Tropical Seed Trait Database: advancing seed functional ecology in the world's most biodiverse region
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Oliveira, Davi N.
Ordóñez‐Parra, Carlos A.
Chen, Si‐Chong
Arnold, A. Elizabeth
Davis, Adam S.
González, Alba Marina Torres
Morales‐Pérez, Alcides L.
Díaz‐Castellanos, Aleida Rocío
Pérez‐Enriquez, Alejandra
Fidelis, Alessandra
Carvalho, Amanda S. R.
Santos, Amanda S.
Sandoval, Ana C.
Crestani, Ana Cristina V.
Mairinck, Ana Luiza A.
Neto, André Dias Azevedo
Coetzee, Anina
Traveset, Anna
Andrade, Antonio Carlos S.
Datta, Aparajita
Teles, Aristônio M.
Nerlekar, Ashish N.
Sengupta, Asmita
Munje, Avishkar
Negret, Beatriz Salgado
Basu, Bibidishananda
Rocha, Carla Souza
De Melo e Silva‐Neto, Carlos
Santos, Carlos Henrique Barbosa
Sarmiento, Carolina
da Cruz Vasconcelos, Caroline
Offord, Catherine A.
López, Cecilia L.
Mayta, Cesar
Ordoñez‐Salanueva, Cesar Alejandro
Seal, Charlotte E.
Cruz, Claudineia Regina Pelacani
Seymour, Colleen Lynda
Almeida, Daiane Sampaio
Pifano, Daniel Salgado
Vieira, Daniel Luis Mascia
Dias, Daniela Pereira
Ramos‐Chuquimia, Daniela
Vieira, Daniela Cristine Mascia
Sánchez, David Alejandro
Cruz‐Tejada, Diana Maria
Cunha, Diego Da Silva
Escobar, Diego Fernando Escobar
Santos, Dionei Lima
Silva, Dulce Alves
Gonçalves, Edilma Pereira
Damasceno, Edjane Silva
Duarte, Edson Ferreira
Mendes, Eduardo Teles Barbosa
Peña‐Miranda, Elkys Tomás
do Carmo, Elzineide Moreira
Tarazona‐Tubens, Fabio L.
Silva, Fabricio Francisco Santos
Piña‐Rodrigues, Fatima Conceição Márquez
Souza, Fernanda Cristina
Faria, Flavia Santos
Nascimento, Francinete Alves
Torres‐Romero, Francisco Javier
Motta, Gabriel Schmidt Teixeira
Oda, Gabriela Akemi
Liyanage, Ganesha S.
Calvi, Geângelo Petene
Costa, Glória Fabiani Leão
Errington, Graeme
Joseph, Grant Stuart
Da Costa, Grênivel Mota
Canassa, Guilherme Gonzalez
Gama, Guilherme
Liang, Hanci
Wang, Hao‐Yu
Yadav, Harsh
Consolaro, Hélder Nagai
Ferreira, Heleno Dias
Miranda, Heloisa Sinatora
Zirondi, Heloiza Lourenço
Botey, Hillary Mireku
Fontenele, Hudson Gabriel Virtuoso
Pritchard, Hugh W.
Pinto, Ícaro Menezes
Araujo‐Santos, Ilana
Ferraz, Isolde Dorothea Kossmann
Da Gama, Itamara Gonçalves
Zambrano, Ivonne Andrea Narváez
Dalling, James W.
Santos, Jaylson Araujo Dos
Viana, Jeandson Silva
Castellanos‐Barliza, Jeiner De Jesús
Rodríguez, Jeniffer Viviana Díaz
Hoyos, Jennifer Lorena Lopez
Powers, Jennifer Sarah
Corredor‐Prado, Jenny Paola
Vázquez‐Ramírez, Jerónimo
Sansevero, Jerônimo Boelsums Barreto
Vargas‐Figueroa, Jhon Alexander
Magalhães, João Guilherme Scarpelli
Borges, João Paulo Goes Da Silva
Flores, Joel
Ribeiro, Jonathan Wesley Ferreira
Barlow, Jos
Rojas, Jose Miguel
Fonseca‐Altahon, José Damián
Morante‐Filho, José Carlos
Santos, José Hermeson Severo Dos
Silva, Joyce Naiara
Hurtado, Juan Sebastian
Ley‐López, Juan Manuel
Villalba‐Malaver, Juan Carlos
Lage, Julia Maria Medeiros
Benítez‐Malvido, Julieta
Lim, Jun Ying
Jayasuriya, K.M.G. Gehan
Sommerville, Karen D.
Pradhan, Karishma
Chong, Kelvin G. J.
Mcconkey, Kim R.
Garcia, Lara Amaral
Brito, Laura Évora
Marín, Laura Esperanza Ruiz
Morellato, L. Patricia C.
Aona, Lidyanne Yuriko Saleme
de Oliveira, Lucas Silva
Macias‐Sposito, Luciano
Martinez‐Martinez, Luis Alfonso
Navarro, Luis
Daibes, Luís Felipe
Coelho, Luís Francisco Mello
Pinheiro, Luiz Felipe Souza
Melgarejo, Luz Marina
Benchimol, Maíra
Wijayasinghe, Malaka Maduranga
Meiado, Marcos Vinicius
Amador‐Cubides, Maria Camila
Braz, Maria Isabel Guedes
Dairel, Mariana
Villegas, Mariana
Guedes, Mariane Rodrigues
Conde, Marilena Menezes Silva
Magalhães, Marília Larocerie Lupchinski
Shibata, Marília
Côrtes, Marina Corrêa
Ooi, Mark K. J.
Prates, Mateus Brandão
Chua, Matthias Seng En
Figueiredo, Maurílio Assis
Galetti, Mauro
Ferreira, Maxmiller Cardoso
Arthur, Michael
Soto‐Avendaño, Michelle Vanesa
Cházaro‐Basañez, Miguel
Koutouan‐Kontchoi, Milène N.
Da Silva, Monalisa Alves Diniz
Alves, Monique
Bullón, Natali Ramírez
Borawake, Noopur
Santos, Núbia Sousa Carrijo Dos
Razafindratsima, Onja Harinala
Dávila‐Aranda, Patricia
Zalamea, Paul‐Camilo
Laumann, Pedro Dias
León‐Lobos, Pedro
Poschlod, Peter
Souza‐Perera, Ramón
Cavalcante, Ramon Athayde Souza
Gasparini, Raquel
Rodrigues, Renato Garcia
Frigeri, Renita B. C
Alvarez‐Espino, Ricardo X.
Portela, Rita De Cássia Quitete
Timmers, Robert
Naniwadekar, Rohit
Staneke, Romano
Kolb, Rosana Marta
Contreras, Ruben Dario
Heleno, Ruben H.
Swart, Rudi Crispin
Tangney, Ryan
Madriñán, Santiago
McInnes, Sarah J.
Amoêdo, Semírian Campos
Kim, Seokmin
Phartyal, Shyam S.
Escalante‐Rebolledo, Sigfredo Edmundo
Gallegos, Silvia C.
Le Stradic, Soizig
Hernandez‐Ortiz, Steffy Margarita
Sidhu, Swati
Zupo, Talita Marques
Vilas‐Boas, Tiago
Ulian, Tiziana
Shukla, Ushma
Pivello, Vânia Regina
Klein, Vera Lúcia Gomes
Da Silva, Verônica Marques Feliciano
De Lima, Victor Ferreira
Londoño‐Lemos, Viviana
Date published
May 17, 2026
Abstract
Plant functional traits connect biodiversity to ecosystem processes, serving as key metrics for assessing how biota responds to environmental conditions. Functional seed traits are critical because they underpin recruitment and colonization, shaping biodiversity patterns and influencing ecosystem resilience. Yet, seed traits remain underrepresented in major data repositories, with severe gaps in the tropics. Climatic, geological, and historical differences between tropical and temperate regions drive distinct regeneration dynamics, suggesting that the paucity of tropical seed trait data limits our ability to predict regeneration niches and weakens global models largely based on temperate ecosystems. To address this gap, we introduce the Tropical Seed Trait Database (TSTD), an open‐access repository spanning the full ecological spectrum of tropical seeds. The TSTD is conceived as a community‐driven repository of primary data contributed directly by data owners, rather than as a secondary aggregation of global databases. It was built through contributions from ecologists working across all tropical regions, reached through direct contact, and its first version compiles 78 datasets, totaling 137 583 records across 44 functional traits. Covering 5115 species in 33 countries, with the Neotropics overrepresented, the TSTD marks a crucial step toward more inclusive, globally representative trait databases that can open multiple research avenues.
Project(s)
Priority 2: Trait Diversity and Function
Priority 1: Ecosystem Stewardship
Funder
| Funder name | Awards |
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brazil | |
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brazil | |
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil | |
Journal title
New Phytologist
Article number
nph.71268
Publisher
Wiley
Place of publication
UK
ISSN
0028-646X
eISSN
1469-8137
Date accepted
March 30, 2026
Official URL
Rights statement
In Copyright
Additional information
IF = 8.1 (2024)