Information on the functional traits was gathered for the most commonly-sampled copepod species of the Mediterranean Sea. Our database includes 191 species described by 7 traits encompassing diverse ecological functions: minimal and maximal body length (mm), trophic group (Omnivore/Carnivore/Herbivore/Detritivore), feeding type (Cruise-feeding/Filter-feeding/Ambush-feeding), spawning strategy (Sac-spawner/Free-spawner), diel vertical migration (Non-migrant/Weak-migrant/Strong-migrant) and vertical habitat (prefered depth layer). Using cluster analysis in the functional trait space revealed that Mediterranean copepods can be gathered into groups that have different ecological roles.

The xlsx file contains data on functional traits of Mediterranean copepods, as well as a list to all referred references. For further details on the methods used and on confidence indices of certain functional traits please refer to the article linked above, as well as its supplementary material. Do not hesitate to contact the first author for any questions (fabio.benedetti [at] obs-vlfr.fr).

Supplement to: Benedetti, Fabio; Gasparini, Stéphane; Ayata, Sakina-Dorothée (2016): Identifying copepod functional groups from species functional traits. Journal of Plankton Research, 38(1), 159-166