Cerrado plant traits (CPT): a database of functional traits across vegetation types in a global biodiversity hotspot

Trait-based ecology has become central for understanding plant form, function and ecosystem processes, but progress has been hampered by biased representation in trait databases. As such, global trait syntheses remain strongly biased towards temperate forest biomes. Tropical savannas are the most extensive, biodiverse and disturbance-driven ecosystems worldwide, yet are poorly represented in functional trait databases, limiting ecological inference and applied decision-making.

Here, we introduce the Cerrado Plant Traits (CPT), an open-access initiative compiling and standardising plant functional trait data for the Brazilian Cerrado, the world's most biodiverse tropical savanna. CPT integrates trait information for all major plant organs (whole-plant, root, shoot, leaf, flower, fruit and seed) across vegetation types in the Cerrado, drawing on a collaborative and inclusive research network. The current version of CPT compiles data from 148 datasets, totalling 113,859 curated trait records for 2,134 taxonomically verified species across 150 families. Trait records span pristine, degraded and restored environments and capture both interspecific and intraspecific variation. Whole-plant and leaf traits dominate the current dataset, while belowground and reproductive traits remain comparatively underrepresented, highlighting key priorities for future research.

By substantially increasing the representation of savanna species in global trait repositories, CPT enables tests of ecological hypotheses across multiple levels of organization, analyses of trait-environment relationships across fire, soil and climatic gradients, and robust comparisons across forest-savanna transitions. Beyond its scientific value, CPT provides a practical, standardised resource to support conservation planning, restoration programs and evidence-based policy in a biodiversity hotspot facing accelerating land-use and climate pressures.