PNNL

Abstract

We here provide the ‘Global Spectrum of Plant Form and Function Dataset’, containing species mean values for six vascular plant traits. Together, these traits - plant height, stem specific density, leaf area, leaf mass per area, leaf nitrogen content per dry mass, and diaspore (seed or spore) mass - have been shown to capture the essence of plant form and function. The dataset is based on ca. 1 million trait records received via the TRY database (representing ca. 2,500 original publications) and additional unpublished data sources. It provides 92,159 species mean values for the six traits, covering 46,047 vascular plant species. The data are complemented by higher-level taxonomic classification and six categorical traits. Data quality management is based on a probabilistic approach combined with comprehensive validation against expert knowledge and external information. Intense data acquisition and thorough quality control produced the largest and probably most accurate compilation of empirically observed vascular plant species mean traits to date, including some of the most extreme trait values known to science.