TY - JOUR

T1 - TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

AU - The Nutrient Network

AU - Kattge, Jens

AU - Bönisch, Gerhard

AU - Díaz, Sandra

AU - Lavorel, Sandra

AU - Prentice, Iain Colin

AU - Leadley, Paul

AU - Tautenhahn, Susanne

AU - Werner, Gijsbert D.A.

AU - Aakala, Tuomas

AU - Abedi, Mehdi

AU - Acosta, Alicia T.R.

AU - Adamidis, George C.

AU - Adamson, Kairi

AU - Aiba, Masahiro

AU - Albert, Cécile H.

AU - Alcántara, Julio M.

AU - Alcázar C, Carolina

AU - Aleixo, Izabela

AU - Ali, Hamada

AU - Amiaud, Bernard

AU - Ammer, Christian

AU - Amoroso, Mariano M.

AU - Anand, Madhur

AU - Anderson, Carolyn

AU - Anten, Niels

AU - Antos, Joseph

AU - Apgaua, Deborah Mattos Guimarães

AU - Ashman, Tia Lynn

AU - Asmara, Degi Harja

AU - Asner, Gregory P.

AU - Aspinwall, Michael

AU - Atkin, Owen

AU - Aubin, Isabelle

AU - Baastrup-Spohr, Lars

AU - Bahalkeh, Khadijeh

AU - Bahn, Michael

AU - Baker, Timothy

AU - Baker, William J.

AU - Bakker, Jan P.

AU - Baldocchi, Dennis

AU - Baltzer, Jennifer

AU - Banerjee, Arindam

AU - Baranger, Anne

AU - Barlow, Jos

AU - Barneche, Diego R.

AU - Baruch, Zdravko

AU - Bastianelli, Denis

AU - Battles, John

AU - Bauerle, William

AU - Klipel, Joice

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

PY - 2020/1/1

Y1 - 2020/1/1

N2 - Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

AB - Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - data coverage

KW - data integration

KW - data representativeness

KW - functional diversity

KW - plant traits

KW - TRY plant trait database

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075196338&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/gcb.14904

DO - 10.1111/gcb.14904

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 31891233

AN - SCOPUS:85075196338

VL - 26

SP - 119

EP - 188

JO - Global Change Biology

JF - Global Change Biology

SN - 1354-1013

IS - 1

ER -