A trait database for marine copepods

The trait-based approach is gaining increasing popularity in marine plankton ecology but the field urgently needs more and easier accessible trait data to advance. We compiled trait information on marine pelagic copepods, a major group of zooplankton, from the published literature and from experts and organized the data into a structured database. We collected 9306 records for 14 functional traits. Particular attention was given to body size, feeding mode, egg size, spawning strategy, respiration rate, and myelination (presence of nerve sheathing). Most records were reported at the species level, but some phylogenetically conserved traits, such as myelination, were reported at higher taxonomic levels, allowing the entire diversity of around 10 800 recognized marine copepod species to be covered with a few records. […]

基于特征的策略在海洋浮游生物生态学领域正日益受到青睐，然而，该领域迫切需要更多且易于获取的特征数据以促进其发展。本研究团队从已发表的文献以及专家那里收集了海洋浮游桡足类（一种重要的浮游动物群体）的特征信息，并将这些数据组织成结构化数据库。我们共收集了9306条记录，涉及14个功能特征。特别关注了体型、摄食方式、卵大小、繁殖策略、呼吸速率以及髓鞘形成（神经鞘的存在）。大多数记录是在物种水平上报告的，但一些在系统发育上保守的特征，如髓鞘形成，则在更高级别的分类单位上报告，从而使大约10800种已知的海洋桡足类物种的整个多样性得以通过少量记录得到覆盖。