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. Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) and DIVERSITAS, the TRY database (TRY-not an acronym, rather a statement of sentiment; https ://www.try-db.org; Kattge et al., 2011) was proposed with the explicit assignment to improve the availability and accessibility of plant trait data for ecology and earth system sciences. The Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC) offered to host the database and the different groups joined forces for this community-driven program. Two factors were key to the success of TRY: the support and trust of leaders in the field of functional plant ecology submitting large databases and the long-term funding by the Max Planck Society, the MPI-BGC and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, which has enabled the continuous development of the TRY database.

Deadwood is a large global carbon store with its store size partially determined by biotic decay. Microbial wood decay rates are known to respond to changing temperature and precipitation. Termites are also important decomposers in the tropics but are less well studied. An understanding of their climate sensitivities is needed to estimate climate change effects on wood carbon pools. Using data from 133 sites spanning six continents, we found that termite wood discovery and consumption were highly sensitive to temperature (with decay increasing >6.8 times per 10°C increase in temperature)—even more so than microbes. Termite decay effects were greatest in tropical seasonal forests, tropical savannas, and subtropical deserts. With tropicalization (i.e., warming shifts to tropical climates), termite wood decay will likely increase as termites access more of Earth’s surface.

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Species loss leads to changes in ecosystem function and services, impacting human well‐being. Although biodiversity restoration is pivotal to circumvent this situation, the techniques for restoring old‐growth savannas are still limited and the restoration outcomes remain unpredictable. Here, we use a trait‐based approach to understand the functional outcomes of ecological restoration via direct seeding in a Brazilian savanna (cerrado, hereafter neotropical savanna). We compared the functional composition from woody and non‐woody component, total biomass, and biomass allocation of a restored relative to a degraded savanna (abandoned pasture) dominated by exotic grasses and a well‐preserved old‐growth native savanna. We found that the functional composition of restored communities was very similar to those dominated by exotic grasses, both characterized by a greater dominance of species with acquisitive traits, higher above‐ground biomass, and lower investment in root biomass. In contrast, the native vegetation exhibited a dominance of conservative traits and higher investment in belowground rather than aboveground biomass. Even though the acquisitive traits in the restored savanna allow a fast aboveground biomass accumulation and soil cover, the lower belowground biomass investment in the restored savanna may limit its resistance and resilience to droughts and fires. Our findings suggest that restoration efforts in neotropical savanna should focus on fostering the establishment of slow‐growing species to recover the ecosystem properties provided by the high biodiversity in neotropical savannas.