The Coral Trait Database, a curated database of trait information for coral species from the global oceans

Abstract

Trait-based approaches advance ecological and evolutionary research because traits provide a strong link to an organism's function and fitness. Trait-based research might lead to a deeper understanding of the functions of, and services provided by, ecosystems, thereby improving management, which is vital in the current era of rapid environmental change. Coral reef scientists have long collected trait data for corals; however, these are difficult to access and often under-utilized in addressing large-scale questions. We present the Coral Trait Database initiative that aims to bring together physiological, morphological, ecological, phylogenetic and biogeographic trait information into a single repository. The database houses species- and individual-level data from published field and experimental studies alongside contextual data that provide important framing for analyses. In this data descriptor, we release data for 56 traits for 1547 species, and present a collaborative platform on which other trait data are being actively federated. Our overall goal is for the Coral Trait Database to become an open-source, community-led data clearinghouse that accelerates coral reef research.

Figure 1. Overview of the design of the Coral Trait Database.

(a) The general schema consists of an Observation of a coral colony that is a collection of one or more Measurements associated with the colony. Solid borders represent table associations and dotted borders represent values. Observations have four table associations (contributor, coral species, resource and location) and one value for access (i.e., public or private). Measurements have four table associations (observation, trait, methodology and standard) and five values. (b) An example of an observation where coral growth rate was measured along with two contextual measurements (represented in the database by an eye). All observation-level attributes are required. Required measurement-level attributes are trait, standard, value and value type. Precision details are entered when a value type is not a raw value. Photograph: Emily Darling.

Figure 2. Trait by species matrix, illustrating coverage of trait data are currently available in the Coral Trait Database across the worlds 1547 coral species.

Blue cells correspond with the traits released in this data descriptor. Grey cells correspond with other available data for which thorough error checking is still being conducted.

Figure 3

Figure 4. The phylogenetic coverage of traits in the Coral Trait Database, for the subset of species in the current molecular phylogeny.

As for Fig. 2, blue cells indicate traits for species released in this data descriptor and grey cells indicate other available information in the database, still being federated.