Avoiding growing pains in reproductive trait databases: the curse of dimensionality

Aim: Reproductive output features prominently in many trait databases, but the metrics describing it vary and are often untethered to temporal- and volumetric-dimensions (e.g., fecundity-per-bout). Using such ambiguous reproductive measures to make broadscale comparisons across taxonomic groups will only be meaningful if they show a 1:1 relationship with a reproductive measure that explicitly includes both a volumetric and temporal component (i.e., reproductive mass-per-year). We sought to map the prevalence of ambiguous and explicit reproductive measures across taxa, and explore their relationships with one another to determine the cross-compatibility and utility of reproductive metrics in trait databases.
Location: Global.
Time period: 1990-2021.
Major taxa studied: We searched for reproductive measures across all Metazoa, and identified 19,785 Chordata species, along with 440 species of Arthropoda, Cnidaria, or Mollusca.
Methods: We included 37 databases from which we summarised the ...

研究目的：繁殖产出在诸多性状数据库中占据重要地位，但用于描述该指标的计量方式各不相同，且往往未结合时间与体积维度（例如单次繁殖力）。若要使用这类表述模糊的繁殖指标开展跨分类类群的大范围比较，仅当其与同时涵盖体积与时间维度的明确繁殖指标（即年繁殖质量）呈1:1对应关系时，此类比较才具备科学意义。本研究旨在明确各类群中模糊与明确繁殖指标的分布情况，并探究二者间的关联，以明确性状数据库中繁殖计量指标的跨类群兼容性与应用价值。
研究区域：全球范围。
研究时段：1990年至2021年。
研究类群：本研究针对所有后生动物（Metazoa）检索繁殖指标，共收录19785种脊索动物（Chordata），以及节肢动物（Arthropoda）、刺胞动物（Cnidaria）和软体动物（Mollusca）共440个物种。
研究方法：本研究纳入37个数据库，并对其中数据进行汇总……