Ukrainian Plant Trait Database: UkrTrait v. 1.0.

Area of Science:

• Botany
• Ecology
• Biodiversity Informatics

Background:

• Plant trait data from Eastern Europe, particularly the steppic region, is scarce.
• Existing data is often fragmented across literature, in Ukrainian, or not digitized, limiting global accessibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish the Ukrainian Plant Trait Database (UkrTrait v. 1.0) to consolidate available plant trait data from Ukraine.
• To link UkrTrait terminology with international standards (TRY, TOP, TO) and provide taxonomic crosswalks to global databases.
• To integrate Ukrainian plant trait data into global (TRY) and pan-European (FloraVeg.EU) platforms.

Main Methods:

• Compiled and digitized plant trait data from Ukrainian literature.
• Conducted field and laboratory measurements for traits not previously documented.
• Focused on vascular plant species, especially those unique to European databases and representative of steppe vegetation.

Main Results:

• UkrTrait v. 1.0 contains 287,948 digitized literature records for 75 traits across 6,198 taxa.
• Includes 2,390 new trait measurements for 12 traits across 388 taxa.
• Provides crosswalks for trait terminology and taxa names with international standards and databases.

Conclusions:

• UkrTrait v. 1.0 addresses a critical data gap for Ukrainian flora, particularly steppe species.
• The database enhances accessibility of plant trait information for ecological research and conservation efforts.
• Future updates will expand the database and further integrate it with global data repositories.