MoveTraits-A Database for Integrating Animal Behaviour Into Trait-Based Ecology

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Movement Ecology

Background:

• Trait-based ecology is crucial for understanding eco-evolutionary processes.
• Animal behavior significantly influences ecosystem dynamics but is often overlooked in trait-based approaches.
• Standardized movement traits derived from biologging data can integrate behavior into ecological frameworks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate the integration of animal behavior into trait-based ecology using movement traits.
• To introduce a vision for a 'living' global movement trait database for enhanced data curation and accessibility.
• To showcase the potential of movement traits for understanding species' responses to environmental change and improving biodiversity assessments.

Main Methods:

• Defined movement traits as standardized, comparable measures of animal movement (e.g., daily displacements, range sizes) from biologging data.
• Outlined a framework for a continuously growing database that calculates traits from individual-level data using consistent methodology.
• Developed a proof-of-concept 'MoveTraits' database for 52 mammal and 97 bird species, calculating five traits across multiple timescales.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated the feasibility of calculating standardized movement traits from biologging data.
• Showcased multi-level trait variation (species, individual, within-individual).
• Highlighted the potential of movement traits to quantify behavioral reaction norms and assess adaptive capacity.

Conclusions:

• Movement traits offer a powerful way to integrate behavior into trait-based ecology, advancing research on species interactions, community structure, and ecosystem functioning.
• A global movement trait database can improve trait data curation, enhance global change predictions, and contribute to biodiversity assessments as Essential Biodiversity Variables.
• Making animal movement data accessible and interpretable via such databases can bridge the gap between movement ecology and conservation policy.