Towards a com p ilation o f biological tra it data fo r European
macroalgae
V ranken S o fie 1 2, Stefanie D e ke yze r2, Leen V a n d e p itte 2, Sim on C laus2, O liv ie r De C le rc k 1
1 P hycology Research G roup, G h e n t U n ive rsity, K rijg sla a n 2 8 1 -S8, 9 0 0 0 G hent, B elgium
2 Flanders M arine In s titu te (VLIZ), InnovO cean site, W a n d elaarkaai 7. B-8400 O oste n d e
E-mail: sofiev@ vliz.be
E lucidating th e m e ch a n ism s th a t shape large-scale p a tte rn s o f d iv e rs ity re q u ire s n o t o n ly a g o o d
e stim a te o f th e ta x o n o m ic d iv e rs ity and p a ra m e te rs d e s c rib in g th e physical e n v iro n m e n t, b u t also
o f b io lo g ic a l data. The in te ra c tio n s o f o rg a n is m s w ith th e ir e n v iro n m e n t and w ith o th e r o rg a n is m s
are d e te rm in e d by b io lo g ic a l tra its ra th e r th a n ta x o n o m ic n o m e n c la tu re (T yle r e t al., 2 0 1 2 ). The
tra it-b a s e d a p p ro a ch in c o m m u n ity and m a c ro -e c o lo g y has g a in ed a lo t o f in te re s t recently.
How ever, even th o u g h m a n y o f th e se e c o lo g ic a l im p o rta n t tra its have been d o c u m e n te d in th e past,
these are n e ith e r available in p u b lic a lly accessible databases n o r lin k e d to ta x o n o m ic and
b io g e o g ra p h ic databases. C o lle c tin g tr a it d a ta th e re fo re te n d s to be v e ry tim e c o n s u m in g . Here we
aim to co m p ile a m a trix o f tra its re le va n t to m a c ro -e c o lo g y and large-scale c o m m u n ity e c o lo g y fo r
th e m arine m acroalgae in Europe. T ra its in clu d e life h is to ry and re p ro d u c tiv e c h a ra c te ris tic s , g ro w th
fo rm , e co lo gy, d is trib u tio n and h a b ita t. Because o f u n c e rta in ty on species level d iv e rs ity fo r m o st
seaweeds, tra its are d o c u m e n te d on a genus level. The p ro je c t is issued in th e fra m e w o rk o f the
EMODnet B io lo g y p ro je c t to c o m p le te th e b io lo g ic a l tr a it in fo rm a tio n in th e W o rld R egister o f M arine
species (WoRMS; A p p e lta n s e t al., 2 0 1 2 ) d e ve lo p e d by th e Flanders M arine In s titu te (VLIZ).
References
A p p e lta n s W. e t al. 2 0 1 2 . The m a g n itu d e o f g lo b a l m a rin e species d iv e rs ity . C u rre n t B iology
2 3 :2 1 8 9 -2 2 0 2
T y le r E.H.M., P.J. S o m e rfie ld , E. V anden Berghe, J. B rem ner, E. Jackson, O. Langm ead, M.L.D.
P alom ares and T.J. W ebb. 201 2. E xtensive gaps and biases in o u r k n o w le d g e o f a w e ll-k n o w n
fa u n a : Im p lic a tio n s fo r in te g ra tin g b io lo g ic a l tr a its in to m a cro e co lo g y. G lobal E cology and
B io g e o g ra p h y 2 1 :9 2 2 -9 3 4
WoRMS E d ito ria l Board. 2 0 1 4 . W o rld R egister o f M arine Species. A v a ila b le fro m
h ttp ://w w w .m a rin e s p e c ie s .o rg at VLIZ. A ccessed 2 0 1 4 -0 1 -0 6
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