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

Abstract

Background 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.

Scope Here, we introduce the Cerrado Plant Traits (CPT), an open-access initiative compiling and standardizing plant functional trait data for the Brazilian Cerrado, the most biodiverse tropical savanna in the world. 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 2134 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, whereas below-ground and reproductive traits remain comparatively underrepresented, highlighting key priorities for future research.

Conclusions 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, standardized resource to support conservation planning, restoration programmes and evidence-based policy in a biodiversity hotspot facing accelerating land-use and climate pressures.