Lam-Gordillo Orlando, Baring Ryan, Dittmann Sabine
College of Science and Engineering Flinders University Adelaide SA Australia.
Ecol Evol. 2020 Nov 27;10(24):14372-14387. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7040. eCollection 2020 Dec.
Trait-based approaches are increasingly used as a proxy for understanding the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Macrobenthic fauna are considered one of the major providers of ecosystem functions in marine soft sediments; however, several gaps persist in the knowledge of their trait classification, limiting the potential use of functional assessments. While trait databases are available for the well-studied North Atlantic benthic fauna, no such trait classification system exists for Australia. Here, we present the South Australian Macrobenthic Traits (SAMT) database, the first comprehensive assessment of macrobenthic fauna traits in temperate Australian waters. The SAMT database includes 13 traits and 54 trait-modalities (e.g., life history, morphology, physiology, and behavior), and is based on records of macrobenthic fauna from South Australia. We provide trait information for more than 250 macrobenthic taxa, including outcomes from a fuzzy coding procedure, as well as an R package for using and analyzing the SAMT database. The establishment of the SAMT constitutes the foundation for a comprehensive macrobenthic trait database for the wider southern Australian region that could facilitate future research on functional perspectives, such as assessments of functional diversity and changes to ecosystem functioning.
基于性状的方法越来越多地被用作理解生物多样性与生态系统功能之间关系的替代方法。大型底栖动物被认为是海洋软质沉积物中生态系统功能的主要提供者之一；然而，在其性状分类知识方面仍存在一些空白，限制了功能评估的潜在用途。虽然已有针对研究充分的北大西洋底栖动物的性状数据库，但澳大利亚却没有这样的性状分类系统。在此，我们展示了南澳大利亚大型底栖动物性状（SAMT）数据库，这是对澳大利亚温带水域大型底栖动物性状的首次全面评估。SAMT数据库包含13个性状和54个性状模态（例如生活史、形态学、生理学和行为），并且基于南澳大利亚大型底栖动物的记录。我们提供了250多种大型底栖动物分类单元的性状信息，包括模糊编码程序的结果，以及一个用于使用和分析SAMT数据库的R包。SAMT的建立为更广泛的澳大利亚南部地区全面的大型底栖动物性状数据库奠定了基础，这可能有助于未来从功能角度进行研究，例如功能多样性评估和生态系统功能变化研究。
