Towards Greater Standardisation in Benthic Trait Research to Support Application to Environmental Management.

ABSTRACT: Functional trait-based approaches have enriched our understanding of key ecological processes such as species assembly and biodiversity loss. This focus on traits, rather than taxonomy, promotes comparability across spatial and organisational scales, further enabling the application of trait-based methodologies to systems where species identity is difficult to recognise. Among other issues, however, the lack of standardisation is preventing trait-based approaches from unlocking their true potential. Here, 407 published articles (peer-reviewed and grey literature) are reviewed alongside the Biological Traits Information Catalogue (BIOTIC) to document inconsistencies in the understanding and use of trait terminology in the context of marine benthic ecosystems. Firstly, discrepancies in the o

SUBMITTER: Susini I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11879613 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature