TR8 v. 0.9.22 ============= The tr8() function now has the additional parameter 'allow_persistent': when set to TRUE, tr8 will store retrieved databases from LEDA and Ecoflora into local files to speed up future queries; if FALSE, the downloaded data will be store in a temp directory that will be cleaned up at the end of the session; when NULL (default value), the user will be prompted for a choice between the two options (this new parameter is needed to comply with CRAN policies). The package now is able to retrieve the trait "flower type after Kugler" from BiolFlor. Data Retrieving from Catminat has been updated. The 'synonyms' argument for the tr8() function is left for backward compatibility, but is not working in current version of TR8; the mechanisms for checking for synonyms relied on the tnrs function from taxize package, which in turn uses taxosaurus.org website: the latter has been having some issues lately and that impair the functioning of TR8. The 'synonyms' argument will be restored in future if the issue with taxosaurus.org is fixed. TR8 v. 0.9.21 ============= Shiny is being used in place of gWidgets to provide the user with a graphical interface to select traits to download. TR8 v. 0.9.20 ============= ## leda_fc New function which allows to download Mean Floating Capacity data from LEDA ## synonyms and alternative names Now tr8() accepts two new arguments: - 'synonyms': when it is set to TRUE the function will use 'tnrs' function from the package 'taxize' to search for synonyms of the provided species list and search trait data for them as well. - 'catminat_alternatives': when TRUE tr8() searches - within the Catminat traitbase - also for species names which "contain" the names of the ones of interest (subspecies in Catminat are usually written in the form "Galium ver. halophilum" instead of "Galium verum subsp. halophilum"; cleaning this format in an automatic way is trickier than expected because for some entries we only have subspecies - thus automatically correcting the Genus is not always possible). ## Fixes - LEDA is now using "https" - Cleaner requests to Ecoflora ## Catminat database Thanks to the `readxl` package, now the dataset (which is in `xlsx` format) can be read without external dependencies (i.e. users do not have to worry about installing `perl`) ## BROT, PLANTS and Ecological Flora of California traitbases Three new databases are added as sources of data: BROT (mainly related to mediterranean species), PLANTS and Ecological Flora of California (from USA).