AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds.
Joseph Andrew TobiasCatherine SheardAlex L PigotAdam J M DevenishJingyi YangFerran SayolMontague H C Neate-CleggNico AlioravainenThomas L WeeksRobert A BarberPatrick A WalkdenHannah E A MacGregorSamuel E I JonesClaire VincentAnna G PhillipsNicola M MarplesFlavia A Montaño-CentellasVictor Leandro-SilvaSantiago ClaramuntBianca DarskiBenjamin G FreemanTom P BregmanChristopher R CooneyEmma C HughesElliot J R CappZoë K VarleyNicholas R FriedmanHeiko KorntheuerAndrea Corrales-VargasChristopher H TrisosBrian C WeeksDagmar M HanzTill TöpferGustavo A BravoVladimír RemešLarissa NowakLincoln S CarneiroAmilkar J Moncada RBeata MatysiokováDaniel T BaldassarreAlejandra Martínez-SalinasJared D WolfePhilip M ChapmanBenjamin G DalyMarjorie C SorensenAlexander NeuMichael A FordRebekah J MayhewLuís Fábio SilveiraDavid J KellyNathaniel N D AnnorbahHenry S PollockAda M Grabowska-ZhangJay P McEnteeJuan Carlos T GonzalezCamila G MenesesMarcia C MuñozLuke L PowellGabriel A JamieThomas J MatthewsOscar JohnsonGuilherme R R BritoKristof ZyskowskiRoss CratesMichael G HarveyMaura Jurado ZevallosPeter Andrew HosnerTom Bradfer-LawrenceJames M MaleyF Gary StilesHevana Santana de LimaKaiya L ProvostMoses ChibesaMmatjie MashaoJeffrey T HowardEdson MlambaMarcus A H ChuaBicheng LiM Isabel GómezNatalia C GarcíaMartin PäckertJérôme FuchsJarome R AliElizabeth Perrault DerryberryMonica L CarlsonRolly C UrrizaKristin E BrzeskiDewi M PrawiradilagaMatt J RaynerEliot T MillerRauri C K BowieRené-Marie LafontaineR Paul ScofieldYingqiang LouLankani SomarathnaDenis LepageMarshall IllifEike Lena NeuschulzMathias TemplinD Matthias DehlingJacob C CooperOlivier S G PauwelsKangkuso AnaluddinJon FjeldsåNathalie SeddonPaul R SweetFabrice A J DeClerckLuciano Nicolas NakaJeffrey D BrawnAlexandre AleixoKatrin Böhning-GaeseCarsten RahbekSusanne A FritzGavin H ThomasMatthias SchleuningPublished in: Ecology letters (2022)
Functional traits offer a rich quantitative framework for developing and testing theories in evolutionary biology, ecology and ecosystem science. However, the potential of functional traits to drive theoretical advances and refine models of global change can only be fully realised when species-level information is complete. Here we present the AVONET dataset containing comprehensive functional trait data for all birds, including six ecological variables, 11 continuous morphological traits, and information on range size and location. Raw morphological measurements are presented from 90,020 individuals of 11,009 extant bird species sampled from 181 countries. These data are also summarised as species averages in three taxonomic formats, allowing integration with a global phylogeny, geographical range maps, IUCN Red List data and the eBird citizen science database. The AVONET dataset provides the most detailed picture of continuous trait variation for any major radiation of organisms, offering a global template for testing hypotheses and exploring the evolutionary origins, structure and functioning of biodiversity.