Trait-based mechanistic approach highlights global patterns and losses of herbivore biomass functional diversity

Mammalian herbivores play a pivotal role in Earth System processes by affecting biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem functioning, potentially leading to significant repercussions on atmosphere-biosphere feedbacks. Global dynamic models of mammalian populations can improve our understanding of their ecological role at large scales and the consequences of their extinctions. However, such models are still lacking and mammals are poorly integrated in Earth System science.
We developed a mechanistic global model of terrestrial herbivore populations simulated with 37 functional groups defined through the analysis of eco-physiological traits across all extant herbivores (2599 species). We coupled this model with a global vegetation model to predict herbivores’ maximum potential biomass in pre-industrial and at present-day and to study the environmental drivers explaining the distribution of herbivore biomass. Present-day biomass was estimated by accounting for anthropogenic activity causing ha..., Data are primarily a collection of data from different datasets. Any new data is indicated in the table as described in the manuscript methodology., , # Trait-based mechanistic approach highlights global patterns and losses of herbivore biomass functional diversity

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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:

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...