Biology subjects

Salguero-Gomez, R.

Publications and source records attributed to Salguero-Gomez, R..

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Experimental drought reduces the productivity and stability of a recovering calcareous grassland

O_LIGrasslands comprise 40% of terrestrial ecosystems and are globally important for food production, carbon storage, and other ecosystem services. However, grasslands in many areas are becoming increasingly exposed to extreme wet and dry periods resulting from global temperature increases. C_LIO_LITherefore, understanding how grasslands will respond to climate change is a pressing issue for managing changes to biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. C_LIO_LIHere, we use experimental manipulations of precipitation (50% increase and 50% decrease of growing-season precipitation) to investigate the resistance of the diversity and productivity of a calcareous grassland community recovering from historical agricultural conversion. C_LIO_LIWe found that decreasing growing season precipitation led to reductions of mean productivity (25 % decrease in peak above-ground biomass) and its temporal stability (54 % increase in biomass variance across years). However, the grassland community composition was resistant to the precipitation manipulations, with no clear difference in community compositional turnover, dissimilarity, or biodiversity indices. Furthermore, the precipitation manipulations had no effect on the path of ongoing (30 year) recovery of grassland plant diversity from the period of previous agricultural conversion. C_LIO_LIWhile the diversity of this calcareous grassland was resistant to precipitation extremes (at least in the short term), sustained reductions in growing-season precipitation reduced productivity and its temporal stability demonstrating that different properties of grasslands can vary in their responses to changes in precipitation. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

A unified framework to identify demographic buffering in natural populations

The Demographic Buffering Hypothesis (DBH) predicts that natural selection reduces the temporal fluctuations in demographic processes (such as survival, development, and reproduction), due to their negative impacts on population dynamics. However, a comprehensive approach that allows for the examination of demographic buffering patterns across multiple species is still lacking. Here, we propose a three-step framework aimed at identifying and quantifying demographic buffering. Firstly, we categorize species along a continuum of variance based on their stochastic elasticities. Secondly, we examine the linear selection gradients, followed by the examination of nonlinear selection gradients as the third step. With these three steps, our framework overcomes existing limitations of conventional approaches to identify and quantify demographic buffering, allows for multi-species comparisons, and offers an insight into the evolutionary forces that shape demographic buffering. We apply this framework to mammal species and discuss both the advantages and potential of our framework.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Mammal life history strategies are strongly associated with environmental realms

Mammalian life history strategies can be characterized by a few axes of variation, which conform a space where species are positioned according to which life history strategies are favoured in the environment they exploit. Yet, we still lack global descriptions of the diversity of realized mammalian life history and of how this diversity is shaped by the environment. We used six life history traits to build a global life history space and explored how major environmental realms (land, air, water) influence mammalian life history strategies. We demonstrate that realms are tightly linked to distinct life history strategies. Predominantly, aquatic and aerial species adhere to slower life history strategies, while terrestrial species tend to exhibit faster life histories. Highly encephalized terrestrial species are a notable exception to these patterns. In addition, species transitioning between the terrestrial and aquatic realms, such as seals, show intermediate life history strategies. Further, different mode-of-life may play a significant role in allowing to expand the set of strategies exploitable in the terrestrial realm. Our results provide compelling evidence of the link between environmental realms and the diversity of life history strategies among mammals. Statement of authorshipP.C.L., R.S-G., and C.P.C. conceived the core ideas behind this paper, all authors provided fundamental inputs for its final development. E.B collected all data and performed the literature search needed to sort species in environmental realms. E.B. analysed the data with fundamental inputs from C.P.C., P.C.L, and R.G-S. All authors contributed to interpretation of the results. E.B. and C.P.C. led the writing of the manuscript which was edited by all authors.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

No general effects of advancing male age on ejaculates: a meta-analysis across the animal kingdom

Senescence, the deterioration of organismal function with advancing age, is a puzzling biological phenomenon. While actuarial senescence (i.e., age-dependent increases in mortality rates) is well described across some taxa, reproductive senescence (i.e. age- dependent declines in reproduction) is less understood, especially in males, with mixed patterns reported across studies. To examine the evidence for male reproductive senescence, we investigated how advancing male age affects ejaculate traits across non-human animals via a meta-analysis yielding 1814 effect sizes from 379 studies. We found no evidence for a general pattern of reproductive senescence. Instead, we found high heterogeneity for how reproduction changes with male age across animals. Some of this heterogeneity (>10%) was associated with biological factors. For example, there were taxonomical differences for some ejaculate traits -- sperm motility declined with male age in lab rodents and fish, whereas ejaculate size improved with male age in bulls, fish, and insects. Some methodological factors were also important in explaining this heterogeneity: studies sampling a larger proportion of a species lifespan were more likely to detect senescence in ejaculate traits, emphasising the need to examine the full life cycle of species to document senescence. Contrary to predictions, we reveal that the evidence for senescence in ejaculate traits is sporadic. Our findings will help generate novel hypotheses and identify more effective methodological approaches for studying male reproductive senescence.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Leaf metabolic traits reveal hidden dimensions of plant form and function

The plant metabolome encompasses the biochemical mechanisms through which evolutionary and ecological processes shape plant form and function1,2. However, while the metabolome should thus be an important component of plant life-history variation3, we know little about how it varies across the plant kingdom. Here, we use the plant functional trait concept4 - a powerful framework for describing plant form and function5-7 - to interpret leaf metabolome variation among 457 tropical and 339 temperate plant species. Distilling metabolite chemistry into five discriminant metabolic functional traits reveals that plants vary along two major axes of leaf metabolic specialization - a leaf chemical defense spectrum and an expression of leaf longevity. These axes are qualitatively consistent for tropical and temperate species, with many trait combinations being viable. However, axes of leaf metabolic specialization vary orthogonally to life-history strategies described by widely used functional traits5-7, while being at least equally important to them. Our findings question classical trait6 and plant defense8 theory that predicts relationships between the leaf chemical phenotype, plant productivity, and pace of life. Moreover, we show that metabolic functional traits describe unique dimensions of plant life-history variation that are complementary to, and independent from, those captured by existing plant functional traits.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Experimentally induced drought and growing season stage modulate community-level functional traits in a temperate grassland

O_LIExtreme precipitation events are expected to become more intense and frequent with climate change. This climatic shift may impact the structure and dynamics of natural communities and the key ecosystem services they provide. Changes in species abundance under these extreme conditions are thought to be driven by functional traits, morpho-physiological characteristics of an organism that impact its fitness. Future environmental conditions may, therefore, favour different functional traits to those in present-day communities. C_LIO_LIHere, we measure functional traits on 586 vascular plants in a temperate grassland where precipitation has been experimentally manipulated for six years. We calculated community-weighted means of five functional traits (plant height, leaf dry matter content, leaf thickness, specific leaf area, and leaf phosphorus concentration) and compared community-weighted means between three levels of precipitation: drought (-50%), irrigated (+50%), and control. Additionally, we contrasted treatments at two different timings along the growing season: mid-season and late-season. C_LIO_LIWe expected altered community-weighted means for traits associated with a conservative use of water that will result from increased summer stress-induced intraspecific variability in the mid-season and from community composition changes in the late-season, after the field is cut, a common management action across most European grasslands. C_LIO_LIIn the drought treatment, we found significantly lower community-weighted mean plant height and leaf dry matter content. However, we only observed these differences after the mid-season cut. We also observed an increase in leaf phosphorus concentration in the drought treatment before the mid-season cut. A combination of changes in community composition and intraspecific variation contributed to these differences, with community composition being more important after the cut. Species with higher height, leaf dry matter content, and lower leaf thickness showed a more pronounced abundance decline at the drought plots. We observed no changes in functional traits community-weighted means in the irrigated treatment compared to those in control and drought treatments. C_LIO_LISynthesis. Our results suggest how the functional trait composition of grassland communities may shift under climate change-induced drought, stressing the interacting effects with growing season stages. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Sustainable seed harvesting in wild plant populations

Seed harvesting from wild plant populations is key for ecological restoration, but may threaten the persistence of source populations. Consequently, several countries have set guidelines limiting the proportions of harvestable seeds. However, these guidelines are so far inconsistent, and they lack a solid empirical basis. Here, we use high-resolution data from 298 plant species to model the demographic consequences of seed harvesting. We find that the current guidelines do not protect populations of annuals and short-lived perennials, while they are overly restrictive for long-lived plants. We show that the maximum possible fraction of seed production - what can be harvested without compromising the long-term persistence of populations - is strongly related to the generation time of the target species. When harvesting every year, this safe seed fraction ranges from 80% in long-lived species to 2% in most annuals. Less frequent seed harvesting substantially increases the safe seed fraction: In the most vulnerable annual species, it is safe to harvest 5%, 10% or 30% of population seed production when harvesting every two, five or ten years, respectively. Our results provide a quantitative basis for seed harvesting legislations worldwide, based on species generation time and harvesting regime. SignificanceThe UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, 2021-2030, foresees upscaling restoration, and the demand for native seed is skyrocketing. Seeds for restoring native vegetation are often harvested in wild, but too intensive harvest can threaten the donor populations. Existing guidelines that set limits to wild seed harvest are mostly based on expert opinions, yet they commonly lack empirical basis and vary among regions in one order of magnitude. We show that the current guidelines urgently need to be reformulated, because they are overly restrictive in long-lived species, while they do not protect annual plants from extinction. Using matrix population models of nearly 300 plant species, we provide a quantitative basis for a new seed harvesting legislation world-wide.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Calorie restriction brings no benefits to lifespan under stochastic environments

1. Potential immortality is observed in several species (e.g., prickly pear cactus, hydra, flatworms) and is indicative of their negligible or even negative senescence rates. Unlike in senescent species, which experience reduced individual performance with age due to physiological degradation, species with negligible or negative senescence display mortality rates that remain constant or decline with age, respectively. These rates vary across taxa and are correlated with life history traits. Yet, the extent to which variable resource availability, a key driver of variation in life history traits, impacts species that show negligible or negative senescence is currently unknown. 2. Here, we examine whether and how variation in the quantity, quality, and feeding interval of resources impact population structure, population performance, and life history trait trade-offs in two long-lived planaria that do not senesce: Schmidtea mediterranea and Dugesia tahitiensis. In a full factorial design, different combinations of resource quantity (reduced intake, standard intake and high intake) and quality (high and low quality) were provided in two different feeding intervals (7-day and 14-day intervals) for 19 weeks. 3. We show that variability in resource availability, via decreases in quantity, quality, and frequency of resources, does not diminish population viability in either species but does result in suboptimal conditions of stress in S. mediterranea. 4. The high population viability we report can be attributed to two different mechanisms: increased reproduction or increased investment into maintenance at the expense of reproduction. Moreover, which mechanism was responsible for said high population viability was context-dependent and modulated by the specific life history strategy of the two planaria species. 5. We show that suboptimal conditions can cause stress responses that have significant impacts on non-senescent species. The context-dependent response we observe suggests that species that do not senesce but are subject to suboptimal conditions of stress may ultimately exhibit declines in performance and ultimately die. A clearer understanding of the impact of suboptimal conditions of resource availability on non-senescent species is needed to determine the extent of stress experienced and ultimately whether a species can truly be immortal.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Global patterns of plant form and function are strongly determined by evolutionary relationships

Plants display an incredible variety of forms and functions, which sustains a vast diversity of ecosystems on Earth. This diversity is the result of two forces: environmental filtering, the selection of phenotypes fit to a specific habitat; and evolutionary history, genetic constraints that determine the potential adaptations that species may evolve. To date, most studies have focused on describing macroecological patterns of trait variation, while the role of evolutionary history in determining these patterns has remained much less explored. Here, we combine a traits dataset including 4,213 vascular plant species with a phylogeny of the plant kingdom, to determine the influence of evolutionary history on the patterns of trait variation. Our results show that commonly used plant traits, such as plant height or leaf nitrogen, are strongly constrained by evolutionary history. Accounting for phylogenetic relationships changes the variance explained by the main axes of trait variation in the Plant Kindgom --the leaf economic spectrum and the plant size and organ axis continuum-- with the former explaining more variance than the latter. Moreover, we demonstrate that the plant size continuum is more influenced by evolutionary history than the leaf economics spectrum. These results highlight the influence of evolutionary history in shaping plant life history strategies and the importance of accounting for phylogeny in trait-based studies.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

An improved habitat suitability index for the great crested newt

Great crested newts (GCN) are a protected species whose conservation depends on the provision and protection of their breeding habitat. A habitat suitability index (HSI) developed in 2000 is extensively used in GCN conservation to assess breeding habitat quality. This two-decade old index is based on limited data and validation. Here, we introduce a new HSI with an improved ability to reflect GCN presence/absence in UK ponds. This proposed HSI is easier, requires less data, and predicts GCN presence/absence better than the previous index. To inform the new index, we used a dual approach to identify the relative importance of environmental criteria to predict GCN presence/absence. Firstly, we conducted a survey of 288 users of the GCN HSI to assess the perceived strengths and limitations of the existing index. Secondly, we analysed national datasets of GCN presence/absence and associated environmental data. Using these findings, we then tested various index modifications. The final modifications of the new HSI include: (i) using an arithmetic mean to combine variables, rather than a geometric mean, to reduce calculation errors and allow compensation between variables; (ii) excluding water quality and waterfowl impact as these lacked significant power to predict GCN presence/absence and were deemed inaccurate by HSI users; and (iii) changing the scoring relationship for pond area to better reflect current data and provide scores for ponds over 2000m2. Additionally, we present modified graphs to reduce errors in the calculation of pond density scores. We compared scores from the new and original HSIs using an independent dataset for validation, showing that the new HSI better reflects GCN present/absence (larger effect sizes and R-squared values) in comparison to the old HSI. Adopting this improved HSI will enable more effective conservation of the protected species via better-informed decision-making and monitoring.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

High-latitude marginal reefs support fewer but bigger corals than their tropical counterparts

AimDespite the awareness that climate change impacts are typically detrimental to tropical coral reefs, the effect of increasing environmental stress and variability on the population size structure of coral species remains poorly understood. This gap in knowledge limits our ability to effectively conserve coral reef ecosystems because size specific dynamics are rarely incorporated. Our aim is to quantify variation in the size structure of coral populations along a tropical-to-subtropical environmental gradient. Location20 coral populations along a latitudinal gradient on the east coast of Australia ([~]23{degrees}S to 30{degrees}S). Time PeriodBetween 2010 and 2018. Major taxa studiedScleractinian corals. MethodsWe apply two methods to quantify the relationship between environmental covariates and coral population size structure along a latitudinal environmental gradient. First, we use linear regression with summary statistics, such as median size as response variables; a method frequently favoured by ecologists. The second method is compositional functional regression, a novel method using entire size-frequency distributions as response variables. We then predict coral population size structure with increasing environmental stress and variability. ResultsCompared to tropical reefs, we find fewer but larger coral colonies in marginal reefs, where environmental conditions are more variable and stressful for corals in the former. Our model predicts that coral populations may become gradually dominated by larger colonies (> 148 cm2) with increasing environmental stress. Main conclusionsWith increasing environmental stress and variability, we can expect shifts in coral population size structure towards more larger colonies. Fewer but bigger corals suggest low survival, slow growth, and poor recruitment. This finding is concerning for the future of coral reefs as it implies populations may have low recovery potential from disturbances. We highlight the importance and usefulness of continuously monitoring changes to population structure over large spatial scales. Data availabilityData is supplied in the supplementary information, or upon request. Once accepted for publication it will be made openly available on Dryad.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

A note on discretising Keyfitz entropy

Keyfitz entropy is a widely used metric to quantify the shape of survivorship of populations, from plants, to animals, and microbes. Keyfitz entropy values < 1 correspond to life histories with an increasing mortality rate with age (i.e., actuarial senescence), whereas values > 1 correspond to species with a decreasing mortality rate with age (negative senescence), and a Keyfitz entropy of exactly 1 corresponds to a constant mortality rate with age. Keyfitz entropy was originally defined using a continuous-time model, and has since been discretised to facilitate its calculation from discrete-time demographic data. In this short note, we show that the previously used discretisation of the continuous-time metric does not preserve the relationship with increasing, decreasing, or constant mortality rates. To resolve this discrepancy, we propose a new discrete-time formula for Keyfitz entropy for age-classified life histories. We show that this new method of discretisation preserves the relationship with increasing, decreasing, or constant mortality rates. We analyse the relationship between the original and the new discretisation, and we find that the existing metric tends to underestimate Keyfitz entropy for both short-lived species and long-lived species, thereby introducing a consistent bias. To conclude, to avoid biases when classifying life histories as (non-)senescent, we suggest researchers use either the new metric proposed here, or one of the many previously suggested survivorship shape metrics applicable to discrete-time demographic data such as Gini coefficient or Hayleys median.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Beyond mean fitness: demographic stochasticity and resilience matter at tree species climatic edges.

AimLinking local population dynamics and species distributions is critical to predicting the impacts of climate change. While many studies focus on the mean fitness of populations, theory shows that species distributions can be shaped by demographic stochasticity or population resilience. Here we examine how mean fitness (measured by invasion rate), demographic stochasticity, and resilience (measured by the ability to recover from disturbance) constrain populations at the edges compared to the climatic center. LocationEurope: Spain, France, Germany, Finland, and Sweden. PeriodForest inventory data used for fitting the models cover the period from 1985 to 2013. Major taxaDominant European tree species; Angiosperms and Gymnosperms. MethodsWe developed dynamic population models covering the entire life cycle of 25 European tree species with climatically dependent recruitment models fitted to forest inventory data. We then ran simulations using integral projection and individual-based models to test how invasion rates, risk of stochastic extinction, and ability to recover from stochastic disturbances differ between the center and edges of species climatic niches. ResultsResults varied among species, but in general, demographic constraints were stronger at warm edges and for species in harsher climates. Conversely, recovery was more limiting at cold edges. In addition, we found that for several species, constraints at the edges were due to demographic stochasticity and recovery capacity rather than mean fitness. Main conclusionOur results highlight that mean fitness is not the only mechanism at play at the edges; demographic stochasticity and population capacity to recover also matter for European tree species. To understand how climate change will drive species range shifts, future studies will need to analyse the interplay between population mean growth rate and stochastic demographic processes as well as disturbances.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Inclusive fitness forces of selection in an age-structured population

Current evolutionary theories of senescence predict that the force of selection on survival will decline from maturity to zero at the age of last reproduction, and the force of selection on reproduction will decline monotonically from birth. These predictions rest upon the assumption that individuals within a population do not interact with one another. This assumption, however, is violated in social species, where an individuals survival and/or reproduction may shape the fitness of other group members. In such species, it is inclusive fitness that natural selection optimises. Yet, it remains unclear how the forces of selection on survival and reproduction might be modified when inclusive fitness, rather than population growth rate, is considered the appropriate metric for fitness. Here, we derive inclusive fitness forces of selection for hypothetical populations of social species. We show that selection on survival is not always constant before maturity, and can remain above zero in post-reproductive age classes, contrary to conventional models of senescence. We also show how the trajectory of the force of selection on reproduction does not always decline monotonically from birth, as predicted by classical theory, but instead depends on the balance of benefits to direct fitness and costs to indirect fitness. Our theoretical framework provides the unique opportunity to expand our understanding of senescence across social species, with important implications to species with variable life histories.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Evolutionary processes, not environmental drivers, determine the resilience of natural populations

Escalating climatic and anthropogenic pressures expose ecosystems worldwide to increasingly frequent disturbances. Yet, our ability to forecast the responses of natural populations to these disturbances is impeded by a limited understanding for how exposure to stochastic environments shapes population resilience. Instead, the resilience, and vulnerability, of natural populations to ongoing global change is often presumed based on their contemporary exposure to environmental stochasticity. To test the validity of this assumption, we investigated the association between the resilience attributes (e.g., resistance and recovery) of natural animal and plant populations, and measures of local environmental stochasticity (e.g., spectral frequency and abiotic range); collating data from 2,242 populations across 369 animal, plant, and algal species. Unexpectedly, recent abiotic stochasticity regimes from the past 50 years do not predict the inherent ability of populations to resist or recover from disturbances. Instead, population resilience is strongly affected by phylogenetic relationships among species, with survival and developmental investments shaping their responses to stochastic regimes. Contrary to the classical assumption that exposure to recent environmental shifts confers a greater ability to cope with current and future global change, our findings suggest that population resilience is a consequence of evolutionary processes and/or deep-time environmental regimes. Significance statementPopulations that currently endure more variable abiotic conditions are often expected to be less vulnerable to future increases in climatic variability. However, without defining the link between abiotic variability and the capacity for populations to resist and recover following disturbances (i.e., their resilience), we cannot predict the consequences of ongoing community reassembly. Evaluating the association between measures of abiotic variability and the resilience attributes of 2,242 animal, plant, and algae populations, we discredit the assumption that contemporary exposure to more frequent environmental shifts confers a greater ability to cope with future global change. Instead, the resilience attributes of natural populations appear to have been moulded over longer-term evolutionary timeframes and are thus not a response to more recent experiences.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

The extinction of threatened species by anthropogenic threats endangers the functional diversity of turtles and crocodiles

The Anthropocene is tightly associated with a drastic loss of species worldwide and the disappearance of their key ecosystem functions. The on-going reduction in ecosystem functionality is driven by global and local threats. The orders Testudines (turtles and tortoises) and Crocodilia (crocodiles, alligators, and gharials) contain numerous threatened, long-lived species for which their functional diversity and potential erosion by anthropogenic impacts remains unknown. Here, we examine 259 (69%) of the existing 375 species of Testudines and Crocodilia, quantifying their life history strategies (i.e., schedules of survival, development, and reproduction) from open-access data on their demography, ancestry, and threats. We find that the loss of functional diversity in simulated extinction scenarios of threatened species is greater than expected by chance. Moreover, the effects of unsustainable local consumption, diseases, and pollution are associated with specific functional strategies. In contrast, climate change, habitat disturbance, and global trade affect all species independent of their life history strategy. Importantly, the loss of functional diversity for threatened species by habitat disturbance is twice that for all other threats. Our findings highlight the importance of conservation programmes focused on preserving the functional diversity of life history strategies jointly with the phylogenetic representativity of these highly threatened groups.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Antecedent effect models as an exploratory rather than predictive tool to understand the response of plant populations to climate drivers

Understanding mechanisms and predicting natural population responses to climate is a key goal of Ecology. However, studies explicitly linking climate to population dynamics remain limited. Antecedent effect models are a set of statistical tools that capitalize on the evidence provided by climate and population data to select time windows correlated with a response (e.g., survival, reproduction). Thus, these models can serve as both a predictive and exploratory tool. We compare the predictive performance of antecedent effect models against simpler models, and showcase their exploratory analysis potential by selecting a case study with high predictive power. We fit three antecedent effect models: (1) weighted mean models (WMM), which weigh the importance of monthly anomalies based on a Gaussian curve, (2) stochastic antecedent models (SAM), which weigh the importance of monthly anomalies using a Dirichlet process, and (3) regularized regressions using the Finnish Horseshoe prior (FHM), which estimate a separate effect size for each monthly anomaly. We compare these approaches to a linear model using a yearly climatic predictor and a null model with no predictors. We use demographic data from 77 natural populations of 34 plant species ranging between seven and 36 years of length. We then fit models to the asymptotic population growth rate ({lambda}) and its underlying vital rates: survival, development, and reproduction. We find that models including climate do not consistently outperform null models. We hypothesize that the effect of yearly climate is too complex, weak, and confounded by other factors to be easily predicted using monthly precipitation and temperature data. On the other hand, in our case study, antecedent effect models show biologically sensible correlations between two precipitation anomalies and multiple vital rates. We conclude that, in temporal datasets with limited sample sizes, antecedent effect models are better suited as exploratory tools for hypothesis generation. Open Research statementData and code to reproduce the analyses are available on zenodo at https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7839199.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

MOSAIC: A Unified Trait Database to Complement Structured Population Models

O_LIThe ecological sciences have joined the big data revolution. However, despite exponential growth in data availability, broader interoperability amongst datasets is still needed to unlock the potential of open access. The interface of demography and functional traits is well-positioned to benefit from said interoperability. Trait-based ecological approaches have been criticised because of their inability to predict fitness components, the core of demography; likewise, demographic approaches are data-hungry, and so using traits as ecological shortcuts to understanding and forecasting population viability could offer great value. C_LIO_LIHere, we introduce MOSAIC, an open-access trait database that unlocks the demographic potential stored in the COMADRE, COMPADRE, and PADRINO open-access databases. MOSAIC data have been digitised and curated through a combination of existing datasets and additional taxonomic and/or trait records sourced from primary literature. In its first release, MOSAIC (v. 1.0.0) includes 14 trait fields for 300 animal and plant species: biomass, height, growth determination, regeneration, sexual dimorphism, mating system, hermaphrodism, sequential hermaphrodism, dispersal capacity, type of dispersal, mode of dispersal, dispersal classes, volancy, and aquatic habitat dependency. MOSAIC also includes species-level phylogenies for 1,359 species and population-specific climate data where locations are recorded. C_LIO_LIUsing MOSAIC, we highlight a taxonomic mismatch of widely used trait databases with existing structured population models. Despite millions of trait records available in open-access databases, taxonomic overlap between open-access demographic and trait databases is <5%. We identify where traits of interest to ecologists can benefit from database integration and start to quantify traits that are poorly quantified (e.g., growth determination, modularity). C_LIO_LIThe MOSAIC database evidences the importance of improving interoperability in open-access efforts in ecology as well as the need for complementary digitisation to fill targeted taxonomic gaps. In addition, MOSAIC highlights emerging challenges associated with the disparity between locations where different trait records are sourced. C_LI

ecology↗