A workflow to create trait databases from collections of textual taxonomic descriptions

Coleman, David; Gallagher, Rachael V.; Falster, Daniel; Sauquet, Herve; Wenk, Elizabeth

doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2023.102312

Cited by 6 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…To construct a dataset with a single harmonised trait value for all of Australia's taxa, three additional steps beyond Coleman et al's (2023) efforts were required: 1) manually interpreting ambiguous trait values; 2) merging disparate trait values offered by different floras; and 3) manually gap-filling trait data for all remaining taxa from the literature. The processes for completing each step are outlined below.…”

Section: Methods and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ultimately, despite a strong interest in plant traits and morphological and functional strategies, the patchy coverage of tabular trait data across national (or global) floras has limited the scope and uptake of trait-based approaches, especially at large spatial scales. directly to ecological function, such as plant growth form and woodiness (Coleman et al 2023). In addition, nearly all taxon descriptions include the taxon's life history.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, Coleman et al (2023) used human-guided text processing to extract trait values from the text paragraphs given as taxon descriptions in floras. This effort greatly increased coverage for plant growth form, woodiness and life history, as well as a diversity of morphological traits such as leaf dimensions, leaf shape, fruit type, and plant storage organs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, we aim to further extend Coleman et al (2023)'s compilation by: 1. Gap-filling values from original taxonomic descriptions, 2.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A near-complete dataset of plant growth form, life history, and woodiness for all Australian plants

Wenk,

Coleman,

Gallagher

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Tabular records of plant trait data are essential for diverse research purposes. Here we present scorings for a trio of core plant traits, plant growth form, woodiness, and life history, for nearly all accepted taxon concepts included in the Australian Plant Census (APC). This dataset is predominately derived from Australia’s state and national floras, supplemented by the taxonomic literature and diverse web resources. In total, 29,993 species and infraspecific taxa were scored for plant growth form, 30,279 for woodiness, and 30,056 for life history, with taxa scored as displaying a single or multiple trait values, as appropriate. This resource will enable rapid assessment of plant responses to disturbance events and new biogeographic analyses of trait distributions.

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Section: Methods and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, we aim to further extend Coleman et al (2023)'s compilation by: 1. Gap-filling values from original taxonomic descriptions, 2.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A near-complete dataset of plant growth form, life history, and woodiness for all Australian plants

Wenk,

Coleman,

Gallagher

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This approach should integrate traditional taxonomic methods, contemporary molecular approaches and advanced automated monitoring and identification tools (Slade & Ong, 2023). Despite current limitations in taxonomic, geographic and life history knowledge, the ongoing development of methods like metabarcoding (e.g., Theodorou et al, 2020) and automated insect sensors (e.g., Möglich et al, 2023), coupled with comprehensive trait assembly (e.g., Coleman et al, 2023;Shirey et al, 2021), presents promising avenues for expanding and scaling future research.…”

Section: Conclusion and Next Stepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large uncertainty in trait responses across insects among overall declines in a subtropical city

Federico,

Guralnick,

Belitz

2024

Insect Conserv Diversity

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Continued and rapid development of urban environments presents many challenges to organisms living in and around cities. Insects are among the most abundant and diverse class of animals but surprisingly little is known about how most species respond to urbanisation across clades with varying life histories, especially in the subtropics and tropics. In this study, we sample insect abundance and diversity across an urbanisation gradient in a subtropical region to assess the impact of urbanisation on 43 phototactic species of insects representing eight distinct orders. We also attempted to determine which life history traits best explain how species respond to urbanisation. We predicted an overall loss of abundance and richness with increasing urbanisation, with smaller, generalist species being the least impacted. We also predicted that species with above ground larval habitats would be less affected by urbanisation. Overall, urban development decreased both species richness and the abundance of individuals per order, with abundance being most reduced for Hymenoptera but least reduced for Coleoptera. At a species‐specific level, urban development negatively impacted most but not all species, although uncertainty around these estimates was high. We did not identify key traits that determined a species' sensitivity to urbanisation. Our results showcase that urbanisation may impact ecosystem function given overall reduction in the number of individual insects per order, despite wide variability in species‐specific responses. Our study also emphasises the importance of species selection when designing studies that examine responses of multiple taxa across an environmental gradient.

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Trait-Based Approaches to Improve Nutrient Uptake Efficiency in Crops

Joshi,

Maiti

2024

Plant Functional Traits for Improving Productivity

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A workflow to create trait databases from collections of textual taxonomic descriptions

Cited by 6 publications

References 30 publications

A near-complete dataset of plant growth form, life history, and woodiness for all Australian plants

A near-complete dataset of plant growth form, life history, and woodiness for all Australian plants

Large uncertainty in trait responses across insects among overall declines in a subtropical city

Trait-Based Approaches to Improve Nutrient Uptake Efficiency in Crops

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