Data for: A database of West European headwater macroinvertebrate stoichiometric traits

Motivation: Ecological stoichiometry investigates the equilibrium and the fluxes of chemical elements and energy between organisms and their environment. Several studies pointed out the value of integrating stoichiometric traits for a better understanding of the mechanisms behind community and ecosystem processes. Especially in the light of globally changing nutrient levels in freshwater systems, the link of stoichiometric traits to nutrient cycling and trophic interactions can improve our investigations of a species or community response to these changes. Benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages are widely used for biomonitoring in freshwaters, providing a large number of data sets gathering information about their taxonomic diversity at many different spatial and temporal scales. Likewise, an increasing number of large databases gives ready access to information on a variety of macroinvertebrate biological traits. The addition of stoichiometric traits to this pool of available informatio...研究动机：生态化学计量学（Ecological stoichiometry）旨在探究生物体与其生存环境间化学元素与能量的平衡状态及流动过程。多项研究均指出，整合化学计量学性状有助于更深入地解析群落与生态系统过程背后的作用机制。尤其是在全球淡水系统营养盐水平持续变化的背景下，将化学计量学性状与营养盐循环及营养级互作相关联，能够助力我们更精准地探究物种或群落对这类环境变化的响应。底栖大型无脊椎动物（benthic macroinvertebrate）群落已被广泛应用于淡水生物监测，积累了大量涵盖不同空间与时间尺度下其分类多样性信息的数据集。与此同时，越来越多的大型数据库可便捷获取各类大型无脊椎动物生物学性状的相关信息。将化学计量学性状纳入此类现有信息资源集合后，可进一步丰富其应用维度……