# name
TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
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

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access