Abstract
Tetrapods (amphibian, reptiles, birds and mammals) are model systems for global biodiversity science, but continuing data gaps, limited data standardisation, and ongoing flux in taxonomic nomenclature constrain integrative research on this group and potentially cause biassed inference. We combined and harmonised taxonomic, spatial, phylogenetic, and attribute data with phylogeny-based multiple imputation to provide a comprehensive data resource (TetrapodTraits 1.0.0) that includes values, predictions, and sources for body size, activity time, micro- and macrohabitat, ecosystem, threat status, biogeography, insularity, environmental preferences and human influence, for all 33,281 tetrapod species covered in recent fully sampled phylogenies. We assess gaps and biases across taxa and space, finding that shared data missing in attribute values increased with taxon-level completeness and richness across clades. Prediction of missing attribute values using multiple imputation revealed substantial changes in estimated macroecological patterns. These results highlight biases incurred by non-random missingness and strategies to best address them. While there is an obvious need for further data collection and updates, our phylogeny-informed database of tetrapod traits can support a more comprehensive representation of tetrapod species and their attributes in ecology, evolution, and conservation research.
Additional Information: This work is output of the VertLife project. To flag erros, provide updates, or leave other comments, please go to vertlife.org. We aim to develop the database into a living resource at vertlife.org and your feedback is essential to improve data quality and support community use.
Version 1.0.0 (19 April 2024). TetrapodTraits, the full phylogenetically coherent database we developed, is being made publicly available to support a range of research applications in ecology, evolution, and conservation and to help minimise the impacts of biassed data in this model system. The database includes 24 species-level attributes linked to their respective sources across 33,281 tetrapod species. Specific fields clearly label data sources and imputations in the TetrapodTraits, while additional tables record the 10K values per missing entry per species.
Taxonomy – includes 8 attributes that inform scientific names and respective higher-level taxonomic ranks, authority name, and year of species description. Field names: Scientific.Name, Gen...