TRY - a global database of plant traits

Jens Kattge; Sandra Diaz; Sandra Lavorel; I.C. Prentice; Paul W. Leadley; Gerhard Bonisch; Éric Garnier; Mark Westoby; Peter B. Reich; I. J. Wright; Johannes Hc Cornelissen; Cyrille Violle; Sandy P. Harrison; Peter M van Bodegom; Markus Reichstein; Brian J. Enquist; Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia; David D. Ackerly; Madhur Anand; Owen Atkin; Michael Bahn; T. R. Baker; D. Baldocchi; R. Bekker; Carolina C. Blanco; Benjamin Blonder; W. J. Bond; Ross Bradstock; Daniel E. Bunker; Fernando Casanoves; Jeannine Cavender-Bares; Jeffrey Q. Chambers; F. Stuart Chapin Iii; Jérôme Chave; David Coomes; William K. Cornwell; Joseph M. Craine; B. H. Dobrin; L. Duarte; Walter Durka; James Elser; Gerd A. Esser; Marc Estiarte; William F. Fagan; Jingyun Fang; F. Fernandez-Mendez; Alessandra Fidelis; Brian Finegan; Olivier Flores; Hilary Ford; D. Frank; Grégoire T. Freschet; Nikolaos M. Fyllas; Rachael V. Gallagher; Walton A. Green; Alvaro G. Gutierrez; Thomas Hickler; Steven I. Higgins; J. G. Hodgson; Adel Jalili; Steven Jansen; Carlos A. Joly; Andrew J. Kerkhoff; Don Kirkup; Kaoru Kitajima; Michael Kleyer; Stefan Klotz; Johannes M. H. Knops; Koen Kramer; Ingolf Kuhn; Hiroko Kurokawa; D. Laughlin; T.D. Lee; Michelle Leishman; Frederic Lens; Simon L. Lewis; J. Lloyd; Joan Llusia; Frédérique Louault; S. Ma; M. D. Mahecha; Pete Manning; T. Massad; Belinda E. Medlyn; Julie Messier; Angela T. Moles; Sandra Cristina Muller; Karin Nadrowski; Shahid Naeem; Stephanie Nollert; A. Nuske; Roma Ogaya; Jacek Oleksyn; Vladimir G. Onipchenko; Yusuke Onoda; J. Ordonez; G. Overbeck; Wim Ozinga; S. Patiño; Susana Paula; Juli G. Pausas; Josep Penuelas; O. L. Phillips; V. D. Pillar; H. Poorter; Peter Poschlod; Andreas Prinzing; Raphael Proulx; Anja Rammig; S. Reinsch; B. Reu; L. Sack; B. Salgado-Negret; J. Sardans; Satomi Shiodera; B. Shipley; A. Siefert; Evan Sosinski; Jean-Francois Soussana; E.K. Swaine; N. Swenson; Ken Thompson; P. Thornton; M. Waldram; Evan Weiher; M. White; Sean White; S. Joseph Wright; Benjamin Yguel; Soenke Zaehle; Amy E. Zanne

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02451.x

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TRY - a global database of plant traits

Jens Kattge, Sandra Diaz, Sandra Lavorel, I.C. Prentice, Paul W. Leadley, Gerhard Bonisch, Éric Garnier, Mark Westoby, Peter B. Reich, I. J. Wright, …

Global Change Biology, Vol.17(9), pp.2905-2935

2011

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02451.x

PMCID: PMC3627314

Abstract

comparative ecology

database

environmental gradient

functional diversity

global analysis

global change

interspecific variation

intraspecific variation

plant attribute

plant functional type

plant trait

vegetation model

analyse globale

traitement des plantes

diversité fonctionnelle

changement global

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants and their organs - determine how primary producers respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, influence ecosystem processes and services and provide a link from species richness to ecosystem functional diversity. Trait data thus represent the raw material for a wide range of research from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology to biogeography. Here we present the global database initiative named TRY, which has united a wide range of the plant trait research community worldwide and gained an unprecedented buy-in of trait data: so far 93 trait databases have been contributed. The data repository currently contains almost three million trait entries for 69 000 out of the world's 300 000 plant species, with a focus on 52 groups of traits characterizing the vegetative and regeneration stages of the plant life cycle, including growth, dispersal, establishment and persistence. A first data analysis shows that most plant traits are approximately log-normally distributed, with widely differing ranges of variation across traits. Most trait variation is between species (interspecific), but significant intraspecific variation is also documented, up to 40% of the overall variation. Plant functional types (PFTs), as commonly used in vegetation models, capture a substantial fraction of the observed variation - but for several traits most variation occurs within PFTs, up to 75% of the overall variation. In the context of vegetation models these traits would better be represented by state variables rather than fixed parameter values. The improved availability of plant trait data in the unified global database is expected to support a paradigm shift from species to trait-based ecology, offer new opportunities for synthetic plant trait research and enable a more realistic and empirically grounded representation of terrestrial vegetation in Earth system models.

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Title: TRY - a global database of plant traits
Creators - without role: Jens Kattge - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Sandra Diaz - Insituto Multidisciplinario de Biologia Vegetal
Sandra Lavorel - Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine
I.C. Prentice - Macquarie University
Paul W. Leadley - Écologie, Systématique et Évolution
Gerhard Bonisch - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Éric Garnier - Université de Montpellier, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive - CEFE
Mark Westoby - Macquarie University
Peter B. Reich - University of Minnesota
I. J. Wright - Macquarie University
Johannes Hc Cornelissen - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Cyrille Violle - Université de Montpellier, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive - CEFE
Sandy P. Harrison - Macquarie University
Peter M van Bodegom - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Markus Reichstein - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Brian J. Enquist - University of Arizona
Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
David D. Ackerly - Integra
Madhur Anand - University of Guelph
Owen Atkin - Australian National University
Michael Bahn - Universität Innsbruck
T. R. Baker - University of Leeds
D. Baldocchi - University of California, Berkeley
R. Bekker - University of Groningen
Carolina C. Blanco - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Benjamin Blonder - University of Arizona
W. J. Bond - University of Cape Town
Ross Bradstock - University of Wollongong
Daniel E. Bunker - New Jersey Institute of Technology
Fernando Casanoves - Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza Catie
Jeannine Cavender-Bares - University of Minnesota
Jeffrey Q. Chambers - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
F. Stuart Chapin Iii - Institute of Arctic Biology
Jérôme Chave - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
David Coomes - University of Cambridge
William K. Cornwell - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Joseph M. Craine - Kansas State University
B. H. Dobrin - University of Arizona
L. Duarte - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Walter Durka - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
James Elser - Arizona State University
Gerd A. Esser - University of Giessen
Marc Estiarte - Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications
William F. Fagan - University of Maryland, College Park
Jingyun Fang - Peking University
F. Fernandez-Mendez - University of Tolima
Alessandra Fidelis - Universidade de São Paulo
Brian Finegan - Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza Catie
Olivier Flores - Peuplements végétaux et bioagresseurs en milieu tropical
Hilary Ford - Department of Biology [York]
D. Frank - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Grégoire T. Freschet - Western Sydney University
Nikolaos M. Fyllas - University of Leeds
Rachael V. Gallagher - Macquarie University
Walton A. Green - Harvard University
Alvaro G. Gutierrez - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Thomas Hickler - LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics
Steven I. Higgins - Goethe University Frankfurt
J. G. Hodgson - University of Sheffield
Adel Jalili - Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands
Steven Jansen - Universität Ulm
Carlos A. Joly - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)
Andrew J. Kerkhoff - Kenyon College
Don Kirkup - Royal Botanic Gardens [Kew]
Kaoru Kitajima - University of Florida
Michael Kleyer - Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
Stefan Klotz - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Johannes M. H. Knops - University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Koen Kramer - Wageningen University and Research [Wageningen]
Ingolf Kuhn - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Hiroko Kurokawa - Tohoku University
D. Laughlin - Northern Arizona University
T.D. Lee - University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
Michelle Leishman - Macquarie University
Frederic Lens - Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Simon L. Lewis - University of Leeds
J. Lloyd - University of Leeds
Joan Llusia - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Frédérique Louault - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
S. Ma - University of California, Berkeley
M. D. Mahecha - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Pete Manning - UNSW Sydney
T. Massad - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Belinda E. Medlyn - Macquarie University
Julie Messier - University of Arizona
Angela T. Moles - Environmental Earth Sciences
Sandra Cristina Muller - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Karin Nadrowski - Leipzig University
Shahid Naeem - Columbia University
Stephanie Nollert - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
A. Nuske - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Roma Ogaya - Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications
Jacek Oleksyn - Polish Academy of Sciences
Vladimir G. Onipchenko - Lomonosov Moscow State University
Yusuke Onoda - Kyushu University
J. Ordonez - Wageningen University & Research
G. Overbeck - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Wim Ozinga - Wageningen University & Research
S. Patiño - University of Leeds
Susana Paula - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Juli G. Pausas - Centre d'Investigacions sobre Desertificació
Josep Penuelas - Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications
O. L. Phillips - University of Leeds
V. D. Pillar - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
H. Poorter - Forschungszentrum Jülich
Peter Poschlod - University of Regensburg
Andreas Prinzing - Université de Rennes
Raphael Proulx - Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Anja Rammig - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
S. Reinsch - Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy
B. Reu - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
L. Sack - University of California, Los Angeles
B. Salgado-Negret - Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza Catie
J. Sardans - Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications
Satomi Shiodera - Hokkaido University
B. Shipley - Université de Sherbrooke
A. Siefert - Syracuse University
Evan Sosinski - embrapa
Jean-Francois Soussana - Biological Sciences, Aberdeen
E.K. Swaine - University of Aberdeen
N. Swenson - Michigan State University
Ken Thompson - University of Sheffield
P. Thornton - Oak Ridge National Laboratory
M. Waldram - University of Leicester
Evan Weiher - University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
M. White - Utah State University
Sean White - School of Environmental Sciences
S. Joseph Wright - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Benjamin Yguel - Université de Rennes
Soenke Zaehle - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Amy E. Zanne - University of Missouri–St. Louis
Publication Details: Global Change Biology, Vol.17(9), pp.2905-2935
Grant note: DIVERSITAS; IGBP; Global Land Project; UK Natural Environment Research Council (QUEST programm); FRB; GIS Climat, Environnement et Société; NSF LTER program DEB 0620652; NSF LTREB programm DEB 0716587
Identifiers: 9934138409311
Academic Unit: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive - CEFE
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Local Fields: hal-00639535