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- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(author)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 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.
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| 2. |
- Fouquet, Antoine, et al.
(author)
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Integrative species delimitation and biogeography of the Rhinella margaritifera species group (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae) suggest an intense diversification throughout Amazonia during the last 10 million years
- 2024
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In: Systematics and Biodiversity. - 1477-2000. ; 22:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The accumulation of studies delimiting species in Amazonia has not only shed light on the patterns of its outstanding species richness but also allowed a better understanding of the processes of diversification within this immense region. Nevertheless, vast knowledge gaps remain even for prominent anuran species complexes, such as the Rhinella margaritifera species group. This clade of toads comprises 23 valid species-level taxa, mainly distributed in Amazonia but also in South America’s Dry Diagonal and Atlantic and trans-Andean rainforests. Species boundaries and taxonomy in this group are notoriously complex, with studies suggesting the existence of several unnamed species. Available phylogenetic information suggests an Andean-western Amazonian origin of the group with subsequent diversification within Amazonian lowlands during the last 10 Myr and secondary dispersals into other Neotropical regions. To further test this biogeographic scenario and improve knowledge on species diversity, we used an unprecedentedly large mtDNA sampling (>800 16S sequences) across the clade’s distribution and comprising all but one described species. We delimited 54 Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units, which we tested further based on patterns of variation of a nuclear locus and acoustic and morphological data. This approach confirmed the existence of at least 25 candidate species, 19 of which correspond to currently recognized taxa whereas 30 remained ‘unconfirmed’. Our results clarify the taxonomic status of some species but also suggest multiple introgression events that blur some mtDNA-based species boundaries. Lastly, to provide a temporal framework for the clade’s diversification, we generated a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree based on a mitogenomic matrix, which confirmed a Miocene (∼9 Ma) western Amazonian origin and six major clades in the group, each having initially diversified in different regions within Amazonia. Most of these clades have later dispersed throughout Amazonia during the establishment of the modern Amazonian hydrographic system, i.e., in the last 6 Myr.
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