.full.pdf