Traits of Plants in Canada (TOPIC) Open Access provides an access to TOPIC datasets as data become publicly available. The database is organized in two separate modules:
1) The Literature review module aims to consolidate data gathered from the scientific literature.
2) The Empirical measurements module brings together datasets of observations collected in the field, laboratory, or greenhouse.
The Traits of Plants in Canada (TOPIC) database acts as a hub for centralizing knowledge on plant functional traits in Canada. Under the Canadian Trait Network, this database allows the integration of trait data from large, disconnected scientific sources to facilitate research on plant and forest ecology, community ecology and forest sustainability. Following international standards, the database ensures that the datasets are properly documented and archived, facilitating their re-use and discoverability.
Please cite TOPIC open as follows:
Aubin, I., Boisvert-Marsh, L., Munson, A.D. 2021. Traits of plants in Canada (TOPIC) Open access - Traits des plantes au Canada (TOPIC) ouvert. doi: https://doi.org/10.23687/bb14c6bf-75f7-4ff2-b97e-689fa768905c
And TOPIC as follows:
Aubin, I, Cardou, F., Boisvert‐Marsh, L., Garnier, E., Strukelj, M, Munson, A.D. 2020. Managing data locally to answer questions globally: The role of collaborative science in ecology. Journal of Vegetation Science. 31: 509–517.