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Title: Tundra Trait Team: A database of plant traits spanning the tundra biome

Journal Article · · Global Ecology and Biogeography
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12821· OSTI ID:1479549
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  1. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh UK, Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus Denmark, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt Germany
  2. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh UK
  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado, National Ecological Observatory Network, Boulder Colorado, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado
  4. Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus Denmark, Arctic Research Center, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus Denmark, Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus Denmark
  5. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Qatar University, Doha Qatar
  6. Department of Forestry, Forest and Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi State University, Mississippi
  7. Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona Spain, Biodiversity Research Institute, University of Barcelona, Barcelona Spain, Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Greifswald University, Greifswald Germany
  8. Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xishuangbanna China
  9. Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich Switzerland
  10. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå Sweden, Environmental Sciences, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht The Netherlands
  11. School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff Arizona
  12. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg Sweden, Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg Sweden
  13. Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Lund Sweden
  14. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Biology / Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Halle (Saale) Germany, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig Germany
  15. Adam Mickiewicz University, Institute of Geoecology and Geoinformation, Poznan Poland, University of Alaska Anchorage, Department of Biological Sciences, Anchorage, Alaska
  16. Technische Universität München, Freising Germany
  17. Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma Italy
  18. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Anchorage, Alaska
  19. Department of Biology, Memorial University, St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador Canada
  20. Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, UiT- The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø Norway
  21. Systems Ecology, Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam The Netherlands
  22. Department of Botany, University of Otago, Dunedin New Zealand
  23. Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna Austria
  24. Center for Permafrost (CENPERM), Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Denmark
  25. Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig Germany, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig Germany, Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu Finland
  26. Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi Finland
  27. Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf Switzerland, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver British Columbia Canada
  28. Faculty of Science and Technology, Federation University, Ballarat Victoria Australia
  29. Global Ecology Unit, CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra Catalonia Spain, CREAF, Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Vallès Catalonia Spain
  30. Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Bundoora Australia
  31. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria South Africa
  32. Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston Ontario Canada
  33. Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň Czech Republic, Faculty of Science, Centre for Polar Ecology, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
  34. Biology Department, Swedish Agricultural University (SLU), Uppsala Sweden
  35. Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki Finland
  36. Biology Department, Saint Mary's University, Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
  37. Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen The Netherlands
  38. Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver British Columbia Canada
  39. Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff Arizona
  40. Biology Department, Grand Valley State University, Allendale Michigan
  41. British Columbia Public Service, Surrey British Columbia Canada
  42. Climate Change Science Institute and Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Tennessee
  43. Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen UK, WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Switzerland
  44. Research Unit of Biodiversity, (CSIC/UO/PA), University of Oviedo, Oviedo Spain
  45. Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada
  46. Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Denmark
  47. Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xishuangbanna China, Department of Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Ixelles Belgium
  48. Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver British Columbia Canada
  49. Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň Czech Republic
  50. WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Switzerland
  51. Département des Sciences de l'environnement et Centre d'études nordiques, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières Quebec Canada
  52. School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria British Columbia Canada
  53. School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
  54. Centre of Excellence Plants and Ecosystems (PLECO), University of Antwerp, Antwerp Belgium
  55. Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich Switzerland, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dubendorf Switzerland
  56. Faculty of Science, Centre for Polar Ecology, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
  57. Center for Permafrost (CENPERM), Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Denmark, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Denmark
  58. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Brussels Belgium
  59. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg Sweden
  60. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde Denmark
  61. Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus Denmark
  62. Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona Spain, Biodiversity Research Institute, University of Barcelona, Barcelona Spain
  63. Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami Florida
  64. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå Sweden
  65. Department of Geobotany, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow Russia
  66. Environment Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Southport Queensland Australia
  67. Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, UiT- The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø Norway, Division of Conservation Biology, Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna Austria
  68. Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Greifswald University, Greifswald Germany
  69. Environmental Biology Department, Institute of Environmental Sciences, CML, Leiden University, Leiden The Netherlands
  70. Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside California
  71. NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim Norway
  72. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado
  73. Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks Alaska
  74. School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo, Waterloo Canada
  75. Département de biologie, Centre d'études nordiques and Centre d’étude de la forêt, Université Laval, Quebec City Quebec Canada
  76. Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood Victoria Australia
  77. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg Sweden
  78. Department of Geography, University of Bonn, Bonn Germany
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Motivation: The Tundra Trait Team (TTT) database includes field-based measurements of key traits related to plant form and function at multiple sites across the tundra biome. This dataset can be used to address theoretical questions about plant strategy and trade-offs, trait-environment relationships and environmental filtering, and trait variation across spatial scales, to validate satellite data, and to inform earth system model parameters. Main types of variable contained: The database contains 81,537 measurements of 18 plant traits. The most frequently measured traits (>1,000 observations each) include plant height, leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf fresh and dry mass, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen content, leaf carbon content, leaf phosphorus content, seed mass, and stem specific density. Spatial location and grain: Measurements were collected in tundra habitats in both the northern and southern hemispheres, including Arctic sites in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Fennoscandia, and Siberia and alpine sites in the European Alps, Colorado Rockies, Caucasus, Ural Mountains, Pyrenees, Australian Alps, and Central Otago Mountains (New Zealand). More than 99% of observations are georeferenced. Time period and grain: All data were collected between 1964 and 2016. A small number of sites have repeated trait measurements at two or more time periods. Major taxa and level of measurement: Trait measurements were made on 858 terrestrial vascular plant species growing in tundra habitats. Most observations are on individuals (87%), while a small number represent plot or site means or maximums per species. Software format: csv file and GitHub repository with data cleaning scripts in R; contribution to TRY plant trait database (www.try-db.org) to be included in the next version release.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Science Foundation (NSF); US Fish and Wildlife Service
Contributing Organization:
Tundra Trait Team
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; 1504312
OSTI ID:
1479549
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1479555; OSTI ID: 1615226
Journal Information:
Global Ecology and Biogeography, Journal Name: Global Ecology and Biogeography Vol. 27 Journal Issue: 12; ISSN 1466-822X
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 48 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
plant functional traits
tundra
Arctic
alpine