Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

Moisture content of live fuels (LFMC) is one of the main factors determining fuel flammability and, therefore, a key indicator of fire danger. In this study, we modeled the relationship between spectral indices derived from satellite imagery and field estimations of LFMC in the Chaco Serrano subregion; then, we analyzed the relationship between fire danger estimations based on LFMC calculations and fire activity. Empirical LFMC models fitted for grasslands, Chaco Serrano forests, and glossy privet forests may be considered very accurate R ² > 0.80, whereas the model corresponding to shrublands still needs to be improved (R ² = 0.57). Monthly maps of fire danger reflected the occurrence of fires consistently during years of both high and low fire activity. Most fires occurred mainly in areas with high or extreme fire danger, demonstrating a clear relationship between LFMC and fire activity in the Chaco Serrano subregion. Our LFMC models may be useful to assess the spatiotemporal distribution of fire danger in the Chaco Serrano subregion using remote sensing data. The associated fire danger maps represent a valuable tool for improving decision making processes to organize early warning and fire suppression activities.

Resprouting is one of the main regeneration strategies in woody plants that allows post-fire vegetation recovery. However, the stress produced by fires promotes the biosynthesis of compounds which could affect the post-fire resprouting, and this approach has been poorly evaluated in fire ecology. In this study, we evaluate the changes in the concentration of chlorophylls, carotenoids, phenolic compounds, and tannins as a result of experimental burns (EB). We asked whether this biochemical response to fire could influence the resprouting responses. For that, we conducted three EB in three successive years in three different experimental units. Specifically, we selected six woody species from the Chaco region, and we analyzed their biochemical responses to EB. We used spectrophotometric methods to quantify the metabolites, and morphological variables to estimate the resprouting responses. Applying a multivariate analysis, we built an index to estimate the biochemical response to fire to EB per each species. Our results demonstrate that photosynthetic pigment concentration did not vary significantly in burnt plants that resprout in response to EB, whereas concentrations of secondary metabolites (phenolic compounds and tannins) increased up to two years after EB. Our main results showed that phenolic compounds could play a significant role in the resprouting responses, while photosynthetic pigments seem to have a minor but significant role. Such results were reaffirmed by the significant correlation between the biochemical response to fire and both resprouting capacity and resprouting growth. However, we observed that the biochemical response effect on resprouting was lower in tree species than in shrubby species. Our study contributes to the understanding of the biochemical responses that are involved in the post-fire vegetation recovery.