The Octocoral Trait Database: a global database of trait information for octocoral species

Abstract

Trait-based approaches are revolutionizing our understanding of high-diversity ecosystems byproviding insights into the principles underlying key ecological processes, such as community assembly,species distribution, resilience, and the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.In 2016, the Coral Trait Database advanced coral reef science by centralizing trait information for stonycorals (i.e., Subphylum Anthozoa, Class Hexacorallia, Order Scleractinia). However, the absence oftrait data for soft corals, gorgonians, and sea pens (i.e., Class Octocorallia) limits our understandingof ecosystems where these organisms are significant members and play pivotal roles. To address thisgap, we introduce the Octocoral Trait Database, a global, open-source database of curated trait datafor octocorals. This database houses species- and individual-level data, complemented by contextualinformation that provides a relevant framework for analyses. The inaugural dataset, OctocoralTraitsv2.2, contains over 97,500 global trait observations across 98 traits and over 3,500 species. Thedatabase aims to evolve into a steadily growing, community-led resource that advances future marinescience, with a particular emphasis on coral reef research.