Moss functional trait ecology: Trends, gaps, and biases in the current literature
Data files
Jan 17, 2024 version files 4.09 MB
-
Coe.et.al.BFI.code.R
820 B
-
Coe.et.al.trait.review.data.2.csv
4.09 MB
-
README.md
5.88 KB
Abstract
Functional traits are critical tools in plant ecology for capturing organism-environment interactions based on trade-offs as well as making links between organismal and ecosystem processes. While broad frameworks for functional traits have been developed for vascular plants, we lack the same for bryophytes, despite an escalation in the number of bryophyte functional trait studies conducted in the last 45 years and an increased recognition of the ecological roles bryophytes play across ecosystems. In this review, we compiled data from 282 published articles (10005 records) focusing on functional traits measured in mosses, and sought to (a) examine trends in types of traits measured, (b) capture taxonomic and geographic breadth of trait coverage, (c) reveal biases in coverage in the current literature, and (d) develop a bryophyte-function index (BFI) to describe completeness of current trait coverage and identify global gaps to focus research efforts. The most commonly measured response traits (those related to growth/reproduction in individual organisms) and effect traits (those that directly affect community/ecosystem scale processes) fell into the categories of morphology (e.g. leaf area, shoot height) and nutrient storage/cycling, and our BFI revealed that these data were most commonly collected from temperate and boreal regions of Europe, North America and east Asia. However, fewer than 10% of known moss species have available functional trait information. Our synthesis revealed that there is a need for research on traits related to ontogeny, sex, and intraspecific plasticity, and on co-measurement of traits related to water-relations and bryophyte-mediated soil processes.
This README file was generated on 2024-01-12 by Kirsten K. Coe
GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Title of Dataset: Moss functional trait ecology: Trends, gaps, and biases in the current literature
2. Author Information
Principal Investigator Contact Information
Name: Kirsten K. Coe
Institution: Middlebury College
Address: Middlebury, VT, 05753
Email: kcoe@middlebury.edu
3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): March 13, 2023 (search performed); 1979-2023 (publication dates of compiled manuscripts in review)
4. Geographic locations of data collection: Middlebury, VT, USA; Portland, OR, USA.
5. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity Award #1840931, NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship Award #1907214
SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION
1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: CCO 1.0 Public Domain
2. Links to publications that cite or use the data:
Coe, K. K., Carter, B., Slate, M., & Stanton, D. (2024). Moss functional trait ecology: trends, gaps, and biases in the current literature. American Journal of Botany.
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? No
A. If yes, list source(s): NA
6. Recommended citation for this dataset:
Coe, K. K., Carter, B., Slate, M., & Stanton, D. (2024). Moss functional trait ecology: trends, gaps, and biases in the current literature. American Journal of Botany. Dryad Digital Repository. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wwpzgmsrn
DATASET AND CODE OVERVIEW
1. File List:
A) Coe.et.al.trait.review.data.2.csv
B) Coe.et.al.BFI.code.R
2. Relationship between files, if important: File B (R code) can be used to create the BFI from select columns in File A
3. Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package: None
4. Are there multiple versions of the dataset? No
A. If yes, name of file(s) that was updated: NA
i. Why was the file updated? NA
ii. When was the file updated? NA
DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Coe.et.al.trait.review.data.2.csv
1. Number of variables: 33
2. Number of cases/rows: 10005
3. Variable List:
Initials…us.: Team member initials who entered manuscript/trait data into spreadsheet
First.author: First author of manuscript
Year: Publication year of manuscript
Title: Title of manuscript
Climate: Climate where research was conducted
Climate_2: Streamlined version of Climate column for analyses (removes case discrepancies, spaces, synonymizes)
Ecosystem: Ecosystem where research was conducted
Ecosystem_2: Streamlined version of Ecosystem column for analyses (removes case discrepancies, spaces, synonymizes)
Location: Political location where study was conducted
Location_Subcontinent: Subcontinent level location where study was conducted
Study.Type: Type of study (e.g. Field, lab, modeling…)
StudyType_2: Streamlined version of Study.Type column for analyses (removes case discrepancies, spaces, synonymizes)
Species: Moss species for which trait data were collected
Original.species..if.changed.: If species name has changed, previous name
Species.handling: Community indicated if study was conducted on a community dominated by the species. Otherwise, NA.
Family: Moss family of species.
Trait: Trait measured on species in study.
Response.Trait: If a response trait, the category of response trait measured.
Effect.Trait: If an effect trait, the category of effect trait measured.
Sex.specific..Y.N.: If the study included sex-specific trait measurements, Y, otherwise, N
Observational.gradient..Y.N: If the study included trait measurements over an observational gradient, Y, otherwise, N
Temporal..Y.N.: If the study included trait measurements over a temporal scale (e.g. annual measurements), Y, otherwise, N
Manipulation..Y.N.: If the study included trait measurements in a manipulation experiment, Y, otherwise, N
Paper: Streamlined unique identifier for each paper
Genus: Genus of species for which trait data were collected
Order: Order of species for which trait data were collected
SubClass: Subclass of species for which trait data were collected
SuperOrder: SubOrder of species for which trait data were collected
Class: Class of species for which trait data were collected
Group: Moss morphological group for species for which trait data were collected
Geo3: Geographical location including climate and compass directions
Group2: Version of Group column for subsequent analyses
Clim: Version of Climate column for subsequent analyses
4. Missing data codes: Trait column cells with NA indicate trait was not classified into a particular category (e.g. NA for Effect.trait column if the trait was classified as a type of response trait). Ecosystem and other column cells with NA indicate our review of the manuscript did not place it in any of the specified analytical categories.
5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None
CODE INFORMATION FOR: Coe.et.al.BFI.code.R
Additional packages required beyond base R: None
Input dataset: Coe.et.al.trait.review.data.2.csv
Variables that go into calculating BFI:
spe = number of species in region/total species in dataset
ord = number of orders in region/orders in dataset
etr = number of effect traits in region/effect traits in dataset
rtr = number of response traits in region/response traits in dataset
pap = number of papers in region/papers in dataset
We performed two searches in the Web of Science Core Collection on March 13, 2023 to compile a list of all published research on terrestrial moss functional traits. Search terms were selected based on our preliminary literature review and general expertise on mosses and functional trait ecology. We did not use an a priori list of moss functional traits, and, rather, allowed the literature to inform the diversity of traits analyzed in this review. Our first search identified articles with the terms moss or bryophyte and trait or morphology ((moss* OR bryophyte*) AND (trait* OR morpholog*)) and the second search identified articles with the terms moss or bryophyte AND function AND ecosystem ((moss* OR bryophyte*) AND function* AND ecosystem*). Combined, these searches identified 9989 research articles that met our criteria. Article titles and abstracts were subsequently scanned in two stages to exclude duplicates and articles without trait data connected to a specific moss genus (versus moss or biocrust community for example; Appendix S3). Non-English language articles were included when an English-language abstract was available or the article aligned with one of our language proficiencies (Spanish, French, Portuguese, German). This narrowed the number of relevant articles on moss functional traits to 282 with the earliest articles dating back to 1979. Functional trait concepts predate 1979, and so our lack of earlier records likely reflects our choice of search terms, however, our database covers the current rapid expansion of functional trait ecology. We acknowledge that our strategy may have missed some articles from smaller journals outside of the Web of Science Core Collection but are certain that we captured the majority of research published on this topic with our chosen methods.