Plant demographic knowledge is biased towards short-term studies of temperate-region herbaceous perennials

<p>Plant demography has a long history resulting in a large knowledge base. Comparative  analysis of this information allows exploration of the drivers of demographic patterns  globally and the study of life-history evolution. Studies aiming to generalise demographic patterns rely on data being derived from a representative sample. However,  the data are likely to be taxonomically, geographically and methodologically biased. We assessed bias in  this knowledge using data from the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database, containing  MPMs for > 700 species. We show that tree species and tropical areas are under-represented, while herbaceous perennials and temperate areas are over-represented. </p>