Purpose of data: the dataset contains species trait data used for creation of Herbivore Functional Types and density data used for calculating empirical-derived biomass.

Authors: F Berzaghi*, D Zhu, J Alroy, P Ciais.

*contact author: fabe@unitus.it

Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): 2019-2020 the years when the data was recorded from published sources. The data was collected in the field in the years 1958-2007.

Geographic extension of collected data: data pertains to the global domain and was extracted from published articles and existing datasets. The specific location and sources of the data are indicated in the spreadsheet.

Sharing/Access information

1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain

2. Links to publications that cite or use the data:

Fabio Berzaghi, Dan Zhu, John Alroy, Philippe Ciais (2024). Trait-based mechanistic approach highlights global patterns and losses of herbivore biomass functional diversity. Functional Ecology

3. Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: None

4. Links/relationships to ancillary data sets: None

5. Was data derived from another source? Yes

A. If yes, list source(s): The main sources are the datasets: Tetra Density, Elton Traits, Phylacine 1.2, MammalDIET2, all other sources are indicated in the spreadsheet and in the manuscript.

6. Recommended citation for this dataset:

Fabio Berzaghi, Dan Zhu, John Alroy, Philippe Ciais (2024). Data from: Trait-based mechanistic approach highlights global patterns and losses of herbivore biomass functional diversity. Dryad Digital Repository. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.547d7wmdg

DATA & FILE OVERVIEW

1. File List:

A) species_density_data.csv

B) Supplementary_data_HFT_classification.xlsx

2. Relationship between files, if important: None

3. Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package: None

4. Are there multiple versions of the dataset? No

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DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: species_density_data.csv

1. Number of variables: 24

2. Number of cases/rows: 432

Variable meanings are self-explanatory, units are reported directly in the spreadsheet, here we provide details on the ones that need further explanation:

• Locality: was recorded based on the description given by the authors, if no name was given the locality was determined using latitude/longitude.
• Longitude/latitude: were taken directly from the text when reported or estimated based on the description of the study site.
• Year: refers to the year when the species density was estimated
• Habitat: was only recorded when specified in the source
• Notes: we provide any additional information, such as if the locality was estimated from lat/long or if the specific coordinates were estimated
• Disturbance: any particular human intervention that could have reduced the population density of the studied species.
• Reference_containing_data: this is the reference that reports the data, however not always the data was collected directly by the authors of the manuscript. Sometimes the data was taken from another source. In such cases we report the original source of the data indicated in the "Reference_to_source_data" variable.
• Reference_to_source_data: As explained above, this contains the primary source of the data, in the cases were this is mentioned in the manuscript.
• Code: a unique code to define a locality, the same reference might include data from multiple localities

4. Missing data codes: NA indicated that the data or information was not reported in the text, it means "Not Available". In the case for subspecies it means "Not applicable", as not all species have a subspecies.

5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None

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DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Supplementary_data_HFT_classification.xlsx

1. Number of variables: 18

2. Number of cases/rows: 2599

Variable meanings are self-explanatory, the only numeric column is "Mass.kg" which indicates the body mass of the species in Kg; here we provide details on the variables that need further explanation:

• Diet source: the database or article used to determine the diet composition of the species
• Diet correction notes: here we indicate if we made any corrected on the diet composition reported from the original source
• Digestive: indicates the digestive system of the species, either "hindgut" or "foregut"
• Digestive.level: indicates the taxonomic level at which the digestive system was determined, as described in the Methods
• Digestive.source: the database or article used to determine the digestive system of the species. "Inferred" indicates that it was determined using other species in the same taxonomy. Complete sources are indicated in the "Digestive sytem references" sheet.
• Folivory: if the species consumes leaf in its diet this column indicates if it consumes leaves from herbaceous (grazing) or woody (browsing) vegetation or both (Mixed-feeding). NA indicates that the species does not consume leaves.
• Folivory.level: indicates the taxonomic level at which the type of folivory was determined, as described in the Methods
• Folivory.source: the database or article used to determine folivory type of the species. "Inferred" indicates that it was determined using other species in the same taxonomy. Complete sources are indicated in the "folivory type references" sheet.
• Size.class: one of the three size classes discussed in the publication.
• hftname: The name of the Herbivore Functional Type to which the species was assigned. B, G, and M in parenthesis indicated browsing, grazing, and mixed-feeding.
• Diet group: one of the eight diet groups discussed in the publication.

4. Missing data codes: NA mean "Not applicable" for folivory-related columns and for the "correction" columns it means that no correction was applied.

5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None