Mining buried plant trait data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): Comparison and integration with multiple plant trait databases.

Abstract

Premise: Despite the availability of several plant trait databases, significant traits remain undocumented for a substantial number of species. To address this issue, the current study explored digital text from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) as an innovative source of plant trait information and evaluated its capacity to reduce existing deficiencies.

Methods: Data were gathered on lifespan (LS), growth form (GF), flower color (FC), and maximum plant height (PH _max ) for vascular plants from GBIF and four common plant trait databases. The resulting dataset was used to evaluate the novelty and consistency of trait values derived from GBIF's digital text relative to those from other databases.

Results: Incorporation of GBIF-extracted trait data led to increases of 1.2-, 1.2-, 5.5-, and 2.7-fold in the number of species with documented LS, GF, FC, and PH _max traits, respectively. GBIF's trait data demonstrated high congruence with other databases, except in the case of FC. Additionally, a comprehensive dataset compiling these trait values from GBIF and the four databases was created, offering a valuable resource for future plant trait research.

Discussion: Our findings suggest that digital text in GBIF represents a significant source of plant trait information and can effectively help bridge information gaps.