sPlot and TRY: Characterizing the trait composition of plant communities across the world’s biomes

Kattge, Jens

COS 64-8
sPlot and TRY: Characterizing the trait composition of plant communities across the world’s biomes

Wednesday, August 12, 2015: 10:30 AM

322, Baltimore Convention Center

Jens Kattge, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany

Jürgen Dengler, University of Bayreuth, Germany

Oliver Purschke, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany

Gerhard Bönisch, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany

Helge Bruelheide, Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany

Milan Chytrý, Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

Valério D. Pillar, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Brody Sandel, Aarhus University, Denmark

Sandra Díaz, CONICET - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Córdoba, Argentina

Sandra Lavorel, Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France

I. Colin Prentice, Imperial College, London, England

Paul W. Leadley, Laboratoire Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris Sud, Orsay, France

Peter B. Reich, Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN

Arindam Banerjee, Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Farideh Fazayeli, Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Hanhuai Shan, Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Franziska Schrodt, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany

Julia Joswig, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany

Christian Wirth, Department of Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

TRY and sPlot Consortium, hosted at iDiv and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Germany

Background/Question/Methods

The trait composition of plant communities is determined by abiotic, biotic and historical factors, but the drivers and patterns of traits and trait-covariation at global scale remain poorly quantified. Such knowledge is crucial for biogeographical and ecological theory and modeling, but also relevant to devise management measures to mitigate effects of climate change.

Results/Conclusions

To address these questions, an iDiv Working Group has established the first global vegetation-plot database (sPlot). sPlot currently contains about 1 million plots from over 50 countries and all biomes, and is steadily growing. The combination with plant traits compiled in the TRY database facilitates characterizing the trait composition of the plant communities. Approx. 70% of the most frequent species in the sPlot plots are represented in the current version of TRY.

We will provide an overview of structure and content of sPlot and TRY in terms of spatial distribution, data properties, trait coverage and gap-filling. First preliminary cross-biome analyses already show clear trends – despite substantial scatter - of community-weighted mean traits, e.g. specific leaf area, with simple environmental drivers, like mean annual temperature. Finally, we will explain next steps and perspectives of the two initiatives.

TRY: https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Home.php

sPlot: http://www.idiv-biodiversity.de/de/sdiv/workshops/workshops-2013/splot

COS 64-8 sPlot and TRY: Characterizing the trait composition of plant communities across the world’s biomes

COS 64-8
sPlot and TRY: Characterizing the trait composition of plant communities across the world’s biomes