A central BIEN goal is to bring together data on plant distribution, abundance and traits, with the goal of predicting and mitigating the effects of climate change on plant species and communities.
The BIEN database provides a common schema for merging georeferenced observations of individuals and species from specimens, vegetation inventories, and regional checklists, with measurements of species-level traits such as size, growth form, wood density, specific leaf area, etc. Currently these primary data are available only to members of the BIEN working group. However, our goal is to make available via this website any data whose owner is willing to make public access. We are currently working on securing distribution permissions. Derived products such as species niche models and range maps will also be made publicly available through the BIEN website.
BIEN can also manage data not yet ready for public release. We will provide tools to enable researchers to share their data selectively with other researchers on an individual basis. The development of user-managed data networking tools is central to BIEN's mission of promoting collaboration and enabling research at regional and global scales.
Below is a summary of data in the current (BIEN 4.1) database.
| Total observations: | 285513809 | ||
| Specimens: | 74792924 | ||
| Plot observations: | 17430379 | ||
| Plots: | 364477 | ||
| Species: | 464348 | ||
| Trait name | Units | Number of Species | Number of Records |
| diameter at breast height (1.3 m) | cm | 9936 | 14929488 |
| flower color | 2623 | 3445 | |
| flower pollination syndrome | 2058 | 2143 | |
| fruit type | 321 | 363 | |
| inflorescence length | cm | 355 | 389 |
| leaf area | mm2 | 4128 | 32559 |
| leaf area per leaf dry mass | m2.kg-1 | 5301 | 51894 |
| leaf carbon content per leaf dry mass | mg.g-1 | 1089 | 4843 |
| leaf carbon content per leaf nitrogen content | 1723 | 3500 | |
| leaf compoundness | 894 | 976 | |
| leaf dry mass | g | 2439 | 28486 |
| leaf dry mass per leaf fresh mass | mg.g-1 | 2525 | 17790 |
| leaf fresh mass | g | 491 | 5800 |
| Leaf lamina fracture toughness | J.m-2 | 305 | 363 |
| leaf life span | months | 420 | 6212 |
| leaf nitrogen content per leaf area | kg.m-2 | 1240 | 2414 |
| leaf nitrogen content per leaf dry mass | mg.g-1 | 3833 | 14764 |
| leaf phosphorus content per leaf area | g.m-2 | 303 | 532 |
| leaf phosphorus content per leaf dry mass | mg.g-1 | 2047 | 7437 |
| leaf photosynthetic rate per leaf area | µmol.m-2.s-1 | 1569 | 4582 |
| leaf photosynthetic rate per leaf dry mass | µmol.g-1.s-1 | 1279 | 3564 |
| leaf relative growth rate | leaf #/leaf #/day | 1843 | |
| leaf stomatal conductance for H2O per leaf area | mol.H2O.m-2.s-1 | 740 | 2215 |
| leaf stomatal conductance per leaf area | µmol.m-2.s-1 | 93 | 446 |
| leaf thickness | mm | 677 | 4265 |
| longest whole plant longevity | years | 652 | 730 |
| maximum fruit length | mm | 422 | 459 |
| maximum leaf length | cm | 507 | 558 |
| maximum leaf width | cm | 495 | 545 |
| maximum whole plant height | m | 3141 | 3722 |
| maximum whole plant longevity | years | 910 | 1065 |
| minimum fruit length | mm | 353 | 383 |
| minimum leaf length | cm | 498 | 549 |
| minimum leaf width | cm | 493 | 542 |
| minimum whole plant height | m | 604 | 658 |
| plant flowering begin | date | 4894 | 13731 |
| plant flowering begin | month | 4894 | 13731 |
| plant flowering duration | month | 1659 | 1763 |
| plant fruiting duration | month | 580 | 631 |
| root dry mass | g | 398 | 7307 |
| seed length | mm | 646 | 1111 |
| seed mass | mg | 10132 | 93543 |
| stem dry mass | kg | 530 | 5193 |
| stem relative growth rate | cm/cm/day | 1843 | |
| stem wood density | g.cm-3 | 8026 | 39162 |
| vessel lumen area | mm2 | 2039 | 2230 |
| vessel number | vessels mm-2 | 2039 | 2230 |
| whole plant dispersal syndrome | 1247 | 1324 | |
| whole plant growth form | 83579 | 330047 | |
| whole plant growth form diversity | 66472 | 67413 | |
| whole plant height | m | 6921 | 10167913 |
| whole plant primary juvenile period length | years | 346 | 375 |
| whole plant sexual system | 1275 | 1348 | |
| whole plant vegetative phenology | 6416 | 6706 | |
| whole plant woodiness | 45814 | 49060 | |
 BIEN 4 geovalid occurrence density. |