PalmTraits 1.0, a species-level functional trait database of palms worldwide

AbstractPlant traits are critical to plant form and function —including growth, survival and reproduction— and therefore shape fundamental aspects of population and ecosystem dynamics as well as ecosystem services. Here, we present a global species-level compilation of key functional traits for palms (Arecaceae), a plant family with keystone importance in tropical and subtropical ecosystems. We derived measurements of essential functional traits for all (>2500) palm species from key sources such as monographs, books, other scientific publications, as well as herbarium collections. This includes traits related to growth form, stems, armature, leaves and fruits. Although many species are still lacking trait information, the standardized and global coverage of the data set will be important for supporting future studies in tropical ecology, rainforest evolution, paleoecology, biogeography, macroecology, macroevolution, global change biology and conservation. Potential uses are comparative eco-evolutionary studies, ecological research on community dynamics, plant-animal interactions and ecosystem functioning, studies on plant-based ecosystem services, as well as conservation science concerned with the loss and restoration of functional diversity in a changing world.Measurement(s)fruit length • stem length • plant height • petiole length • fruit color • leaf length • plant trait • fruit morphology traitTechnology Type(s)digital curationFactor Type(s)speciesSample Characteristic - OrganismArecaceaeSample Characteristic - Environmenttropical lowland evergreen broadleaf rain forest • tropical moist broadleaf forest biome • tropical deciduous broadleaf forest • tropical woodland biome • subtropical woodland biomeSample Characteristic - Locationglobal Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.9766919

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