The World Spider Trait database (WST): a centralised global open repository for curated data on spider traits

Spiders are a highly diversified group of arthropods, play an important role in terrestrial ecosystems as ubiquitous predators, making them a suitable group to test a variety of eco-evolutionary hypotheses. For this purpose, knowledge of a diverse range of species traits is required. Until now, data on spider traits have been scattered across thousands of publications produced for over two centuries and written in diverse languages. To facilitate access to such data we developed an online database for archiving and accessing spider traits at a global scale. The database has been designed to accommodate a great variety of traits (e.g., ecological, behavioural, morphological) measured at individual, species or higher taxonomic levels. Records are accompanied by extensive metadata (e.g., location, method). The database is curated by an expert team, regularly updated and open to any user. A future goal of the growing database is to include all published and unpublished data on spider traits provided by experts worldwide, and to facilitate broad cross-taxon assays in functional ecology and comparative biology.