Estimating essential phenotypic and molecular traits from integrative biodiversity data

Functional ecology and biodiversity lack integrative reference data that combine the assessment of traits at different levels. Here, we integrate data from 16 field samples of complex thallose liverworts (order Marchantiales) collected from biological soil crust communities in Southern Sweden and Germany at three levels: (1) bioimaging (morphometric measurements from macro- and microscopy), (2) metabolomics (molecular computations performed on liquid chromatography high-resolution mass-spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-QTOF-MS) with data-dependent acquisition (DDA-MS) data) and (3) DNA marker sequencing. These data are used to construct a reference framework including a proposed naming scheme for the estimation of molecular traits and for demonstrating the systematic and standardized extraction of phenotypic and molecular traits for integration into the plant trait database TRY. Phylogenetic trees and partitioning around medoids are used to demonstrate the assessment of evolutionary relationships and the trait space connecting ecological hypotheses and documenting knowledge gains across domains. With our reference framework we want to encourage the combined assessment, reuse and integration of phenotypic and molecular traits into functional biodiversity research and related disciplines.