Data from: Rethinking community-weighted means: Why geometric averages matter

Community-weighted means (CWMs) are central metrics in trait-based
ecology, widely used to link species’ traits to community assembly and
ecosystem function. Traditionally, CWMs are calculated as
community-weighted arithmetic means (arithmetic CWMs), implicitly assuming
normally distributed traits. However, most plant
traits follow log-normal distributions, making arithmetic CWMs
potentially misleading and biased toward extreme values. Here, we argue
for the adoption of community-weighted geometric means (geometric CWMs) as
a statistically robust alternative that better reflects the central
tendency of log-normal traits. We discuss the conceptual rationale,
illustrate differences between arithmetic and geometric CWMs using
examples, and outline practical recommendations for applying geometric
averaging in trait analyses. By acknowledging trait distributions,
geometric CWMs can refine ecological inference, improve cross-study
comparability, and advance our understanding of community structure and
function.