Call for ecosystem modelling data

摘要

We call on bioinformaticians, taxonomists and ecologists to collect, store and share new types of data for creating general ecosystem models (GEMs) that will eventually be used for predictive modelling of the biosphere (see G. Mace Nature 503,191-192; 2013). Funding bodies also need to recognize the importance of this work. Crucial requirements include: a database of functional traits for different species, which would allow modelling to take advantage of existing information associated with species-based databases; biotic data that indicate how organisms interact through space and time; and census data that quantify the number or weight of organisms in an ecosystem organized by functional traits.