DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0000000b6
title: Does fortune follow function? Exploring how consumer preferences drive the functional trait composition of the global songbird trade

description: Defaunation and extinction undermine the resilience and functioning of
 ecological communities and ecosystems. Relative to other disturbances,
 overexploitation for the global wildlife trade presents a unique case of
 trait-based selection, as demand for specific individuals is often tied to
 unique morphological or aesthetic traits desired by consumers (“market
 traits”). Because evolutionary history leads to species that share both
 market and functional traits, we posit that non-random patterns of
 exploitation will result in non-random loss of functional
 diversity. We applied a trait-based framework to the global
 songbird trade for 4616 species, 148 of which are plausibly threatened by
 the trade. We quantified select market traits, such as unique coloration
 and song quality, and ecological traits related to body size, diet, and
 foraging strategy to assess whether the trade disproportionately threatens
 particular functional groups. We additionally looked for patterns of
 association between market traits and functional traits to assess whether
 selection on certain market traits could drive selection on associated
 functional traits.We found that overexploited birds are a distinct
 functional subset of the global songbird pool, with the trade
 disproportionately threatening large bodied, frugivorous, and seed eating
 birds. Across all songbirds, there were multiple non-random associations
 between market traits and functional traits, with the strongest
 associations observed among trade-threatened birds; this was consistent
 with our theory that consumer-driven selection on market traits could
 theoretically result in selection on functional traits. However, there was
 mixed evidence for this hypothesis at a global scale, suggesting that
 disproportionate threat to functional diversity may be more likely in
 regions where there is heavy demand for associated market
 traits. Policy Implications: Our results highlight the need for
 increased focus on the mechanistic drivers of trait-based selection on the
 consumer side of wildlife trade, and how patterns of overexploitation can
 systematically affect ecological communities and ecosystem services.
description: # Does fortune follow function? Exploring how consumer preferences drive
 the functional trait composition of the global songbird trade
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0000000b6](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0000000b6) Data associated with the analyses outlined in Almeida et al. (2024). A complete description of data collection process can be found in Methods section of the associated manuscript. Cells containing "NA" denote missing data, i.e., instances where we were unable to obtain a value for the variable and species in question.  ## Description of the data and file structure * songbird_df_full.csv: Data from Almeida et al. (2024). * metadata_songbirdPAN.xlsx: Metadata file with variable descriptions and data sources for songbird_df_full.csv ## Sharing/Access information Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: * [https://github.com/ryalmeida/songbird-trait-links](https://github.com/ryalmeida/songbird-trait-links) Data was derived from the following sources: * Birds of the World (2022). Edited by S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. [https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home](https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home) * Juergens, J., Bruslund, S., Staerk, J., Nielsen, R. O., Shepherd, C. R., Leupen, B., ... & Conde, D. A. (2021). A standardized dataset for conservation prioritization of songbirds to support CITES. Data in Brief, 36, 107093. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2021.107093](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2021.107093) * Wilman, Hamish; Belmaker, Jonathan; Simpson, Jennifer; de la Rosa, Carolina; Rivadeneira, Marcelo M.; Jetz, Walter (2016). EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Wiley. Collection. [https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3306933.v1](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3306933.v1) * Senior, R. A., Oliveira, B. F., Dale, J., & Scheffers, B. R. (2022). Wildlife trade targets colorful birds and threatens the aesthetic value of nature. Current Biology, 32(19), 4299-4305. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.066](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.066) * IUCN. 2023. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2023-1. [https://www.iucnredlist.org/](https://www.iucnredlist.org/) * [https://datazone.birdlife.org/home](https://datazone.birdlife.org/home) * [https://xeno-canto.org/](https://xeno-canto.org/) ## Code/Software Code for associated analyses can be found at [https://github.com/ryalmeida/songbird-trait-links.](https://github.com/ryalmeida/songbird-trait-links.)