{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.benthos-tops","code":"thing-benthos-tops","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/benthos-tops/","name":"benthos","alternateNames":["marine benthos","epipsammon","endopsammon","epixylon","merobenthos","epipelon","microbenthos"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"noun.Tops","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.TOP"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{"substance":"abstract","origin":"conceptual","agency":"inert","mobility":"not-applicable","scale":"not-applicable","affordances":["observable"]}},"whatItIs":"The community of organisms, plants, animals and microbes, that live on, in or near the bottom of a sea, lake, river or stream, with subdivisions such as epipsammon (on sand), endopsammon (in sand), epixylon (on wood) and epipelon (on mud).","purpose":"Let an agent handle benthos by habitat, organisms, sampling, ecological role and pressures.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Bottom-dwelling community","Marine and freshwater","Used as bioindicators","Sensitive to trawling and pollution"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"community","name":"Community","description":"Which benthos.","layers":[{"id":"habitat","name":"Habitat","description":"Marine or freshwater.","findings":[{"id":"habitat-finding","name":"Habitat","description":"Habitat.","questions":[{"text":"In which water body and substrate does the community live?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"At what depth?","kind":"measurement"}]}]},{"id":"organisms","name":"Organisms","description":"Taxa.","findings":[{"id":"organisms-finding","name":"Organisms","description":"Organisms.","questions":[{"text":"Which organisms dominate?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Who identified them?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"sampling","name":"Sampling","description":"Methods.","layers":[{"id":"methods","name":"Methods","description":"Grabs and cores.","findings":[{"id":"methods-finding","name":"Methods","description":"Sampling methods.","questions":[{"text":"Which sampling method was used?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Does it follow a standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"identification","name":"Identification","description":"Taxonomy.","findings":[{"id":"identification-finding","name":"Identification","description":"Identification.","questions":[{"text":"To which taxonomic level were organisms identified?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Was quality assurance applied?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"quality","name":"Quality","description":"Bioindicators.","layers":[{"id":"indices","name":"Indices","description":"Status.","findings":[{"id":"indices-finding","name":"Indices","description":"Quality indices.","questions":[{"text":"What does the benthic index say about water quality?","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which index is used?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"trends","name":"Trends","description":"Change.","findings":[{"id":"trends-finding","name":"Trends","description":"Trends.","questions":[{"text":"How has the community changed over time?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Why?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"pressures","name":"Pressures","description":"Threats.","layers":[{"id":"trawling","name":"Trawling","description":"Physical damage.","findings":[{"id":"trawling-finding","name":"Trawling","description":"Bottom trawling.","questions":[{"text":"Is the habitat affected by bottom trawling?","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Are protected areas in place?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"pollution","name":"Pollution","description":"Oxygen and chemicals.","findings":[{"id":"pollution-finding","name":"Pollution","description":"Pollution.","questions":[{"text":"Is oxygen depletion or pollution affecting it?","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"What monitoring shows?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Report surveys of bottom-dwelling communities from monitoring programmes and cite their methods.","Use benthic indicators to describe the ecological state of a water body."],"mustNot":["Disturb protected seabed or riverbed habitats beyond what a survey permit allows.","Misreport survey results in a way that hides pollution or habitat damage.","Introduce organisms from one water body into another during sampling."],"requiresHuman":["Approving dredging, trawling or works that disturb the bottom of a protected water body."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Bottom communities are slow to recover from trawling, dredging and pollution.","Benthic monitoring informs decisions on fisheries and water quality that affect livelihoods."],"affectedParties":["The organisms themselves","Fishers and communities depending on the water","Downstream ecosystems"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody: wild and held in common; environmental authorities oversee monitoring and protection.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["National water and marine monitoring databases","Biodiversity occurrence databases"]},"relations":[{"target":"oewn-00004475-n","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"ecological community","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"sediment and seabed","type":"related","note":"habitat"},{"target":"plankton and nekton","type":"related","note":"other communities"},{"target":"water quality assessment","type":"related","note":"application"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.benthos-tops","Open English WordNet: oewn-00005787-n"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Organisms on or in the bottom","Subdivisions by substrate","Plankton and nekton live in open water","Worms, molluscs, crustaceans, insect larvae, algae and microbes on and in bottom sediments."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["sample and identify benthic organisms","use benthos to assess water quality","protect benthic habitats","study food webs"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Habitat damage from bottom trawling","Pollution and oxygen depletion","Misidentification in surveys"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["EU Water Framework Directive biological quality elements","EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive","ISO 16665 marine soft-bottom macrofauna sampling"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["A key part of aquatic ecosystems and an indicator of water quality.","marine benthos","freshwater benthos","macrobenthos and meiobenthos","phytobenthos and zoobenthos","substrate-based groups such as epipelon"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Open English WordNet 2024, synset oewn-00005787-n","url":"https://en-word.net/id/oewn-00005787-n","note":"sense and gloss of the concept"},{"title":"Wiktionary: benthos","url":"https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/benthos","note":"word senses and usage"}],"openQuestions":["Should benthic subdivisions be separate entries?","How should survey data be linked?","How should indicator indices be recorded?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-benthos-tops/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-benthos-tops/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-11T08:23:29Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T12:16:27+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: WordNet gloss; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}