TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

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

Características biológicas de linhagens de Trichogramma pretiosum, criados em ovos de Sitotroga cerealella e Anagasta kuehniella Biological characteristics of Trichogramma pretiosum lineages, reared in Anagasta kuehniella and Sitotroga cerealella eggs

Avaliaram-se as características biológicas de cinco linhagens de T. pretiosum Riley (Hym.:Trichogrammatidae), coletadas em plantios comerciais de tomate, e criados em ovos de A. kuehniella (Zeller) e S. cerealella (Olivier). A taxa de parasitismo das cinco linhagens variou de 56,1 a 68,6%, quando o hospedeiro foi A. kuehniella, sendo superior à do hospedeiro S. cerealella. A viabilidade de todas as linhagens, quando criadas em ovos de S. cerealella, foi superior a 90%; no entanto, somente nas linhagens provenientes de Afonso Cláudio e Venda Nova do Imigrante é que a viabilidade das linhagens de Trichogramma criadas em ovos de S. cerealella, foram significativamente maiores que as criadas sobre A. kuehniella. A longevidade dos descendentes submetidos ao parasitismo foi superior para todas as linhagens quando criadas em ovos de A. kuehniella. Ambos os hospedeiros podem ser empregados na criação massal das cinco linhagens estudadas. Contudo, tomando-se por base a taxa de parasitismo e a qualidade da progênie, o hospedeiro A. kuehniella demonstrou ser superior a S. cerealella.<br>The biological characteristics of five lineages of T. pretiosum Riley (Hym.: Trichogrammatidae), collected from tomato crops, and reared in A. kuehniella (Zeller) and S. cerealella (Olivier) eggs were evaluated. The parasitism rate of the lineages, varied from 56,1 to 68.6%, when the host was A. kuehniella, being higher than for S. cerealella. The viability of all lineages, when reared in S. cerealella eggs, was superior to 90%; however, only those lineages reared in S. cerealella eggs and collected in Afonso Cláudio and Venda Nova dos Imigrantes (Espirito Santo State, Brazil) were significantly higher than those reared on A. kuehniella. The longevity of the offspring submitted to the parasitism, was higher in all the lineages reared in A. kuehniella eggs. All five lineages can be mass reared using both hosts. However, considering the parasitism rate and the quality of the progeny, the host A. kuehniella seems to be superior than S. cerealell