FUN Azores: a FUNctional Trait Database for the Meio-, Macro-, and Megafauna From the Azores Marine Park (Mid-Atlantic Ridge)

• Published in: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
• Main Authors: Campanyà-Llovet, Neus, Bates, Amanda E., Cuvelier, Daphne, Giacomello, Eva, Catarino, Diana, Gooday, Andrew J., Berning, Björn, Figuerola, Blanca, Malaquias, Manuel A. E., Moura, Carlos J., Xavier, Joana R., Sutton, Tracey, Fauconnet, Laurence, Ramalho, Sofia P., de Moura Neves, Bárbara, Machado, Gui M., Horton, Tammy, Gebruk, Andrey V., Minin, Kirill, Bried, Joël, Molodtsova, Tina, Silva, Mónica A., Dilman, Anna, Kremenetskaia, Antonina, Costa, Eudriano F. S., Clarke, Jameson, Martins, Helen R., Pham, Christopher K., Carreiro-Silva, Marina, Colaço, Ana
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: NSUWorks 2023
• Subjects: behavior; life history; seamounts and ridges; hydrothermal vents; collaborative effort; trait-based approaches; animal morphology; Marine Protected Areas; Marine Biology; Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology; Antarctic; Bates; Mid-Atlantic Ridge; Moura; Neves; Antarc*; British Antarctic Survey
• Online Access: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/1341; https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1050268; https://nsuworks.nova.edu/context/occ_facarticles/article/2346/viewcontent/fevo_11_1050268.pdf

Trait-based approaches that complement taxonomy-based studies have increased in popularity among the scientific community over the last decades. The collection of biological and ecological characteristics of species (i.e., traits) provides insight into species and ecosystem vulnerability to environmental and anthropogenic changes, as well as ecosystem functioning. Here, we present the FUN Azores trait database, describe our approach, evaluate its scope, compare it to other marine trait databases, and explore the spatial distribution of its traits with “functional maps.” While most of the available trait databases to date contain essential information to understand the functional diversity of a taxonomic or functional group, our ecosystem-based approach provides a comprehensive assessment of diverse fauna (i.e., meio-, macro-, and megafauna) from benthic and pelagic environments in the Azores Marine Park; including ridges, seamounts, hydrothermal vents, and the overlying water column. We used a collaborative approach involving 30 researchers with different expertise to develop the FUN Azores database, which contains compiled data on 14 traits representing morphological, behavioral, and life history characteristics for 1,210 species across 10 phyla. The “functional maps” show a distinct distribution of the two most common size classes, suggesting different communities with different functionalities. The following traits had the best scoring coverage (i.e., >95% of OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Peter Convey, British Antarctic Survey (BAS), United Kingdom REVIEWED BY Sarah Faulwetter, University of Patras, Greece Kai Horst George, Senckenberg am Meer Wilhelmshaven, Germany *CORRESPONDENCE Neus Campanyà-Llovet [e-mail] RECEIVED 21 September 2022 ACCEPTED 29 May 2023 PUBLISHED 27 July 2023 CITATION Campanyà-Llovet N, Bates AE, Cuvelier D, Giacomello E, Catarino D, Gooday AJ, Berning B, Figuerola B, Malaquias MAE, Moura CJ, Xavier JR, Sutton TT, Fauconnet L, Ramalho SP, Neves BdM, Machado GM, Horton T, Gebruk ...