← Back to catalogue
TODO

Biodiversity Occurrence

vr.wm-ear-008 · wm-ear-008-biodiversity-occurrence

Evidence that an organism of a taxon was present or absent at a place and time.

World Models Physical world and living systems PHY.EAR.BIO
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

3 bundles · 3 layers · 6 findings · 13 questions

What, where and when The core of an occurrence record.

Taxon, place and time

The identified taxon and the location and date of the record.

Identification

The taxon name, identifier and basis of identification.

  1. Which taxon was identified, under which checklist or taxonomic backbone?
  2. Who identified it, by which method, and how confident is the identification?

Location and date

Coordinates with uncertainty and the event date.

  1. Where was the organism recorded, with which coordinate uncertainty?
  2. On which date or period was it recorded?
  3. Was the published location generalized, and why?
Evidence and method What supports the record and how it was gathered.

Basis of record

Observation, specimen, sample or sequence behind the record.

Evidence

The kind of evidence and where it is held.

  1. Is the record based on a human observation, a machine observation, a preserved specimen or a sequence?
  2. Where can the voucher specimen, image or sound be examined?

Sampling protocol

The method and effort of the sampling event.

  1. Which protocol and sampling effort produced the record?
  2. Does the method allow absence or abundance to be inferred?
Rights and sensitivity Who may use the record and with what precision.

Licence and sensitivity

Licence terms and protection of sensitive species.

Data licence

The licence and the publishing institution.

  1. Which institution publishes the record, and under which licence?
  2. What citation does the publisher require?

Sensitive species

Whether precise locations must be withheld.

  1. Is the taxon listed as sensitive to disclosure of its precise location?
  2. Who may see the full-precision location?

Classifiers Filled

Family
World Models
Category
Physical world and living systems
Entry kind
standalone-mm
Navigation path
NAV.PHY.EAR.BIO
Domain
PHY.EAR.BIO
Industry
Cross-industry
Tags
biodiversityoccurrencephy.ear.bio

What it is Filled

A biodiversity occurrence is evidence that an organism of a given taxon was present, or recorded absent, at a place and time, from an observation, a collected specimen, a sample or a sequence. The taxon concept, the organism as a tracked individual and the population or habitat assessments built from many occurrences are outside the class.

Why it exists Filled

Evidence that an organism of a taxon was present or absent at a place and time.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • A record of presence or absence at a place and time, not the taxon concept itself.
  • Always tied to a basis of record, such as observation, specimen, sample or sequence.
  • Many occurrences feed population and conservation assessments, which are separate subjects.
  • Identification can be revised without changing when and where the organism was recorded.

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Publish precise locations of sensitive species that the source generalized or withheld.
  • Treat absence of records as evidence of absence when the method does not support it.
  • Change a determination without recording the new identification and the reason.
  • Strip licence or attribution from aggregated records.

Only with a human decision

  • Releasing full-precision locations of threatened species.
  • Confirming a first record of a taxon for a region or a new invasive species.

May

  • Aggregate occurrence records within their licences, keeping the publisher and record identifiers.
  • Flag records with doubtful coordinates, dates or identifications.
  • Match taxon names to a checklist and report the match confidence.
  • Report sampling effort and method alongside derived counts.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Precise locations of rare or traded species can enable poaching and collection.
  • Records on private or indigenous land raise questions of consent and benefit sharing.
  • Biased sampling can mislead conservation and land-use decisions.

Who is affected

  • Threatened species and their habitats
  • Observers, collectors and publishing institutions
  • Landowners and indigenous communities
  • Conservation planners and decision makers

Owners Filled

Steward

The museum, survey programme or observation platform that publishes and curates the record.

Master systems

  • Natural history collection management system
  • Biodiversity data network
  • National biodiversity information system

Links to other meta-models Filled

references

  • wm-liv-001-taxon - Each occurrence is identified to a taxon.

neighbor

  • wm-liv-003-population - Population estimates are built from many occurrence records.

related

  • wm-liv-022-conservation-status-assessment - Conservation assessments draw on occurrence evidence.

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Identified by a globally unique occurrence identifier, or by institution code, collection code and catalogue number.
  • Aggregators add their own record keys that point back to the publisher's identifier.

Direct properties required Filled

  • Coordinates in decimal degrees with the datum and coordinate uncertainty in metres.
  • Event date or date range with a stated time zone.
  • Individual count or abundance with its unit and sampling effort.
  • Elevation or depth in metres where relevant to the record.

Recognition required Filled

  • Recognized by an identified organism or trace at a place and time with a basis of record.
  • Often confused with the taxon name record, with a checklist entry or with a habitat assessment.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • Can be aggregated across institutions into distribution and trend analyses.
  • Can be re-identified as taxonomy changes while keeping its original data.
  • Can link to vouchers, images, sounds and sequences.

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Disclosure of locations of sensitive species to collectors or poachers.
  • Misidentification that spreads through aggregated datasets.
  • Wrong distribution inferences from coordinate errors or sampling bias.

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • TDWG Darwin Core terms for occurrence records.
  • Darwin Core Archive for publishing datasets of occurrences.
  • TDWG ABCD Access to Biological Collection Data schema.

Context of use required Filled

  • Recorded by museums, herbaria, monitoring programmes and community observers.
  • Collection and export of specimens can fall under access and benefit-sharing and wildlife trade rules.

Sources Filled

  1. Darwin Core standard, Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG)
  2. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), occurrence data network
  3. Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing, Convention on Biological Diversity

Open questions

  • Planned model: boundary questions, research and every section remain to be written.

Machine files

Card as JSON Specification AGENTS.md Card backlog vercy.card/1

Provenance

planned (registry candidate) · todo

Built from: models/runtime-index.json, ver-cy/world-models/card-supplements/wm-ear-008-biodiversity-occurrence.json

Planned entry, hidden from the catalogue until researched.