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, https://github.com/traitecoevo/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-X.X.X.zip: data in plain text format (.csv, .bib, .yml files). Suitable for anyone, including those using Python. austraits-X.X.X.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 https://traitecoevo.github.io/traits.build-book/. 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 https://github.com/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 https://github.com/traitecoevo/austraits.build/.

AusTraits是一款变革性植物性状数据库，收录了澳大利亚植物类群的性状测量数据，所有数据均从数百个分散的原始来源中标准化整合而来。截至目前，该数据库已从300余个独立来源整合数据，涵盖500余种植物性状与34000余个植物分类群。为完成多源数据的统一协调工作，本项目采用可复现工作流，针对每个数据源执行所需的各类格式调整操作，使其适配并整合至AusTraits数据库中。此类调整涵盖数据集重构、变量重命名、变量单位转换以及分类群名称修正。尽管本仓库仅存储统一协调后的数据集，但构建该资源所需的原始数据与代码，亦可在项目的GitHub仓库（https://github.com/traitecoevo/austraits.build/）中获取。有关该项目的更多详细信息，可通过项目官网austraits.org以及相关学术出版物（见下文）获取。

### 项目团队与贡献者
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会的Hervé Sauquet博士联合领衔，并有来自100余家机构的300余名贡献者参与贡献（完整名单见上文）。本项目最初由时任麦考瑞大学的Rachael Gallagher博士与Ian Wright教授发起。我们谨向以下提供数据支持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、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。

AusTraits项目得到了澳大利亚研究数据共享平台（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）项目开展；同时也获得了澳大利亚研究委员会（Australian Research Council）的三项基金资助（编号FT160100113、DE170100208、FT100100910）以及麦考瑞大学的支持。ARDC的运作依托国家协同研究投资战略（National Collaborative Research Investment Strategy, NCRIS）。

### 数据获取与使用规范
经整合的AusTraits数据库采用知识共享署名许可协议（CC-BY）开源发布，允许社区成员重复使用。使用该数据库的用户需引用AusTraits项目的学术论文，该论文将所有贡献者列为共同作者：Falster、Gallagher等（2021）《AusTraits：面向澳大利亚植物区系的精选整理植物性状数据库》，发表于*Scientific Data* 8:254，链接为https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01006-6。此外，我们鼓励用户在可行范围内同时引用原始数据来源。请注意，根据许可协议条款，只要保留原署名信息，数据可被重新分发。

以下提供两种格式的数据下载包：
1. `austraits-X.X.X.zip`：包含纯文本格式数据（.csv、.bib、.yml文件），适用于所有用户，包括使用Python的开发者。
2. `austraits-X.X.X.rds`：为压缩的R对象格式数据，适用于R语言用户（详见下文）。

针对R语言用户，可通过`austraits` R包实现数据的获取与处理。该包不仅支持数据下载，还提供查询示例与相关函数。

### 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文件，涵盖全部数据集、每份贡献数据附带的上下文信息、数据库架构以及性状定义。`dictionary.html`文件以文本形式提供了上述全部信息，相关内容亦可在https://traitecoevo.github.io/traits.build-book/ 查阅。

### 参与贡献
我们将AusTraits视为一项持续演进的社区协作资源，其目标在于：
1. 增进学界对澳大利亚植物区系的整体认知；
2. 推动性状数据的积累与共享；
3. 构建贡献者与用户之间的社区联结；
4. 追求最高标准的全透明、可复现研究。

作为一项社区共建资源，我们热忱欢迎各界人士参与贡献。数据库的整合工作依托GitHub仓库https://github.com/traitecoevo/austraits.build/ 开展，您可通过以下方式参与贡献：
- 报告错误：若您发现AusTraits数据库中存在疑似错误，请在GitHub平台提交Issue；
- 完善文档：我们欢迎各类补充与编辑建议，以简化社区用户对现有数据的使用以及新数据的添加流程；
- 贡献新数据：我们欣然接受新的数据贡献，有关贡献的详细指南请参见https://github.com/traitecoevo/austraits.build/。