The {traits.build} data model, R package, and workflow

Author

Elizabeth Wenk, Sophie Yang, Fonti Kar, Daniel Falster
Evolution and Ecology Research Centre,
The University of New South Wales Sydney, NSW 2052
Australia

1 About

1.1 Brief overview

Imagine you wanted to build a database of traits. You might start by compiling data from existing datasets, but you’d quickly find that there are many different ways to name and measure the same trait, that different studies use different units, or use an outdated name for a species or taxon.

traits.build is a data standard, R package, and workflow that is desgined to help you build a harmonised, relational database from disparate datasets. The package was first developed to create austraits.build an, open-source database of Australian plant traits. The code has been transformed into a standalone package allowing anyone to build a relational, tabular database for any taxonomic group and any collection of traits.

A description of this package is available at: Wenk, E., Bal, P., Coleman, D., Gallagher, R., Yang, S., Falster, D., 2024. Traits.build: A data model, workflow and R package for building harmonised ecological trait databases. Ecological Informatics 83, 102773. DOI: j.ecoinf.2024.102773

1.2 About this manual

This manual is a step-by-step user guide to the traits.build standard, R package and workflow manual. Alongside this manual, you may find the following resources useful:

installation instructions for the traits.build package
a reference page with all user-side functions for the traits.build package.
links to example projects

1.3 A simple example

To get you started, we’ve provided a template example compilation which you can clone and modify. This provides the basic steps for building a traits.build compilation. Follow the instructions in Tutorials chapter for a step-by-step guide to building a database from scratch.

1.4 Getting help

Along the way, users may encounter a number of errors and warnings. Some of these are designed to help you build a robust database, others may constitue an error in your data, file structure, or the package. If you encounter an error or warning, please read the message carefully and follow the instructions for getting help.

1.5 Acknowledgements

This manual arose from code within the AusTraits project at https://github.com/traitecoevo/austraits.build. The AusTraits project received investment (https://doi.org/10.47486/DP720) from the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC). The ARDC is funded by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).