TraitAM, a global spore trait database for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Knowledge regarding organismal traits supports a better understanding of
the relationship between form and function and can be used to predict the
consequences of environmental stressors on ecological and evolutionary
processes. Most plants on Earth form symbioses with mycorrhizal fungi, but
our ability to make trait-based inferences for these fungi is limited due
to a lack of publicly available trait data. Here, we present TraitAM, a
comprehensive database of multiple spore traits for all described species
of the most common group of mycorrhizal fungi, the arbuscular mycorrhizal
(AM) fungi (subphylum Glomeromycotina). Trait data for 344 species were
mined from original species descriptions and used to calculate newly
developed fungal trait metrics that can be employed to explore both intra-
and inter-specific variation in traits. TraitAM also includes an updated
phylogenetic tree that can be used to conduct phylogenetically-informed
multivariate analyses of AM fungal traits. TraitAM will aid our further
understanding of the biology, ecology, and evolution of these globally
widespread, symbiotic fungi.