iScience (Oct 2022)
A solution to the challenges of interdisciplinary aggregation and use of specimen-level trait data
- Meghan A. Balk,
- John Deck,
- Kitty F. Emery,
- Ramona L. Walls,
- Dana Reuter,
- Raphael LaFrance,
- Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales,
- Paul Barrett,
- Jessica Blois,
- Arianne Boileau,
- Laura Brenskelle,
- Nicole R. Cannarozzi,
- J. Alberto Cruz,
- Liliana M. Dávalos,
- Noé U. de la Sancha,
- Prasiddhi Gyawali,
- Maggie M. Hantak,
- Samantha Hopkins,
- Brooks Kohli,
- Jessica N. King,
- Michelle S. Koo,
- A. Michelle Lawing,
- Helena Machado,
- Samantha M. McCrane,
- Bryan McLean,
- Michèle E. Morgan,
- Suzanne Pilaar Birch,
- Denne Reed,
- Elizabeth J. Reitz,
- Neeka Sewnath,
- Nathan S. Upham,
- Amelia Villaseñor,
- Laurel Yohe,
- Edward B. Davis,
- Robert P. Guralnick
Affiliations
- Meghan A. Balk
- National Ecology Observatory Network, Battelle, Boulder, CO 80301, USA; Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20560, USA; Corresponding author
- John Deck
- Berkeley Natural History Museums, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Biocode LLC, Junction City, OR 97448, USA
- Kitty F. Emery
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- Ramona L. Walls
- Critical Path Institute, Tucson, AZ 85718, USA; BIO5 Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Dana Reuter
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
- Raphael LaFrance
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales
- Archaeozoology Lab, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, 06060 Mexico City, CdMx, Mexico
- Paul Barrett
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
- Jessica Blois
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
- Arianne Boileau
- Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
- Laura Brenskelle
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- Nicole R. Cannarozzi
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- J. Alberto Cruz
- Archaeozoology Lab, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, 06060 Mexico City, CdMx, Mexico
- Liliana M. Dávalos
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
- Noé U. de la Sancha
- Department of Environmental Science and Studies, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USA; Negaunee Integrative Research Center, The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605, USA
- Prasiddhi Gyawali
- College of Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Maggie M. Hantak
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- Samantha Hopkins
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA; Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97401, USA
- Brooks Kohli
- Department of Biology and Chemistry, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY 40351, USA
- Jessica N. King
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- Michelle S. Koo
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- A. Michelle Lawing
- Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
- Helena Machado
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
- Samantha M. McCrane
- Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- Bryan McLean
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
- Michèle E. Morgan
- Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Suzanne Pilaar Birch
- Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
- Denne Reed
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Elizabeth J. Reitz
- Georgia Museum of Natural History, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
- Neeka Sewnath
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- Nathan S. Upham
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
- Amelia Villaseñor
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
- Laurel Yohe
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
- Edward B. Davis
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA; Department of Biology and Chemistry, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY 40351, USA; Corresponding author
- Robert P. Guralnick
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Corresponding author
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 25,
no. 10
p. 105101
Abstract
Summary: Understanding variation of traits within and among species through time and across space is central to many questions in biology. Many resources assemble species-level trait data, but the data and metadata underlying those trait measurements are often not reported. Here, we introduce FuTRES (Functional Trait Resource for Environmental Studies; pronounced few-tress), an online datastore and community resource for individual-level trait reporting that utilizes a semantic framework. FuTRES already stores millions of trait measurements for paleobiological, zooarchaeological, and modern specimens, with a current focus on mammals. We compare dynamically derived extant mammal species' body size measurements in FuTRES with summary values from other compilations, highlighting potential issues with simply reporting a single mean estimate. We then show that individual-level data improve estimates of body mass—including uncertainty—for zooarchaeological specimens. FuTRES facilitates trait data integration and discoverability, accelerating new research agendas, especially scaling from intra- to interspecific trait variability.
