AusTraits, a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora

Author(s)

Daniel Falster, Rachael Gallagher, Elizabeth H. Wenk, Ian J. Wright, Dony Indiarto, Samuel C. Andrew, Caitlan Baxter, James Lawson, Stuart Allen, Anne Fuchs, Anna Monro, Fonti Kar, Mark A. Adams, Collin W. Ahrens, Matthew Alfonzetti, Tara Angevin, Deborah M. G. Apgaua, Stefan Arndt, Owen K. Atkin, Joe Atkinson, Tony Auld, Andrew Baker, Maria von Balthazar, Anthony Bean, Chris J. Blackman, Keith Bloomfeld, David M. J. S. Bowman, Jason Bragg, Timothy J. Brodribb, Genevieve Buckton, Geof Burrows, Elizabeth Caldwell, James Camac, Raymond Carpenter, JaneA Catford, Gregory R. Cawthray, Lucas A. Cernusak, Gregory Chandler, Alex R. Chapman, David Cheal, Alexander W. Cheesman, Si-Chong Chen, Brendan Choat, Brook Clinton, Peta L. Clode, Helen Coleman, William K. Cornwell, Meredith Cosgrove, Michael Crisp, Erika Cross, Kristine Y. Crous, Saul Cunningham, Timothy Curran, Ellen Curtis, Matthew Daws, Jane L. DeGabriel, Matthew D. Denton, Ning Dong, Pengzhen Du, Honglang Duan, David H. Duncan, Richard P. Duncan, Marco Duretto, John M. Dwyer, Cheryl Edwards, Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez, John R. Evans, Susan E. Everingham, Claire Farrell, Jennifer Firn, Carlos Roberto Fonseca, Ben J. French, Doug Frood, Jennifer L. Funk, Sonya R. Geange, Oula Ghannoum, Sean M. Gleason, Carl R. Gosper, Emma Gray, Philip K. Groom, Saskia Grootemaat, Caroline Gross, Greg Guerin, Lydia Guja, Amy K. Hahs, Matthew Tom Harrison, Patrick E. Hayes, Martin Henery, Dieter Hochuli, Jocelyn Howell, Guomin Huang, Lesley Hughes, John Huisman, Jugoslav Ilic, Ashika Jagdish, Daniel Jin, Gregory Jordan, Enrique Jurado, John Kanowski, Sabine Kasel, Jurgen Kellermann, Belinda Kenny, Michele Kohout, Robert M. Kooyman, Martyna M. Kotowska, Hao Ran Lai, Etienne Laliberte, Hans Lambers, Byron B. Lamont, Robert Lanfear, Frank van Langevelde, Daniel C. Laughlin, Bree-Anne Laugier-kitchener, Susan Laurance, Caroline E. R. Lehmann, Andrea Leigh, Michelle R. Leishman, Tanja Lenz, Brendan Lepschi, James D. Lewis, Felix Lim, Udayangani Liu, Janice Lord, Christopher H. Lusk, Cate Macinnis-Ng, Hannah McPherson, Susana Magallon, Anthony Manea, Andrea Lopez-Martinez, Margaret Mayfeld, James K. McCarthy, Trevor Meers, Marlien van der Merwe, Daniel J. Metcalfe, Per Milberg, Karel Mokany, Angela T. Moles, Ben D. Moore, Nicholas Moore, John W. Morgan, William Morris, Annette Muir, Samantha Munroe, Aine Nicholson, Dean Nicolle, Adrienne B. Nicotra, Ulo Niinemets, Tom North, Andrew O'Reilly-Nugent, Odhran S. O'Sullivan, Brad Oberle, Yusuke Onoda, Mark K. J. Ooi, Colin P. Osborne, Grazyna Paczkowska, Burak Pekin, Caio Guilherme Pereira, Catherine Pickering, Melinda Pickup, Laura J. Pollock, Pieter Poot, Jef R. Powell, SallyA Power, Iain Colin Prentice, Lynda Prior, Suzanne M. Prober, Jennifer Read, Victoria Reynolds, Anna E. Richards, Ben Richardson, Michael L. Roderick, Julieta A. Rosell, Maurizio Rossetto, Barbara Rye, Paul D. Rymer, MichaelA Sams, Gordon Sanson, Herve Sauquet, Susanne Schmidt, Juerg Schoenenberger, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Kerrie Sendall, Steve Sinclair, Benjamin Smith, Renee Smith, Fiona Soper, Ben Sparrow, Rachel J. Standish, Timothy L. Staples, Ruby Stephens, Christopher Szota, Guy Taseski, Elizabeth Tasker, Freya Thomas, David T. Tissue, Mark G. Tjoelker, David Yue Phin Tng, Felix de Tombeur, Kyle Tomlinson, Neil C. Turner, Erik J. Veneklaas, Susanna Venn, Peter Vesk, Carolyn Vlasveld, Maria S. Vorontsova, Charles A. Warren, Nigel Warwick, Lasantha K. Weerasinghe, Jessie Wells, Mark Westoby, Matthew White, Nicholas S. G. Williams, Jarrah Wills, Peter G. Wilson, Colin Yates, Amy E. Zanne, Graham Zemunik, Kasia Zieminska

Abstract

We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.

Organisation(s)

Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research

External organisation(s)

University of New South Wales, Macquarie University, Western Sydney University, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), NSW Department of Primary Industries, Swinburne University of Technology, La Trobe University, University of Melbourne, Australian National University, NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment, Southern Cross University, Brisbane Botanic Gardens, University of Tasmania, James Cook University, Charles Sturt University (CSU), Monash University, University of Adelaide, King's College London, University of Western Australia, Federation University Australia, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Lincoln University, Alcoa of Australia, Lanzhou University, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), University of Canberra, University of Queensland, Melbourne Water, Technol & Marine Res, Queensland University of Technology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Pathways Bushland and Environment, University of California, Davis, United States Department of Agriculture USDA, Geological Survey of Western Australia, Curtin University, University of New England, The University of Sydney, Berowra Valley National Park NSW, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Australian Wildlife Conservancy, NSW Rural Fire Service, University of Canterbury, University of Wyoming, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Fordham University, University of Otago, University of Waikato, University of Auckland, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, Cumberland Ecology Pty Ltd, Linköping University, Currency Creek Arboretum, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Leistershire Cty Council, Kyoto University, University of Sheffield, Istanbul Technical University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Griffith University, Greening Australia, McGill University, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie (Otto-Hahn-Institut), Rider University, Deakin University, University of Peradeniya, National Herbarium of New South Wales, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Sydney, George Washington University, Florida International University, University of Montpellier, Université de Liège, Murdoch University, SFS Centre for Rainforest Studies, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, League of European Research Universities, Florida State University, Wageningen University and Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney, University of Montreal, State Herbarium of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000 Australia., Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Australian Government, Nanchang Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, Western Australia Herbarium

Journal

Scientific Data

Volume

8

Pages

1-20

No. of pages

20

ISSN

2052-4463

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01006-6

Publication date

09-2021

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

106008 Botany, 106012 Evolutionary research, 106042 Systematic botany

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Information Systems, Education, Library and Information Sciences, Statistics and Probability, Computer Science Applications, Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/austraits-a-curated-plant-trait-database-for-the-australian-flora(6bcb3049-7935-4548-aba0-6ac7bf4f283a).html