Rasgos-CL: A functional trait database of Chilean woody plants

Abstract

Due to language and networking barriers, global initiatives to compile trait data often fail to integrate data from sources in non-English languages or scientists that largely speak and write in non-English languages. To illustrate the potential for regional databases to fill gaps in trait data, and how such databases may fill critical gaps in global biodiversity databases, we built the Rasgos-CL Database. Rasgos-CL provides a comprehensive set of plant traits for the woody flora of Chile by mobilizing and standardizing unstructured data largely from the Spanish-language literature. We quantified the gains in trait coverage compared to global trait databases and identified phylogenetic and geographic biases of trait data gaps. Rasgos-CL contains 25,174 trait records, including 2 continuous and 21 categorical traits for 662 woody species.