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

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、大气二氧化碳升高等，可能对物种、社区和生态系统产生各种影响。准确预测这种影响需要有关物种特征的详细信息。“特征”是指影响生态系统过程的植物、动物和微生物物种的特征，如身体大小、代谢率、化学计量等。有关物种特征的信息和使用它们的研究数量正在以指数速度增长。TraitNet将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、共享和归档，促进基于特征的进化和生态研究的显著增长。目前，特征在广泛的学科中被使用，包括生态位理论、群落组装、代谢生态理论、系统发育、保护和生态化学计量学，但每个学科都制定了自己的可操作定义、规程和数据库，几乎没有协调。TraitNet将通过电子协作、研讨会、培训研讨会以及电子和期刊出版的综合计划，通过协调跨学科的基于特征的研究来推进这项研究，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)解决基于特征的研究中的核心假设，(2)确定关键的数据差距，(3)协调特征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，以及(5)促进用于合并、传播和共享特征数据的跨学科计算工具的开发。TraitNet的网站将向科学界和公众广泛开放，同时保护个人调查人员的知识产权。TraitNet将通过保持强有力的性别平衡，包括代表性不足的群体，并平衡学生、博士后科学家以及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多余的收集工作，最大限度地提高科学生产率，并拉紧纳税人的钱。

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.