AusTraits: a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora

AusTraits is a transformative database, containing measurements on the traits of Australia’s plant taxa, standardised from hundreds of disconnected primary sources. So far, data have been assembled from > 300 distinct sources, describing > 500 plant traits and > 34,000 taxa. To handle the harmonising of diverse data sources, we use a reproducible workflow to implement the various changes required for each source to reformat it suitable for incorporation in AusTraits. Such changes include restructuring datasets, renaming variables, changing variable units, changing taxon names. While this repository contains the harmonised data, the raw data and code used to build the resource are also available on the project’s GitHub repository, http://traitecoevo.github.io/austraits.build/. Further information on the project is available at the project website austraits.org and in the associated publication (see below). CONTRIBUTORS The project is jointly led by Dr Daniel Falster (UNSW Sydney), Dr Rachael Gallagher (Western Sydney University), Dr Elizabeth Wenk (UNSW Sydney), and Dr Hervé Sauquet (Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Sydney), with input from > 300 contributors from over > 100 institutions (see full list above). The project was initiated by Dr Rachael Gallagher and Prof Ian Wright while at Macquarie University. We are grateful to the following institutions for contributing data Australian National Botanic Garden, Brisbane Rainforest Action and Information Network, Kew Botanic Gardens, National Herbarium of NSW, Northern Territory Herbarium, Queensland Herbarium, Western Australian Herbarium, South Australian Herbarium, State Herbarium of South Australia, Tasmanian Herbarium, Department of Environment Land Water and Planning Victoria and the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. AusTraits has been supported by investment from the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), via their “Transformative data collections” (https://doi.org/10.47486/TD044) and “Data Partnerships” (https://doi.org/10.47486/DP720) programs; and grants from the Australian Research Council (FT160100113, DE170100208, FT100100910) and Macquarie University, The ARDC is enabled by National Collaborative Research Investment Strategy (NCRIS). ACCESSING AND USE OF DATA The compiled AusTraits database is released under an open source licence (CC-BY), enabling re-use by the community. A requirement of use is that users cite the AusTraits resource paper, which includes all contributors as co-authors: Falster, Gallagher et al (2021) AusTraits, a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora. Scientific Data 8: 254, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01006-6 In addition, we encourage users you to cite the original data sources, wherever possible. Note that under the license data may be redistributed, provided the attribution is maintained. The downloads below provide the data in two formats: austraits-4.1.0.zip: data in plain text format (.csv, .bib, .yml files). Suitable for anyone, including those using Python. austraits-4.1.0.rds: data as compressed R object. Suitable for users of R (see below). For R users, access and manipulation of data is assisted with the austraits R package. The package can both download data and provides examples and functions for running queries. STRUCTURE OF AUSTRAITS The compiled AusTraits database contains a series of relational tables and files. These elements include all the data, contextual information submitted with each contributed datasets, database schema, and trait definitions. The file dictionary.html provides the same information in textual format. Similar information is available at http://traitecoevo.github.io/austraits.build/. CONTRIBUTING We envision AusTraits as an on-going collaborative community resource that: Increases our collective understanding the Australian flora; Facilitates accumulation and sharing of trait data; Builds a sense of community among contributors and users; and Aspires to fully transparent and reproducible research of the highest standard. As a community resource, we are very keen for people to contribute. Assembly of the database is managed on GitHub at traitecoevo/austraits.build. Here are some of the ways you can contribute: Reporting Errors: If you notice a possible error in AusTraits, please post an issue on GitHub. Refining documentation: We welcome additions and edits that make using the existing data or adding new data easier for the community. Contributing new data: We gladly accept new data contributions to AusTraits. See full instructions on how to contribute at http://traitecoevo.github.io/austraits.build/.

AusTraits是一款变革性数据库，收录了澳大利亚植物类群的性状测量数据，这些数据从数百个分散的原始来源中完成标准化整合。截至目前，项目已整合逾300个独立数据源，涵盖500余种植物性状与34000余个植物类群。
为实现多源异构数据的协调统一，我们采用可复现的工作流执行各项必要处理，使每个数据源均可重构为适配AusTraits入库的格式。此类处理包括重构数据集结构、重命名变量、统一变量单位以及修正植物类群名称。本仓库包含标准化整合后的最终数据，而构建该资源所需的原始数据与代码也可在项目GitHub仓库http://traitecoevo.github.io/austraits.build/ 中获取。更多项目相关信息可访问项目官网austraits.org，或查阅相关发表论文（详见下文）。

贡献者团队
本项目由新南威尔士大学悉尼分校的Daniel Falster博士、西悉尼大学的Rachael Gallagher博士、新南威尔士大学悉尼分校的Elizabeth Wenk博士以及悉尼皇家植物园与领地信托基金的Hervé Sauquet博士联合牵头，并有来自100余家机构的逾300名贡献者参与（完整名单见前文）。该项目由时任麦考瑞大学的Rachael Gallagher博士与Ian Wright教授发起。我们谨向以下贡献数据的机构致以诚挚谢意：澳大利亚国家植物园、布里斯班雨林保护与信息网络、英国皇家植物园（邱园）、新南威尔士州国家标本馆、北领地标本馆、昆士兰州标本馆、西澳大利亚州标本馆、南澳大利亚州标本馆、南澳大利亚州州立标本馆、塔斯马尼亚州标本馆、维多利亚州环境、土地、水与规划部以及维多利亚皇家植物园。

项目资助
AusTraits得到了澳大利亚研究数据共同体（Australian Research Data Commons, ARDC）的资助，具体通过其"变革性数据馆藏"（https://doi.org/10.47486/TD044）与"数据合作计划"（https://doi.org/10.47486/DP720）项目实施；同时也获得了澳大利亚研究委员会的三项基金（FT160100113、DE170100208、FT100100910）以及麦考瑞大学的研究支持。ARDC由国家协同研究投资战略（National Collaborative Research Investment Strategy, NCRIS）提供运行支持。

数据访问与使用
整合完成的AusTraits数据库采用知识共享署名许可协议（Creative Commons Attribution, CC-BY）发布，允许社区成员自由重复使用。使用该数据的必要前提是引用AusTraits官方资源论文，该论文将所有贡献者列为共同作者：Falster、Gallagher等人（2021）《AusTraits：澳大利亚植物区系精选植物性状数据库》，《Scientific Data》 8: 254，https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01006-6。此外，我们鼓励用户尽可能同时引用原始数据来源。根据许可协议要求，只要保留完整署名信息，数据可被重新分发。
本次提供两种格式的数据下载包：
1. austraits-4.1.0.zip：包含纯文本格式数据（.csv、.bib、.yml文件），适配所有用户群体，包括使用Python进行开发的研究者。
2. austraits-4.1.0.rds：压缩的R对象格式数据，专为R语言用户设计（详见下文）。
针对R语言用户，可通过austraits R包辅助完成数据获取与处理。该包支持直接下载数据，并提供查询示例与专用函数以简化数据操作。

AusTraits数据库结构
整合完成的AusTraits数据库包含一系列关系型数据表与配套文件。这些组成元素涵盖全部数据集内容、每份贡献数据集附带的上下文信息、数据库架构说明以及性状定义文档。文件dictionary.html以文本形式提供了相同的信息。类似的说明文档也可在http://traitecoevo.github.io/austraits.build/ 查阅。

贡献参与
我们将AusTraits视为一项持续推进的社区协作资源，其核心目标包括：
1. 加深学界对澳大利亚植物区系的集体认知；
2. 推动植物性状数据的积累与共享；
3. 在贡献者与使用者之间构建紧密的社区联结；
4. 追求最高标准的完全透明且可复现的研究工作。
作为一项社区共建资源，我们热切欢迎各界人士参与贡献。数据库的整合与维护工作在GitHub仓库traitecoevo/austraits.build中进行管理。您可通过以下方式参与贡献：
- 报告错误：若您发现AusTraits中存在潜在错误，请在GitHub上提交Issue反馈。
- 完善文档：我们欢迎各类增补与编辑，以帮助社区成员更便捷地使用现有数据或添加新数据。
- 贡献新数据：我们热忱欢迎向AusTraits提交新的数据贡献。完整的贡献指南可访问http://traitecoevo.github.io/austraits.build/ 查阅。