RCN: TraitNet - Coordinating Trait-Based Ecological and Revolutionary Research

RCN：TraitNet - 协调基于性状的生态和革命性研究

• 批准号: 0639161
• 负责人: Shahid Naeem
• 金额: $ 43.1万
• 依托单位: Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-04-01 至 2014-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0639161&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RCN; TraitNet; Coordinating; Trait; Based

Environmental change, such as climate warming, biological invasion, local and global extinction, land use and land cover change, elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide, and much more, can have a variety of impacts on species, communities, and ecosystems. Accurately forecasting such impacts requires detailed information on species' traits. "Traits" refers to the characteristics of plant, animal, and microbial species that influence ecosystem processes such as body size, metabolic rate, stoichiometry, and much more. Information on species' traits and the number of studies that use them are growing at an exponential rate. TraitNet will facilitate this dramatic increase in trait-based evolutionary and ecological research by fostering collaboration among researchers and coordinating the collection, sharing, and archiving of species trait data. Currently, traits are used across a broad spectrum of disciplines, including niche theory, community assembly, metabolic ecological theory, phylogenetics, conservation, and ecological stoichiometry, but each discipline has developed its own operational definitions, protocols, and databases with little coordination. TraitNet will advance this research by coordinating trait-based research across disciplines via an integrated program of electronic collaborations, workshops, training seminars, and electronic and journal publication and will develop a universal trait database prototype entitled TraitBank. TraitNet's five primary goals are (1) address core hypotheses in trait-based research, (2) identify critical data gaps, (3) coordinate the standardization of collection and storage of trait data, (4) assemble a database to address core hypotheses, and (5) facilitate the development of cross-disciplinary computational tools for merging, disseminating, and sharing trait data. TraitNet's website will be widely accessible to the scientific community and the public, while protecting the intellectual property rights of individual investigators. TraitNet will further diversity in science by maintaining a strong gender balance, including under-represented groups, and balancing participants among students, postdoctoral scientists, and senior and junior researchers. This coordination by TraitNet will substantially minimize redundant collection efforts, maximize scientific productivity, and stretch taxpayer dollars.

环境变化，如气候变暖、生物入侵、局部和全球灭绝、土地利用和土地覆盖变化、大气二氧化碳含量升高等，会对物种、群落和生态系统产生各种影响。准确预测这种影响需要物种特征的详细信息。“性状”是指影响生态系统过程的植物、动物和微生物物种的特征，如体型、代谢率、化学计量等。关于物种特征的信息和使用它们的研究数量正以指数速度增长。通过促进研究人员之间的合作和协调物种特征数据的收集、共享和存档，TraitNet将促进基于特征的进化和生态研究的急剧增长。目前，性状被广泛应用于各个学科，包括生态位理论、群落组装、代谢生态学理论、系统发育、保护和生态化学计量学，但每个学科都有自己的操作定义、协议和数据库，很少协调。TraitNet将通过电子协作、研讨会、培训研讨会、电子和期刊出版的综合计划，协调跨学科的基于特征的研究，从而推进这项研究，并将开发一个名为TraitBank的通用特征数据库原型。TraitNet的五个主要目标是：(1)解决基于性状的研究中的核心假设；(2)识别关键数据缺口；(3)协调性状数据收集和存储的标准化；(4)建立一个数据库来解决核心假设；(5)促进跨学科计算工具的发展，用于合并、传播和共享性状数据。TraitNet的网站将向科学界和公众广泛开放，同时保护个别研究人员的知识产权。TraitNet将通过保持强有力的性别平衡，包括代表性不足的群体，以及平衡学生、博士后科学家、高级和初级研究人员之间的参与者，进一步促进科学的多样性。TraitNet的这种协调将大大减少冗余的收集工作，最大限度地提高科学生产力，并节省纳税人的钱。