API SQL Downloads

This is an experimental feature, and the implementation may change throughout 2025.

The experimental Occurrence SQL Download API allows users to query GBIF occurrences using SQL, structured query language, a programming language commonly used to access database systems. In contrast to the Predicate Download API, the SQL API allows selection of the columns of interest and generation of summary views of GBIF data. Functions to generate species occurrence cubes are available as part of the Biodiversity Building Blocks for Policy project.

Occurrence SQL downloads are created asynchronously — the user requests a download and, once the download is prepared, is sent an email with a link to the resulting file.

Users must have registered on GBIF.org to create an SQL download request, and must authenticate using their username (not email) and password.

Using this API requires some knowledge of SQL. Many general tutorials and guides to writing SQL queries are online, see for example the section on aggregating and grouping data within Data management with SQL for Ecologists by Data Carpentry.

The GBIF website allows users to create species occurrence cubes by using the "Cube" download option. Users with knowledge of SQL can customize the query before submitting it.

Requesting an SQL occurrence download

A download request includes your username, email address, the download format, and the filter for the required data in the form of an SQL statement.

A basic example using the curl command to make the request:

Put this in a file called (for example) query.json:

{
  "sendNotification": true,
  "notificationAddresses": [
    "userEmail@example.org" (1)
  ],
  "format": "SQL_TSV_ZIP", (2)
  "sql": "SELECT datasetKey, countryCode, COUNT(*) FROM occurrence WHERE continent = 'EUROPE' GROUP BY datasetKey, countryCode" (3)
}

1	Replace with your email address, or remove the `notificationAddresses` and `sendNotification` values
2	`format` must be `SQL_TSV_ZIP`. More formats will be added later.
3	This query will count occurrences from Europe per dataset and country.

Then use this curl command:

curl --include --user YOUR_GBIF_USERNAME:YOUR_PASSWORD --header "Content-Type: application/json" --data @query.json https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/download/request

The first line of the output shows the result of the download request:

If the query is accepted the first line of output should be either HTTP/1.1 201 Created or HTTP/2 201, and a download key will be returned on the last line.
If the SQL is not valid, the first line of the output will be HTTP/… 400 …. There may be useful information on the error at the end of the output.
HTTP/… 401 … means your username or password is incorrect
HTTP/… 403 … means your username does not have permission to use this prototype feature — contact helpdesk@gbif.org.

SQL queries can also be submitted through the GBIF website, avoiding the use of curl and allowing the website to handle authentication. Start from this SQL download query, which can be modified as you wish. Running the query produced this download in February 2024.

Querying the download key from an accepted request shows the download information, including the download link and DOI once the download is ready. Run this repeatedly, until you see SUCCEEDED — you will need to use your download key rather than the example:

curl -Ss https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/download/0000379-240229165702484

You can then download the resulting file:

curl --location --remote-name https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/download/request/0000379-240229165702484.zip

And see the result:

datasetkey	countrycode	COUNT(*)
005eb8d8-ed94-41be-89cf-e3115a9058e4	AD	1
009a76f6-0960-4a56-a116-63991e6bb037	GR	3
0214a6a7-898f-4ee8-b888-0be60ecde81f	PT	84
03f2256a-e548-43d7-a731-253302f4aa34	LV	27
040c5662-da76-4782-a48e-cdea1892d14c	IS	1306
06aeea22-c116-4df2-93af-2d8321482801	FR	24
07fd0d79-4883-435f-bba1-58fef110cd13	PL	357

datasetkey

countrycode

COUNT(*)

005eb8d8-ed94-41be-89cf-e3115a9058e4

009a76f6-0960-4a56-a116-63991e6bb037

0214a6a7-898f-4ee8-b888-0be60ecde81f

03f2256a-e548-43d7-a731-253302f4aa34

040c5662-da76-4782-a48e-cdea1892d14c

1306

06aeea22-c116-4df2-93af-2d8321482801

07fd0d79-4883-435f-bba1-58fef110cd13

357

Supported SQL

Only SELECT queries are supported, and only queries against a single table named occurrence. JOIN queries and sub-queries are not allowed. Selecting * is also not allowed, specify the columns you need.

GROUP BY queries and ORDER BY are supported, as are basic SQL window functions (OVER and PARTITION BY). The group and partition filters (HAVING and QUALIFY) are not supported.

Most common SQL operators and functions are supported, such as AND, OR, NOT, IS NULL, RAND(), ROUND(…), LOWER(…), etc. Note BETWEEN is not supported, use >, >=, < and <= instead.

Aggregate functions are also supported, for example COUNT(…), MIN(…), MAX(…), AVERAGE(…).

These custom filtering functions are available:

And these functions for handling data types:

As well as custom gridding functions:

See the separate page on the available SQL functions.

Available columns

The occurrence table contains the interpreted data, the verbatim (as provided to GBIF) data, and some calculated columns useful for searching. The full list of available columns is show below, and is also available through this API call — the name field is the column name. Note the v_ prefix for the verbatim data columns.

Full list of available SQL column names (click to expand)

The definitions marked with are from the Darwin Core standard.

The definitions marked with are from GBIF, and may reflect the result of interpretation and data quality procedures applied by GBIF, or they may not be part of Darwin Core.

Column name Data type Nullable Definition

Column name	Data type	Nullable	Definition
gbifid	String	No	Unique GBIF key for the occurrence. We aim to keep these keys stable, but this is not possible in every case.
nameaccordingto	String	Yes	The reference to the source in which the specific taxon concept circumscription is defined or implied - traditionally signified by the Latin "sensu" or "sec." (from secundum, meaning "according to"). For taxa that result from identifications, a reference to the keys, monographs, experts and other sources should be given.
references	String	Yes	A related resource that is referenced, cited, or otherwise pointed to by the described resource.
day	Integer	Yes	The integer day of the month on which the Event occurred.
genericname	String	Yes	The genus name part of the species name from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
distancefromcentroidinmeters	Double	Yes	The distance in metres of the occurrence from a centroid known to be applied to occurrences during georeferencing. This can potentially indicate low-precision georeferencing, check the values of `coordinateUncertaintyInMeters` and `georeferenceRemarks`.
taxonkey	Integer	Yes	A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the most specific (lowest rank) taxon for this occurrence. This could be a synonym, see `acceptedTaxonKey`.
orderkey	Integer	Yes	A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the order of thisoccurrence.
group	String	Yes	The full name of the lithostratigraphic group from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
level0name	String	Yes	The English name for the top-level division from the GADM database.
publisher	String	Yes	The name of the organization publishing this record
associatedoccurrences	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers of other dwc:Occurrence records and their associations to this dwc:Occurrence.
month	Integer	Yes	The integer month in which the Event occurred.
earliesteonorlowesteonothem	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic eon or lowest chrono-stratigraphic eonothem or the informal name ("Precambrian") attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
verticaldatum	String	Yes	The vertical datum used as the reference upon which the values in the elevation terms are based.
startdayofyear	String	Yes	The latest integer day of the year on which the Event occurred (1 for 1 January, 365 for 31 December, except in a leap year, in which case it is 366).
eventtime	String	Yes	The time or interval during which a dwc:Event occurred.
dateidentified	Timestamp	Yes	The date on which the subject was determined as representing the Taxon.
mediatype	String array	Yes	The media type given as Dublin Core type values, in particular StillImage, MovingImage or Sound.
latestepochorhighestseries	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The full name of the latest possible geochronologic epoch or highest chronostratigraphic series attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
publishedbygbifregion	String	Yes	An enumeration for all GBIF Regions. These are based on IPBES regions. This is a political division, part of GBIF’s governance structure.
namepublishedinid	String	Yes	An identifier for the publication in which the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.
recordedby	String array	Yes	A person, group, or organization responsible for recording the original occurrence.
associatedsequences	String array	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, global unique identifier, URI) of genetic sequence information associated with the material entity.
nameaccordingtoid	String	Yes	An identifier for the source in which the specific taxon concept circumscription is defined or implied. See dwc:nameAccordingTo.
member	String	Yes	The full name of the lithostratigraphic member from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
occurrencestatus	String	Yes	A statement about the presence or absence of a Taxon at a Location. For definitions, see the GBIF occurrence status vocabulary.
earliesteraorlowesterathem	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic era or lowest chronostratigraphic erathem attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
verbatimlabel	String	Yes	The content of this term should include no embellishments, prefixes, headers or other additions made to the text. Abbreviations must not be expanded and supposed misspellings must not be corrected. Lines or breakpoints between blocks of text that could be verified by seeing the original labels or images of them may be used. Examples of material entities include preserved specimens, fossil specimens, and material samples. Best practice is to use UTF-8 for all characters. Best practice is to add comment “verbatimLabel derived from human transcription” in dwc:occurrenceRemarks.
countrycode	String	Yes	The 2-letter country code (as per ISO-3166-1) of the country, territory or area in which the occurrence was recorded.
datageneralizations	String	Yes	Actions taken to make the shared data less specific or complete than in its original form. Suggests that alternative data of higher quality may be available on request.
namepublishedinyear	String	Yes	The four-digit year in which the dwc:scientificName was published.
organismscope	String	Yes	A description of the kind of dwc:Organism instance. Can be used to indicate whether the dwc:Organism instance represents a discrete organism or if it represents a particular type of aggregation.
georeferencesources	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of maps, gazetteers, or other resources used to georeference the dcterms:Location, described specifically enough to allow anyone in the future to use the same resources.
elevationaccuracy	Double	Yes	The value of the potential error associated with the elevation. This is not a current Darwin Core term.
latestperiodorhighestsystem	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The full name of the latest possible geochronologic period or highest chronostratigraphic system attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
verbatimtaxonrank	String	Yes	The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the dwc:scientificName as it appears in the original record.
subtribekey	String	Yes	–
verbatimlocality	String	Yes	The original textual description of the place.
issue	String array	Yes	A specific interpretation issue found during processing and interpretation of the record. See the list of occurrence issues and the OccurrenceIssue enumeration for possible values and definitions.
othercatalognumbers	String array	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of previous or alternate fully qualified catalogue numbers or other human-used identifiers for the same occurrence, whether in the current or any other data set or collection.
level3name	String	Yes	The English name for the third-level division from the GADM database.
taxonomicissue	String	Yes	–
kingdomkey	Integer	Yes	A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the kingdom of thisoccurrence.
institutionid	String	Yes	An identifier for the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.
originalnameusage	String	Yes	The taxon name, with authorship and date information if known, as it originally appeared when first established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode. The basionym (botany) or basonym (bacteriology) of the dwc:scientificName or the senior/earlier homonym for replaced names.
associatedorganisms	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers of other dwc:Organisms and the associations of this dwc:Organism to each of them.
depth	Double	Yes	Depth in metres below sea level. This is not a current Darwin Core term.
eventremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dwc:Event.
protocol	String	Yes	The technical protocol by which this occurrence was retrieved from the publisher’s systems.
fieldnotes	String	Yes	One of a) an indicator of the existence of, b) a reference to (publication, URI), or c) the text of notes taken in the field about the dwc:Event.
earliestperiodorlowestsystem	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic period or lowest chronostratigraphic system attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
gbifregion	String	Yes	An enumeration for all GBIF Regions. These are based on IPBES regions. This is a political division, part of GBIF’s governance structure.
establishmentmeans	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	Statement about whether an organism or organisms have been introduced to a given place and time through the direct or indirect activity of modern humans. Values are aligned to the GBIF EstablishmentMeans vocabulary, which is derived from the Darwin Core EstablishmentMeans vocabulary.
projectid	String array	Yes	Identifiers for projects related to this occurrence.
verbatimidentification	String	Yes	A string representing the taxonomic identification as it appeared in the original record.
preparations	String array	Yes	A preparation or preservation method for a specimen.
class	String	Yes	The class name (excluding authorship) for the class from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
subfamily	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the subfamily in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
subtribe	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the subtribe in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
materialentityid	String	Yes	An identifier for a particular instance of a dwc:MaterialEntity.
subgenus	String	Yes	The subgenus name (excluding authorship) for the subgenus from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
lithostratigraphicterms	String	Yes	The combination of all lithostratigraphic names for the rock from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
genuskey	Integer	Yes	A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the genus of thisoccurrence.
degreeofestablishment	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The degree to which an Organism survives, reproduces, and expands its range at the given place and time. Values are aligned to the GBIF DegreeOfEstablishment vocabulary, which is derived from the Darwin Core DegreeOfEstablishment vocabulary.
specieskey	Integer	Yes	A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the species of thisoccurrence.
acceptedtaxonkey	Integer	Yes	A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the accepted taxon of this occurrence.
nomenclaturalcode	String	Yes	The nomenclatural code (or codes in the case of an ambiregnal name) under which the dwc:scientificName is constructed.
organismquantity	String	Yes	A number or enumeration value for the quantity of organisms.
footprintspatialfit	String	Yes	The ratio of the area of the dwc:footprintWKT to the area of the true (original, or most specific) spatial representation of the dcterms:Location. Legal values are 0, greater than or equal to 1, or undefined. A value of 1 is an exact match or 100% overlap. A value of 0 should be used if the given dwc:footprintWKT does not completely contain the original representation. The dwc:footprintSpatialFit is undefined (and should be left empty) if the original representation is any geometry without area (e.g., a point or polyline) and without uncertainty and the given georeference is not that same geometry (without uncertainty). If both the original and the given georeference are the same point, the dwc:footprintSpatialFit is 1.
samplesizevalue	String	Yes	A numeric value for a measurement of the size (time duration, length, area, or volume) of a sample in a sampling event.
locationaccordingto	String	Yes	Information about the source of this dcterms:Location information. Could be a publication (gazetteer), institution, or team of individuals.
associatedtaxa	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers or names of dwc:Taxon records and the associations of this dwc:Occurrence to each of them.
county	String	Yes	The full, unabbreviated name of the next smaller administrative region than stateProvince (county, shire, department, etc.) in which the dcterms:Location occurs.
samplingeffort	String	Yes	The amount of effort expended during a dwc:Event.
namepublishedin	String	Yes	A reference for the publication in which the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.
continent	String	Yes	The continent, based on a 7 continent model described on Wikipedia and the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). In particular this splits the Americas into North and South America with North America including the Caribbean (except Trinidad and Tobago) and reaching down and including Panama. See the GBIF Continents for the exact divisions. This is a geographical division. See `GBIFRegion` for GBIF’s political divisions.
dynamicproperties	String	Yes	A list of additional measurements, facts, characteristics, or assertions about the record. Meant to provide a mechanism for structured content.
municipality	String	Yes	The full, unabbreviated name of the next smaller administrative region than county (city, municipality, etc.) in which the dcterms:Location occurs. Do not use this term for a nearby named place that does not contain the actual dcterms:Location.
coordinateuncertaintyinmeters	Double	Yes	The horizontal distance (in metres) from the given decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude describing the smallest circle containing the whole of the Location.
eventtype	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The type for sampling event records.
ownerinstitutioncode	String	Yes	The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having ownership of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.
genus	String	Yes	The genus name (excluding authorship) for the genus from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
subgenuskey	Integer	Yes	A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the subgenus of thisoccurrence.
type	String	Yes	The nature or genre of the resource.
earliestepochorlowestseries	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic epoch or lowest chronostratigraphic series attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
locationremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dcterms:Location.
infragenericepithet	String	Yes	The infrageneric part of a binomial name at ranks above species but below genus.
scientificname	String	Yes	The scientific name (including authorship) for the taxon from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence. This could be a synonym, see also `acceptedScientificName`.
level2gid	String	Yes	The identifier for the second-level division from the GADM database.
samplesizeunit	String	Yes	The unit of measurement of the size (time duration, length, area, or volume) of a sample in a sampling event.
lastcrawled	Timestamp	Yes	The time this occurrence was last retrieved from the publisher’s systems.
classkey	Integer	Yes	A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the class of thisoccurrence.
taxonid	String	Yes	An identifier for the set of dwc:Taxon information. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
pathway	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The process by which an Organism came to be in a given place at a given time. Values are aligned to the GBIF Pathway vocabulary, which is derived from the Darwin Core Pathway vocabulary.
catalognumber	String	Yes	An identifier (preferably unique) for the record within the data set or collection.
collectioncode	String	Yes	The name, acronym, coden, or initialism identifying the collection or data set from which the record was derived.
nomenclaturalstatus	String	Yes	The status related to the original publication of the name and its conformance to the relevant rules of nomenclature. It is based essentially on an algorithm according to the business rules of the code. It requires no taxonomic opinion.
locality	String	Yes	The specific description of the place.
minimumdistanceabovesurfaceinmeters	String	Yes	The lesser distance in a range of distance from a reference surface in the vertical direction, in meters. Use positive values for locations above the surface, negative values for locations below. If depth measures are given, the reference surface is the location given by the depth, otherwise the reference surface is the location given by the elevation.
reproductivecondition	String	Yes	The reproductive condition of the biological individual(s) represented in the dwc:Occurrence.
disposition	String	Yes	The current state of a dwc:MaterialEntity with respect to a collection.
geologicalcontextid	String	Yes	An identifier for the set of information associated with a dwc:GeologicalContext (the location within a geological context, such as stratigraphy). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
family	String	Yes	The family name (excluding authorship) for the family from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
typestatus	String array	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of nomenclatural types (type status, typified scientific name, publication) applied to the occurrence.
language	String	Yes	A language of the resource.
level1gid	String	Yes	The identifier for the first-level division from the GADM database.
repatriated	String	Yes	Boolean indicating if the publishing country is different to the location country.
typifiedname	String	Yes	The scientific name that is based on the type specimen. This is not yet a Darwin Core term, see the proposal to add it.
isinvasive	String	Yes	–
lastparsed	Timestamp	Yes	The time this occurrence was last processed by GBIF’s interpretation system “Pipelines”. This is the time the record was last changed in GBIF, not the time the record was last changed by the publisher. Data is also reprocessed when we changed the taxonomic backbone, geographic data sources or other interpretation procedures. An earlier interpretation system distinguished between “parsing” and “interpretation”, but in the current system there is only one process — the two dates will always be the same.
elevation	Double	Yes	Elevation (altitude) in metres above sea level. This is not a current Darwin Core term.
parentnameusage	String	Yes	The full name, with authorship and date information if known, of the direct, most proximate higher-rank parent dwc:Taxon (in a classification) of the most specific element of the dwc:scientificName.
lowestbiostratigraphiczone	String	Yes	The full name of the lowest possible geological biostratigraphic zone of the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
locationid	String	Yes	An identifier for the set of dcterms:Location information. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
modified	Timestamp	Yes	The most recent date-time on which the occurrence was changed, according to the publisher.
georeferenceverificationstatus	String	Yes	A categorical description of the extent to which the georeference has been verified to represent the best possible spatial description for the dcterms:Location of the dwc:Occurrence.
latesteraorhighesterathem	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The full name of the latest possible geochronologic era or highest chronostratigraphic erathem attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
recordedbyid	String array	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of the globally unique identifier for the person, people, groups, or organizations responsible for recording the original dwc:Occurrence.
decimallatitude	Double	Yes	The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the WGS84 datum) of the geographic centre of the location of the occurrence.
rightsholder	String	Yes	A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
nontaxonomicissue	String array	Yes	–
year	Integer	Yes	The four-digit year in which the event occurred, according to the Common Era calendar.
identifiedbyid	String array	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of the globally unique identifier for the person, people, groups, or organizations responsible for assigning the dwc:Taxon to the subject.
identificationqualifier	String	Yes	A brief phrase or a standard term ("cf.", "aff.") to express the determiner’s doubts about the dwc:Identification.
occurrenceid	String	Yes	An identifier for the dwc:Occurrence (as opposed to a particular digital record of the dwc:Occurrence). In the absence of a persistent global unique identifier, construct one from a combination of identifiers in the record that will most closely make the dwc:occurrenceID globally unique.
organismremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dwc:Organism instance.
waterbody	String	Yes	The name of the water body in which the Location occurs.
decimallongitude	Double	Yes	The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the WGS84 datum) of the geographic centre of the location of the occurrence.
tribe	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the tribe in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
publishingcountry	String	Yes	The country, territory or island based on ISO-3166 of the organization publishing the dataset containing this occurrence.
lifestage	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The age class or life stage of the Organism(s) at the time the Occurrence was recorded. Values are aligned to the GBIF LifeStage vocabulary
recordnumber	String	Yes	An identifier given to the dwc:Occurrence at the time it was recorded. Often serves as a link between field notes and a dwc:Occurrence record, such as a specimen collector’s number.
originalnameusageid	String	Yes	An identifier for the name usage (documented meaning of the name according to a source) in which the terminal element of the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.
island	String	Yes	The name of the island on or near which the dcterms:Location occurs.
taxonremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the taxon or name.
tribekey	String	Yes	–
phylumkey	Integer	Yes	A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the phylum of thisoccurrence.
hasgeospatialissues	Boolean	Yes	Boolean indicating that some spatial validation rule has not passed.
materialentityremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dwc:MaterialEntity instance.
vitality	String	Yes	An indication of whether a dwc:Organism was alive or dead at the time of collection or observation.
organismname	String	Yes	A textual name or label assigned to a dwc:Organism instance.
footprintsrs	String	Yes	The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geometry given in dwc:footprintWKT is based.
behavior	String	Yes	The behavior shown by the subject at the time the dwc:Occurrence was recorded.
level0gid	String	Yes	The identifier for the top-level division from the GADM database. This is usually a three-letter code from ISO 3166.
scientificnameid	String	Yes	An identifier for the nomenclatural (not taxonomic) details of a scientific name.
associatedreferences	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, bibliographic reference, global unique identifier, URI) of literature associated with the dwc:Occurrence.
stateprovince	String	Yes	The name of the next-smaller administrative region than country (state, province, canton, department, region, etc.) in which the occurrence occurs. This value is unaltered by GBIF’s processing; see also the GADM fields.
phylum	String	Yes	The phylum name (excluding authorship) for the phylum from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
previousidentifications	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of previous assignments of names to the dwc:Organism.
order	String	Yes	The order name (excluding authorship) for the order from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
basisofrecord	String	Yes	The values of the Darwin Core term Basis of Record which can apply to occurrences. See GBIF’s Darwin Core Type Vocabulary for definitions.
individualcount	Integer	Yes	The number of individuals present at the time of the Occurrence.
datasetkey	String	No	The UUID of the GBIF dataset containing this occurrence.
organismid	String	Yes	An identifier for the dwc:Organism instance (as opposed to a particular digital record of the dwc:Organism). May be a globally unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
taxonconceptid	String	Yes	An identifier for the taxonomic concept to which the record refers - not for the nomenclatural details of a dwc:Taxon.
occurrenceremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dwc:Occurrence.
habitat	String	Yes	A category or description of the habitat in which the dwc:Event occurred.
datasetid	String array	Yes	An identifier for the set of data. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to a collection or institution.
acceptednameusageid	String	Yes	An identifier for the name usage (documented meaning of the name according to a source) of the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) taxon.
latestageorhigheststage	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The full name of the latest possible geochronologic age or highest chronostratigraphic stage attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
coordinateprecision	Double	Yes	A decimal representation of the precision of the coordinates given in the decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude.
formation	String	Yes	The full name of the lithostratigraphic formation from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
verbatimeventdate	String	Yes	The verbatim original representation of the date and time information for a dwc:Event.
familykey	Integer	Yes	A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the family of thisoccurrence.
level2name	String	Yes	The English name for the second-level division from the GADM database.
identificationverificationstatus	String	Yes	A categorical indicator of the extent to which the taxonomic identification has been verified to be correct.
identificationid	String	Yes	An identifier for the dwc:Identification (the body of information associated with the assignment of a scientific name). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
eventdate	String	Yes	The date-time during which an Event occurred. For occurrences, this is the date-time when the event was recorded. Not suitable for a time in a geological context.
depthaccuracy	Double	Yes	The value of the potential error associated with the depth. This is not a current Darwin Core term.
verbatimelevation	String	Yes	The original description of the elevation (altitude, usually above sea level) of the Location.
cultivarepithet	String	Yes	Part of the name of a cultivar, cultivar group or grex that follows the dwc:scientificName.
pointradiusspatialfit	String	Yes	The ratio of the area of the point-radius (dwc:decimalLatitude, dwc:decimalLongitude, dwc:coordinateUncertaintyInMeters) to the area of the true (original, or most specific) spatial representation of the dcterms:Location. Legal values are 0, greater than or equal to 1, or undefined. A value of 1 is an exact match or 100% overlap. A value of 0 should be used if the given point-radius does not completely contain the original representation. The dwc:pointRadiusSpatialFit is undefined (and should be left empty) if the original representation is any geometry without area (e.g., a point or polyline) and without uncertainty and the given georeference is not that same geometry (without uncertainty). If both the original and the given georeference are the same point, the dwc:pointRadiusSpatialFit is 1.
parenteventid	String	Yes	An identifier for the broader dwc:Event that groups this and potentially other dwc:Events.
fieldnumber	String	Yes	An identifier given to the dwc:Event in the field. Often serves as a link between field notes and the dwc:Event.
maximumdistanceabovesurfaceinmeters	String	Yes	The greater distance in a range of distance from a reference surface in the vertical direction, in meters. Use positive values for locations above the surface, negative values for locations below. If depth measures are given, the reference surface is the location given by the depth, otherwise the reference surface is the location given by the elevation.
bed	String	Yes	The full name of the lithostratigraphic bed from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
vernacularname	String	Yes	A common or vernacular name.
verbatimsrs	String	Yes	The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which coordinates given in dwc:verbatimLatitude and dwc:verbatimLongitude, or dwc:verbatimCoordinates are based.
level3gid	String	Yes	The identifier for the third-level division from the GADM database.
kingdom	String	Yes	The kingdom name (excluding authorship) for the kingdom from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
superfamilykey	String	Yes	–
informationwithheld	String	Yes	Additional information that exists, but that has not been shared in the given record.
highergeography	String array	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of geographic names less specific than the information captured in the dwc:locality term.
issequenced	String	Yes	Flag occurrence when associatedSequences/extension exists
identifiedby	String array	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations who assigned the Taxon to the occurrence.
highestbiostratigraphiczone	String	Yes	The full name of the highest possible geological biostratigraphic zone of the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
subfamilykey	String	Yes	–
verbatimcoordinatesystem	String	Yes	The coordinate format for the dwc:verbatimLatitude and dwc:verbatimLongitude or the dwc:verbatimCoordinates of the dcterms:Location.
footprintwkt	String	Yes	A Well-Known Text (WKT) representation of the shape (footprint, geometry) that defines the dcterms:Location. A dcterms:Location may have both a point-radius representation (see dwc:decimalLatitude) and a footprint representation, and they may differ from each other.
taxonomicstatus	String	Yes	The status of the use of the scientificName as a label for a taxon.
materialsampleid	String	Yes	An identifier for the dwc:MaterialSample (as opposed to a particular digital record of the dwc:MaterialSample). In the absence of a persistent global unique identifier, construct one from a combination of identifiers in the record that will most closely make the dwc:materialSampleID globally unique.
georeferenceprotocol	String	Yes	A description or reference to the methods used to determine the spatial footprint, coordinates, and uncertainties.
georeferenceremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the spatial description determination, explaining assumptions made in addition or opposition to the those formalized in the method referred to in dwc:georeferenceProtocol.
lastinterpreted	Timestamp	Yes	The time this occurrence was last processed by GBIF’s interpretation system “Pipelines”. This is the time the record was last changed in GBIF, not the time the record was last changed by the publisher. Data is also reprocessed when we changed the taxonomic backbone, geographic data sources or other interpretation procedures. An earlier interpretation system distinguished between “parsing” and “interpretation”, but in the current system there is only one process — the two dates will always be the same.
organismquantitytype	String	Yes	The type of quantification system used for the quantity of organisms.
bibliographiccitation	String	Yes	A bibliographic reference for the resource.
eventid	String	Yes	An identifier for the set of information associated with a dwc:Event (something that occurs at a place and time). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
acceptedscientificname	String	Yes	The accepted scientific name (including authorship) for the taxon from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
identificationremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dwc:Identification.
georeferenceddate	String	Yes	The date on which the dcterms:Location was georeferenced.
parentnameusageid	String	Yes	An identifier for the name usage (documented meaning of the name according to a source) of the direct, most proximate higher-rank parent taxon (in a classification) of the most specific element of the dwc:scientificName.
verbatimdepth	String	Yes	The original description of the depth below the local surface.
institutioncode	String	Yes	The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.
acceptednameusage	String	Yes	The full name, with authorship and date information if known, of the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) dwc:Taxon.
hascoordinate	Boolean	Yes	Boolean indicating that a valid latitude and longitude exists.
sex	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The sex of the biological individual(s) represented in the dwc:Occurrence.
identificationreferences	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of references (publication, global unique identifier, URI) used in the dwc:Identification.
collectionid	String	Yes	An identifier for the collection or dataset from which the record was derived.
enddayofyear	String	Yes	The earliest integer day of the year on which the Event occurred (1 for 1 January, 365 for 31 December, except in a leap year, in which case it is 366).
islandgroup	String	Yes	The name of the island group in which the dcterms:Location occurs.
species	String	Yes	The species name (excluding authorship) for the species from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
georeferencedby	String array	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations who determined the georeference (spatial representation) for the dcterms:Location.
caste	String	Yes	Categorisation of individuals for eusocial species (including some mammals and arthropods).
earliestageorloweststage	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic age or lowest chronostratigraphic stage attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
level1name	String	Yes	The English name for the first-level division from the GADM database.
specificepithet	String	Yes	The specific name part of the species name from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
infraspecificepithet	String	Yes	The infraspecific name part of the species name from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.
relativeorganismquantity	String	Yes	The relative measurement of the quantity of the organism (i.e. without absolute units).
license	String	Yes	A legal document giving official permission to do something with the occurrence.
accessrights	String	Yes	Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status.
taxonrank	String	Yes	The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the scientificName.
iucnredlistcategory	String	Yes	The IUCN Red List Category of the taxon of this occurrence. See the GBIF vocabulary for the values and their definitions, and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species dataset in GBIF for the version of the Red List GBIF’s interpretation procedures are using.
latesteonorhighesteonothem	Structure with string `.concept` and string array `.lineage`	Yes	The full name of the latest possible geochronologic eon or highest chrono-stratigraphic eonothem or the informal name ("Precambrian") attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
datasetname	String array	Yes	The name identifying the data set from which the record was derived.
highergeographyid	String	Yes	An identifier for the geographic region within which the dcterms:Location occurred.
samplingprotocol	String array	Yes	The methods or protocols used during an Event, denoted by an IRI.
higherclassification	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of taxa names terminating at the rank immediately superior to the referenced dwc:Taxon.
superfamily	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the superfamily in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
isincluster	String	Yes	Experimental. Whether the occurrence belongs to a machine-calculated cluster of probable duplicate occurrences.
institutionkey	String	Yes	Experimental. The UUID of the institution holding the specimen occurrence, from GRSciColl.
publishingorgkey	String	Yes	The UUID of the organization which publishes the dataset containing this occurrence.
collectionkey	String	Yes	Experimental. The UUID of the collection containing the specimen occurrence, from GRSciColl.
eventdatelte	Timestamp	Yes	Experimental The upper bound for the eventDate term as a timestamp, `2000-12-31T23:59:59` for an event date of `2000`.
hostingorganizationkey	String	Yes	The UUID of the publishing organization which operates the technical installation hosting the dataset containing this occurrence.
programmeacronym	String	Yes	The identifier for a programme which funded the digitization of this occurrence.
dwcaextension	String array	Yes	The list of Darwin Core extensions present on the occurrence record.
eventdategte	Timestamp	Yes	Experimental The lower bound for the eventDate term as a timestamp, `2000-01-01T00:00:00` for an event date of `2000`.
installationkey	String	Yes	The UUID of the technical installation hosted the dataset containing this occurrence.
v_bed	String	Yes	The full name of the lithostratigraphic bed from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_identificationverificationstatus	String	Yes	A categorical indicator of the extent to which the taxonomic identification has been verified to be correct.
v_county	String	Yes	The full, unabbreviated name of the next smaller administrative region than stateProvince (county, shire, department, etc.) in which the dcterms:Location occurs.
v_collectionid	String	Yes	An identifier for the collection or dataset from which the record was derived.
v_verbatimlabel	String	Yes	The content of this term should include no embellishments, prefixes, headers or other additions made to the text. Abbreviations must not be expanded and supposed misspellings must not be corrected. Lines or breakpoints between blocks of text that could be verified by seeing the original labels or images of them may be used. Examples of material entities include preserved specimens, fossil specimens, and material samples. Best practice is to use UTF-8 for all characters. Best practice is to add comment “verbatimLabel derived from human transcription” in dwc:occurrenceRemarks.
v_accessrights	String	Yes	Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status.
v_month	String	Yes	The integer month in which the dwc:Event occurred.
v_locationid	String	Yes	An identifier for the set of dcterms:Location information. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
v_latesteonorhighesteonothem	String	Yes	The full name of the latest possible geochronologic eon or highest chrono-stratigraphic eonothem or the informal name ("Precambrian") attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_basisofrecord	String	Yes	The specific nature of the data record.
v_latestperiodorhighestsystem	String	Yes	The full name of the latest possible geochronologic period or highest chronostratigraphic system attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_lithostratigraphicterms	String	Yes	The combination of all lithostratigraphic names for the rock from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_formation	String	Yes	The full name of the lithostratigraphic formation from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_maximumelevationinmeters	String	Yes	The upper limit of the range of elevation (altitude, usually above sea level), in meters.
v_fieldnotes	String	Yes	One of a) an indicator of the existence of, b) a reference to (publication, URI), or c) the text of notes taken in the field about the dwc:Event.
v_samplingprotocol	String	Yes	The names of, references to, or descriptions of the methods or protocols used during a dwc:Event.
v_islandgroup	String	Yes	The name of the island group in which the dcterms:Location occurs.
v_decimallongitude	String	Yes	The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in dwc:geodeticDatum) of the geographic center of a dcterms:Location. Positive values are east of the Greenwich Meridian, negative values are west of it. Legal values lie between -180 and 180, inclusive.
v_scientificname	String	Yes	The full scientific name, with authorship and date information if known. When forming part of a dwc:Identification, this should be the name in lowest level taxonomic rank that can be determined. This term should not contain identification qualifications, which should instead be supplied in the dwc:identificationQualifier term.
v_verbatimidentification	String	Yes	A string representing the taxonomic identification as it appeared in the original record.
v_institutioncode	String	Yes	The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.
v_associatedtaxa	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers or names of dwc:Taxon records and the associations of this dwc:Occurrence to each of them.
v_modified	String	Yes	Date on which the resource was changed.
v_degreeofestablishment	String	Yes	The degree to which a dwc:Organism survives, reproduces, and expands its range at the given place and time.
v_namepublishedinid	String	Yes	An identifier for the publication in which the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.
v_subtribe	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the subtribe in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_samplesizeunit	String	Yes	The unit of measurement of the size (time duration, length, area, or volume) of a sample in a sampling dwc:Event.
v_georeferenceverificationstatus	String	Yes	A categorical description of the extent to which the georeference has been verified to represent the best possible spatial description for the dcterms:Location of the dwc:Occurrence.
v_georeferenceprotocol	String	Yes	A description or reference to the methods used to determine the spatial footprint, coordinates, and uncertainties.
v_group	String	Yes	The full name of the lithostratigraphic group from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_verbatimelevation	String	Yes	The original description of the elevation (altitude, usually above sea level) of the Location.
v_recordedby	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations responsible for recording the original dwc:Occurrence. The primary collector or observer, especially one who applies a personal identifier (dwc:recordNumber), should be listed first.
v_ownerinstitutioncode	String	Yes	The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having ownership of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.
v_geologicalcontextid	String	Yes	An identifier for the set of information associated with a dwc:GeologicalContext (the location within a geological context, such as stratigraphy). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
v_coordinateprecision	String	Yes	A decimal representation of the precision of the coordinates given in the dwc:decimalLatitude and dwc:decimalLongitude.
v_countrycode	String	Yes	The standard code for the country in which the dcterms:Location occurs.
v_georeferencedby	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations who determined the georeference (spatial representation) for the dcterms:Location.
v_taxonconceptid	String	Yes	An identifier for the taxonomic concept to which the record refers - not for the nomenclatural details of a dwc:Taxon.
v_institutionid	String	Yes	An identifier for the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.
v_organismquantity	String	Yes	A number or enumeration value for the quantity of dwc:Organisms.
v_highestbiostratigraphiczone	String	Yes	The full name of the highest possible geological biostratigraphic zone of the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_minimumdepthinmeters	String	Yes	The lesser depth of a range of depth below the local surface, in meters.
v_datasetid	String	Yes	An identifier for the set of data. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to a collection or institution.
v_genus	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the genus in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_associatedorganisms	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers of other dwc:Organisms and the associations of this dwc:Organism to each of them.
v_establishmentmeans	String	Yes	Statement about whether a dwc:Organism has been introduced to a given place and time through the direct or indirect activity of modern humans.
v_cultivarepithet	String	Yes	Part of the name of a cultivar, cultivar group or grex that follows the dwc:scientificName.
v_verbatimlocality	String	Yes	The original textual description of the place.
v_order	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the order in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_sex	String	Yes	The sex of the biological individual(s) represented in the dwc:Occurrence.
v_tribe	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the tribe in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_earliesteraorlowesterathem	String	Yes	The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic era or lowest chronostratigraphic erathem attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_subgenus	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the subgenus in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_language	String	Yes	A language of the resource.
v_acceptednameusage	String	Yes	The full name, with authorship and date information if known, of the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) dwc:Taxon.
v_identificationqualifier	String	Yes	A brief phrase or a standard term ("cf.", "aff.") to express the determiner’s doubts about the dwc:Identification.
v_originalnameusageid	String	Yes	An identifier for the name usage (documented meaning of the name according to a source) in which the terminal element of the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.
v_license	String	Yes	A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource.
v_continent	String	Yes	The name of the continent in which the dcterms:Location occurs.
v_coordinateuncertaintyinmeters	String	Yes	The horizontal distance (in meters) from the given dwc:decimalLatitude and dwc:decimalLongitude describing the smallest circle containing the whole of the dcterms:Location. Leave the value empty if the uncertainty is unknown, cannot be estimated, or is not applicable (because there are no coordinates). Zero is not a valid value for this term.
v_locality	String	Yes	The specific description of the place.
v_recordnumber	String	Yes	An identifier given to the dwc:Occurrence at the time it was recorded. Often serves as a link between field notes and a dwc:Occurrence record, such as a specimen collector’s number.
v_parentnameusageid	String	Yes	An identifier for the name usage (documented meaning of the name according to a source) of the direct, most proximate higher-rank parent taxon (in a classification) of the most specific element of the dwc:scientificName.
v_minimumdistanceabovesurfaceinmeters	String	Yes	The lesser distance in a range of distance from a reference surface in the vertical direction, in meters. Use positive values for locations above the surface, negative values for locations below. If depth measures are given, the reference surface is the location given by the depth, otherwise the reference surface is the location given by the elevation.
v_dateidentified	String	Yes	The date on which the subject was determined as representing the dwc:Taxon.
v_verbatimtaxonrank	String	Yes	The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the dwc:scientificName as it appears in the original record.
v_originalnameusage	String	Yes	The taxon name, with authorship and date information if known, as it originally appeared when first established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode. The basionym (botany) or basonym (bacteriology) of the dwc:scientificName or the senior/earlier homonym for replaced names.
v_startdayofyear	String	Yes	The earliest integer day of the year on which the dwc:Event occurred (1 for January 1, 365 for December 31, except in a leap year, in which case it is 366).
v_subfamily	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the subfamily in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_latestageorhigheststage	String	Yes	The full name of the latest possible geochronologic age or highest chronostratigraphic stage attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_geodeticdatum	String	Yes	The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geographic coordinates given in dwc:decimalLatitude and dwc:decimalLongitude are based.
v_occurrenceid	String	Yes	An identifier for the dwc:Occurrence (as opposed to a particular digital record of the dwc:Occurrence). In the absence of a persistent global unique identifier, construct one from a combination of identifiers in the record that will most closely make the dwc:occurrenceID globally unique.
v_verbatimlongitude	String	Yes	The verbatim original longitude of the dcterms:Location. The coordinate ellipsoid, geodeticDatum, or full Spatial Reference System (SRS) for these coordinates should be stored in dwc:verbatimSRS and the coordinate system should be stored in dwc:verbatimCoordinateSystem.
v_fieldnumber	String	Yes	An identifier given to the dwc:Event in the field. Often serves as a link between field notes and the dwc:Event.
v_collectioncode	String	Yes	The name, acronym, coden, or initialism identifying the collection or data set from which the record was derived.
v_namepublishedinyear	String	Yes	The four-digit year in which the dwc:scientificName was published.
v_acceptednameusageid	String	Yes	An identifier for the name usage (documented meaning of the name according to a source) of the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) taxon.
v_organismid	String	Yes	An identifier for the dwc:Organism instance (as opposed to a particular digital record of the dwc:Organism). May be a globally unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
v_samplesizevalue	String	Yes	A numeric value for a measurement of the size (time duration, length, area, or volume) of a sample in a sampling dwc:Event.
v_decimallatitude	String	Yes	The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in dwc:geodeticDatum) of the geographic center of a dcterms:Location. Positive values are north of the Equator, negative values are south of it. Legal values lie between -90 and 90, inclusive.
v_earliestageorloweststage	String	Yes	The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic age or lowest chronostratigraphic stage attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_municipality	String	Yes	The full, unabbreviated name of the next smaller administrative region than county (city, municipality, etc.) in which the dcterms:Location occurs. Do not use this term for a nearby named place that does not contain the actual dcterms:Location.
v_projectid	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers for projects that contributed to a dwc:Event.
v_locationremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dcterms:Location.
v_vernacularname	String	Yes	A common or vernacular name.
v_enddayofyear	String	Yes	The latest integer day of the year on which the dwc:Event occurred (1 for January 1, 365 for December 31, except in a leap year, in which case it is 366).
v_identificationreferences	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of references (publication, global unique identifier, URI) used in the dwc:Identification.
v_verbatimcoordinatesystem	String	Yes	The coordinate format for the dwc:verbatimLatitude and dwc:verbatimLongitude or the dwc:verbatimCoordinates of the dcterms:Location.
v_individualcount	String	Yes	The number of individuals present at the time of the dwc:Occurrence.
v_disposition	String	Yes	The current state of a dwc:MaterialEntity with respect to a collection.
v_earliesteonorlowesteonothem	String	Yes	The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic eon or lowest chrono-stratigraphic eonothem or the informal name ("Precambrian") attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_namepublishedin	String	Yes	A reference for the publication in which the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.
v_nomenclaturalstatus	String	Yes	The status related to the original publication of the name and its conformance to the relevant rules of nomenclature. It is based essentially on an algorithm according to the business rules of the code. It requires no taxonomic opinion.
v_recordedbyid	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of the globally unique identifier for the person, people, groups, or organizations responsible for recording the original dwc:Occurrence.
v_pathway	String	Yes	The process by which a dwc:Organism came to be in a given place at a given time.
v_identifiedby	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations who assigned the dwc:Taxon to the subject.
v_superfamily	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the superfamily in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_day	String	Yes	The integer day of the month on which the dwc:Event occurred.
v_materialsampleid	String	Yes	An identifier for the dwc:MaterialSample (as opposed to a particular digital record of the dwc:MaterialSample). In the absence of a persistent global unique identifier, construct one from a combination of identifiers in the record that will most closely make the dwc:materialSampleID globally unique.
v_eventtype	String	Yes	The nature of the dwc:Event.
v_eventid	String	Yes	An identifier for the set of information associated with a dwc:Event (something that occurs at a place and time). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
v_othercatalognumbers	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of previous or alternate fully qualified catalog numbers or other human-used identifiers for the same dwc:Occurrence, whether in the current or any other data set or collection.
v_occurrenceremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dwc:Occurrence.
v_verbatimsrs	String	Yes	The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which coordinates given in dwc:verbatimLatitude and dwc:verbatimLongitude, or dwc:verbatimCoordinates are based.
v_materialentityremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dwc:MaterialEntity instance.
v_associatedreferences	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, bibliographic reference, global unique identifier, URI) of literature associated with the dwc:Occurrence.
v_georeferenceremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the spatial description determination, explaining assumptions made in addition or opposition to the those formalized in the method referred to in dwc:georeferenceProtocol.
v_identifiedbyid	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of the globally unique identifier for the person, people, groups, or organizations responsible for assigning the dwc:Taxon to the subject.
v_scientificnameid	String	Yes	An identifier for the nomenclatural (not taxonomic) details of a scientific name.
v_behavior	String	Yes	The behavior shown by the subject at the time the dwc:Occurrence was recorded.
v_highergeographyid	String	Yes	An identifier for the geographic region within which the dcterms:Location occurred.
v_type	String	Yes	The nature or genre of the resource.
v_nameaccordingto	String	Yes	The reference to the source in which the specific taxon concept circumscription is defined or implied - traditionally signified by the Latin "sensu" or "sec." (from secundum, meaning "according to"). For taxa that result from identifications, a reference to the keys, monographs, experts and other sources should be given.
v_latesteraorhighesterathem	String	Yes	The full name of the latest possible geochronologic era or highest chronostratigraphic erathem attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_parenteventid	String	Yes	An identifier for the broader dwc:Event that groups this and potentially other dwc:Events.
v_lifestage	String	Yes	The age class or life stage of the dwc:Organism(s) at the time the dwc:Occurrence was recorded.
v_country	String	Yes	The name of the country or major administrative unit in which the dcterms:Location occurs.
v_informationwithheld	String	Yes	Additional information that exists, but that has not been shared in the given record.
v_kingdom	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the kingdom in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_datasetname	String	Yes	The name identifying the data set from which the record was derived.
v_taxonomicstatus	String	Yes	The status of the use of the dwc:scientificName as a label for a taxon. Requires taxonomic opinion to define the scope of a dwc:Taxon. Rules of priority then are used to define the taxonomic status of the nomenclature contained in that scope, combined with the experts opinion. It must be linked to a specific taxonomic reference that defines the concept.
v_georeferenceddate	String	Yes	The date on which the dcterms:Location was georeferenced.
v_nomenclaturalcode	String	Yes	The nomenclatural code (or codes in the case of an ambiregnal name) under which the dwc:scientificName is constructed.
v_family	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the family in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_fundingattributionid	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of the globally unique identifiers for the funding organizations or agencies that supported the project.
v_taxonid	String	Yes	An identifier for the set of dwc:Taxon information. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
v_highergeography	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of geographic names less specific than the information captured in the dwc:locality term.
v_typestatus	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of nomenclatural types (type status, typified scientific name, publication) applied to the subject.
v_catalognumber	String	Yes	An identifier (preferably unique) for the record within the data set or collection.
v_reproductivecondition	String	Yes	The reproductive condition of the biological individual(s) represented in the dwc:Occurrence.
v_maximumdepthinmeters	String	Yes	The greater depth of a range of depth below the local surface, in meters.
v_lowestbiostratigraphiczone	String	Yes	The full name of the lowest possible geological biostratigraphic zone of the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_vitality	String	Yes	An indication of whether a dwc:Organism was alive or dead at the time of collection or observation.
v_pointradiusspatialfit	String	Yes	The ratio of the area of the point-radius (dwc:decimalLatitude, dwc:decimalLongitude, dwc:coordinateUncertaintyInMeters) to the area of the true (original, or most specific) spatial representation of the dcterms:Location. Legal values are 0, greater than or equal to 1, or undefined. A value of 1 is an exact match or 100% overlap. A value of 0 should be used if the given point-radius does not completely contain the original representation. The dwc:pointRadiusSpatialFit is undefined (and should be left empty) if the original representation is any geometry without area (e.g., a point or polyline) and without uncertainty and the given georeference is not that same geometry (without uncertainty). If both the original and the given georeference are the same point, the dwc:pointRadiusSpatialFit is 1.
v_infragenericepithet	String	Yes	The infrageneric part of a binomial name at ranks above species but below genus.
v_identificationid	String	Yes	An identifier for the dwc:Identification (the body of information associated with the assignment of a scientific name). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.
v_specificepithet	String	Yes	The name of the first or species epithet of the dwc:scientificName.
v_infraspecificepithet	String	Yes	The name of the lowest or terminal infraspecific epithet of the dwc:scientificName, excluding any rank designation.
v_nameaccordingtoid	String	Yes	An identifier for the source in which the specific taxon concept circumscription is defined or implied. See dwc:nameAccordingTo.
v_organismname	String	Yes	A textual name or label assigned to a dwc:Organism instance.
v_class	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the class in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_samplingeffort	String	Yes	The amount of effort expended during a dwc:Event.
v_member	String	Yes	The full name of the lithostratigraphic member from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_latestepochorhighestseries	String	Yes	The full name of the latest possible geochronologic epoch or highest chronostratigraphic series attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_earliestepochorlowestseries	String	Yes	The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic epoch or lowest chronostratigraphic series attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_associatedoccurrences	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers of other dwc:Occurrence records and their associations to this dwc:Occurrence.
v_eventdate	String	Yes	The date-time or interval during which a dwc:Event occurred. For occurrences, this is the date-time when the dwc:Event was recorded. Not suitable for a time in a geological context.
v_references	String	Yes	A related resource that is referenced, cited, or otherwise pointed to by the described resource.
v_parentnameusage	String	Yes	The full name, with authorship and date information if known, of the direct, most proximate higher-rank parent dwc:Taxon (in a classification) of the most specific element of the dwc:scientificName.
v_verbatimcoordinates	String	Yes	The verbatim original spatial coordinates of the dcterms:Location. The coordinate ellipsoid, geodeticDatum, or full Spatial Reference System (SRS) for these coordinates should be stored in dwc:verbatimSRS and the coordinate system should be stored in dwc:verbatimCoordinateSystem.
v_maximumdistanceabovesurfaceinmeters	String	Yes	The greater distance in a range of distance from a reference surface in the vertical direction, in meters. Use positive values for locations above the surface, negative values for locations below. If depth measures are given, the reference surface is the location given by the depth, otherwise the reference surface is the location given by the elevation.
v_dynamicproperties	String	Yes	A list of additional measurements, facts, characteristics, or assertions about the record. Meant to provide a mechanism for structured content.
v_previousidentifications	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of previous assignments of names to the dwc:Organism.
v_eventremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dwc:Event.
v_stateprovince	String	Yes	The name of the next smaller administrative region than country (state, province, canton, department, region, etc.) in which the dcterms:Location occurs.
v_scientificnameauthorship	String	Yes	The authorship information for the dwc:scientificName formatted according to the conventions of the applicable dwc:nomenclaturalCode.
v_island	String	Yes	The name of the island on or near which the dcterms:Location occurs.
v_bibliographiccitation	String	Yes	A bibliographic reference for the resource.
v_publisher	String	Yes	An entity responsible for making the image available.
v_verbatimlatitude	String	Yes	The verbatim original latitude of the dcterms:Location. The coordinate ellipsoid, geodeticDatum, or full Spatial Reference System (SRS) for these coordinates should be stored in dwc:verbatimSRS and the coordinate system should be stored in dwc:verbatimCoordinateSystem.
v_eventtime	String	Yes	The time or interval during which a dwc:Event occurred.
v_identificationremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dwc:Identification.
v_organismremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the dwc:Organism instance.
v_georeferencesources	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of maps, gazetteers, or other resources used to georeference the dcterms:Location, described specifically enough to allow anyone in the future to use the same resources.
v_verticaldatum	String	Yes	The vertical datum used as the reference upon which the values in the elevation terms are based.
v_verbatimeventdate	String	Yes	The verbatim original representation of the date and time information for a dwc:Event.
v_footprintwkt	String	Yes	A Well-Known Text (WKT) representation of the shape (footprint, geometry) that defines the dcterms:Location. A dcterms:Location may have both a point-radius representation (see dwc:decimalLatitude) and a footprint representation, and they may differ from each other.
v_projecttitle	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of titles or names for projects that contributed to a dwc:Event.
v_year	String	Yes	The four-digit year in which the dwc:Event occurred, according to the Common Era Calendar.
v_locationaccordingto	String	Yes	Information about the source of this dcterms:Location information. Could be a publication (gazetteer), institution, or team of individuals.
v_taxonremarks	String	Yes	Comments or notes about the taxon or name.
v_phylum	String	Yes	The full scientific name of the phylum or division in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.
v_footprintspatialfit	String	Yes	The ratio of the area of the dwc:footprintWKT to the area of the true (original, or most specific) spatial representation of the dcterms:Location. Legal values are 0, greater than or equal to 1, or undefined. A value of 1 is an exact match or 100% overlap. A value of 0 should be used if the given dwc:footprintWKT does not completely contain the original representation. The dwc:footprintSpatialFit is undefined (and should be left empty) if the original representation is any geometry without area (e.g., a point or polyline) and without uncertainty and the given georeference is not that same geometry (without uncertainty). If both the original and the given georeference are the same point, the dwc:footprintSpatialFit is 1.
v_waterbody	String	Yes	The name of the water body in which the dcterms:Location occurs.
v_rightsholder	String	Yes	A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.
v_organismquantitytype	String	Yes	The type of quantification system used for the quantity of dwc:Organisms.
v_preparations	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of preparations and preservation methods for a dwc:MaterialEntity.
v_fundingattribution	String	Yes	–
v_habitat	String	Yes	A category or description of the habitat in which the dwc:Event occurred.
v_taxonrank	String	Yes	The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the dwc:scientificName.
v_datageneralizations	String	Yes	Actions taken to make the shared data less specific or complete than in its original form. Suggests that alternative data of higher quality may be available on request.
v_associatedmedia	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, global unique identifier, URI) of media associated with the dwc:Occurrence.
v_earliestperiodorlowestsystem	String	Yes	The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic period or lowest chronostratigraphic system attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.
v_associatedsequences	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, global unique identifier, URI) of genetic sequence information associated with the dwc:MaterialEntity.
v_footprintsrs	String	Yes	The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geometry given in dwc:footprintWKT is based.
v_verbatimdepth	String	Yes	The original description of the depth below the local surface.
v_genericname	String	Yes	The genus part of the dwc:scientificName without authorship.
v_occurrencestatus	String	Yes	A statement about the presence or absence of a dwc:Taxon at a dcterms:Location.
v_higherclassification	String	Yes	A list (concatenated and separated) of taxa names terminating at the rank immediately superior to the referenced dwc:Taxon.
v_minimumelevationinmeters	String	Yes	The lower limit of the range of elevation (altitude, usually above sea level), in meters.
v_materialentityid	String	Yes	An identifier for a particular instance of a dwc:MaterialEntity.
v_organismscope	String	Yes	A description of the kind of dwc:Organism instance. Can be used to indicate whether the dwc:Organism instance represents a discrete organism or if it represents a particular type of aggregation.
v_caste	String	Yes	Categorisation of individuals for eusocial species (including some mammals and arthropods).

gbifid

String

Unique GBIF key for the occurrence.

We aim to keep these keys stable, but this is not possible in every case.

nameaccordingto

String

Yes

The reference to the source in which the specific taxon concept circumscription is defined or implied - traditionally signified by the Latin "sensu" or "sec." (from secundum, meaning "according to"). For taxa that result from identifications, a reference to the keys, monographs, experts and other sources should be given.

references

String

Yes

A related resource that is referenced, cited, or otherwise pointed to by the described resource.

day

Integer

Yes

The integer day of the month on which the Event occurred.

genericname

String

Yes

The genus name part of the species name from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

distancefromcentroidinmeters

Double

Yes

The distance in metres of the occurrence from a centroid known to be applied to occurrences during georeferencing. This can potentially indicate low-precision georeferencing, check the values of coordinateUncertaintyInMeters and georeferenceRemarks.

taxonkey

Integer

Yes

A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the most specific (lowest rank) taxon for this occurrence. This could be a synonym, see acceptedTaxonKey.

orderkey

Integer

Yes

A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the order of thisoccurrence.

group

String

Yes

The full name of the lithostratigraphic group from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

level0name

String

Yes

The English name for the top-level division from the GADM database.

publisher

String

Yes

The name of the organization publishing this record

associatedoccurrences

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers of other dwc:Occurrence records and their associations to this dwc:Occurrence.

month

Integer

Yes

The integer month in which the Event occurred.

earliesteonorlowesteonothem

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic eon or lowest chrono-stratigraphic eonothem or the informal name ("Precambrian") attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

verticaldatum

String

Yes

The vertical datum used as the reference upon which the values in the elevation terms are based.

startdayofyear

String

Yes

The latest integer day of the year on which the Event occurred (1 for 1 January, 365 for 31 December, except in a leap year, in which case it is 366).

eventtime

String

Yes

The time or interval during which a dwc:Event occurred.

dateidentified

Timestamp

Yes

The date on which the subject was determined as representing the Taxon.

mediatype

String array

Yes

The media type given as Dublin Core type values, in particular StillImage, MovingImage or Sound.

latestepochorhighestseries

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The full name of the latest possible geochronologic epoch or highest chronostratigraphic series attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

publishedbygbifregion

String

Yes

An enumeration for all GBIF Regions. These are based on IPBES regions.

This is a political division, part of GBIF’s governance structure.

namepublishedinid

String

Yes

An identifier for the publication in which the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.

recordedby

String array

Yes

A person, group, or organization responsible for recording the original occurrence.

associatedsequences

String array

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, global unique identifier, URI) of genetic sequence information associated with the material entity.

nameaccordingtoid

String

Yes

An identifier for the source in which the specific taxon concept circumscription is defined or implied. See dwc:nameAccordingTo.

member

String

Yes

The full name of the lithostratigraphic member from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

occurrencestatus

String

Yes

A statement about the presence or absence of a Taxon at a Location.

For definitions, see the GBIF occurrence status vocabulary.

earliesteraorlowesterathem

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic era or lowest chronostratigraphic erathem attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

verbatimlabel

String

Yes

The content of this term should include no embellishments, prefixes, headers or other additions made to the text. Abbreviations must not be expanded and supposed misspellings must not be corrected. Lines or breakpoints between blocks of text that could be verified by seeing the original labels or images of them may be used. Examples of material entities include preserved specimens, fossil specimens, and material samples. Best practice is to use UTF-8 for all characters. Best practice is to add comment “verbatimLabel derived from human transcription” in dwc:occurrenceRemarks.

countrycode

String

Yes

The 2-letter country code (as per ISO-3166-1) of the country, territory or area in which the occurrence was recorded.

datageneralizations

String

Yes

Actions taken to make the shared data less specific or complete than in its original form. Suggests that alternative data of higher quality may be available on request.

namepublishedinyear

String

Yes

The four-digit year in which the dwc:scientificName was published.

organismscope

String

Yes

A description of the kind of dwc:Organism instance. Can be used to indicate whether the dwc:Organism instance represents a discrete organism or if it represents a particular type of aggregation.

georeferencesources

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of maps, gazetteers, or other resources used to georeference the dcterms:Location, described specifically enough to allow anyone in the future to use the same resources.

elevationaccuracy

Double

Yes

The value of the potential error associated with the elevation. This is not a current Darwin Core term.

latestperiodorhighestsystem

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The full name of the latest possible geochronologic period or highest chronostratigraphic system attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

verbatimtaxonrank

String

Yes

The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the dwc:scientificName as it appears in the original record.

subtribekey

String

Yes

–

verbatimlocality

String

Yes

The original textual description of the place.

issue

String array

Yes

A specific interpretation issue found during processing and interpretation of the record.

See the list of occurrence issues and the OccurrenceIssue enumeration for possible values and definitions.

othercatalognumbers

String array

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of previous or alternate fully qualified catalogue numbers or other human-used identifiers for the same occurrence, whether in the current or any other data set or collection.

level3name

String

Yes

The English name for the third-level division from the GADM database.

taxonomicissue

String

Yes

–

kingdomkey

Integer

Yes

A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the kingdom of thisoccurrence.

institutionid

String

Yes

An identifier for the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.

originalnameusage

String

Yes

The taxon name, with authorship and date information if known, as it originally appeared when first established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode. The basionym (botany) or basonym (bacteriology) of the dwc:scientificName or the senior/earlier homonym for replaced names.

associatedorganisms

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers of other dwc:Organisms and the associations of this dwc:Organism to each of them.

depth

Double

Yes

Depth in metres below sea level. This is not a current Darwin Core term.

eventremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dwc:Event.

protocol

String

Yes

The technical protocol by which this occurrence was retrieved from the publisher’s systems.

fieldnotes

String

Yes

One of a) an indicator of the existence of, b) a reference to (publication, URI), or c) the text of notes taken in the field about the dwc:Event.

earliestperiodorlowestsystem

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic period or lowest chronostratigraphic system attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

gbifregion

String

Yes

An enumeration for all GBIF Regions. These are based on IPBES regions.

This is a political division, part of GBIF’s governance structure.

establishmentmeans

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

Statement about whether an organism or organisms have been introduced to a given place and time through the direct or indirect activity of modern humans.

Values are aligned to the GBIF EstablishmentMeans vocabulary, which is derived from the Darwin Core EstablishmentMeans vocabulary.

projectid

String array

Yes

Identifiers for projects related to this occurrence.

verbatimidentification

String

Yes

A string representing the taxonomic identification as it appeared in the original record.

preparations

String array

Yes

A preparation or preservation method for a specimen.

class

String

Yes

The class name (excluding authorship) for the class from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

subfamily

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the subfamily in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

subtribe

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the subtribe in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

materialentityid

String

Yes

An identifier for a particular instance of a dwc:MaterialEntity.

subgenus

String

Yes

The subgenus name (excluding authorship) for the subgenus from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

lithostratigraphicterms

String

Yes

The combination of all lithostratigraphic names for the rock from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

genuskey

Integer

Yes

A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the genus of thisoccurrence.

degreeofestablishment

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The degree to which an Organism survives, reproduces, and expands its range at the given place and time.

Values are aligned to the GBIF DegreeOfEstablishment vocabulary, which is derived from the Darwin Core DegreeOfEstablishment vocabulary.

specieskey

Integer

Yes

A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the species of thisoccurrence.

acceptedtaxonkey

Integer

Yes

A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the accepted taxon of this occurrence.

nomenclaturalcode

String

Yes

The nomenclatural code (or codes in the case of an ambiregnal name) under which the dwc:scientificName is constructed.

organismquantity

String

Yes

A number or enumeration value for the quantity of organisms.

footprintspatialfit

String

Yes

The ratio of the area of the dwc:footprintWKT to the area of the true (original, or most specific) spatial representation of the dcterms:Location. Legal values are 0, greater than or equal to 1, or undefined. A value of 1 is an exact match or 100% overlap. A value of 0 should be used if the given dwc:footprintWKT does not completely contain the original representation. The dwc:footprintSpatialFit is undefined (and should be left empty) if the original representation is any geometry without area (e.g., a point or polyline) and without uncertainty and the given georeference is not that same geometry (without uncertainty). If both the original and the given georeference are the same point, the dwc:footprintSpatialFit is 1.

samplesizevalue

String

Yes

A numeric value for a measurement of the size (time duration, length, area, or volume) of a sample in a sampling event.

locationaccordingto

String

Yes

Information about the source of this dcterms:Location information. Could be a publication (gazetteer), institution, or team of individuals.

associatedtaxa

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers or names of dwc:Taxon records and the associations of this dwc:Occurrence to each of them.

county

String

Yes

The full, unabbreviated name of the next smaller administrative region than stateProvince (county, shire, department, etc.) in which the dcterms:Location occurs.

samplingeffort

String

Yes

The amount of effort expended during a dwc:Event.

namepublishedin

String

Yes

A reference for the publication in which the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.

continent

String

Yes

The continent, based on a 7 continent model described on Wikipedia and the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD).

In particular this splits the Americas into North and South America with North America including the Caribbean (except Trinidad and Tobago) and reaching down and including Panama.

See the GBIF Continents for the exact divisions.

This is a geographical division. See GBIFRegion for GBIF’s political divisions.

dynamicproperties

String

Yes

A list of additional measurements, facts, characteristics, or assertions about the record. Meant to provide a mechanism for structured content.

municipality

String

Yes

The full, unabbreviated name of the next smaller administrative region than county (city, municipality, etc.) in which the dcterms:Location occurs. Do not use this term for a nearby named place that does not contain the actual dcterms:Location.

coordinateuncertaintyinmeters

Double

Yes

The horizontal distance (in metres) from the given decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude describing the smallest circle containing the whole of the Location.

eventtype

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The type for sampling event records.

ownerinstitutioncode

String

Yes

The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having ownership of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.

genus

String

Yes

The genus name (excluding authorship) for the genus from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

subgenuskey

Integer

Yes

A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the subgenus of thisoccurrence.

type

String

Yes

The nature or genre of the resource.

earliestepochorlowestseries

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic epoch or lowest chronostratigraphic series attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

locationremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dcterms:Location.

infragenericepithet

String

Yes

The infrageneric part of a binomial name at ranks above species but below genus.

scientificname

String

Yes

The scientific name (including authorship) for the taxon from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence. This could be a synonym, see also acceptedScientificName.

level2gid

String

Yes

The identifier for the second-level division from the GADM database.

samplesizeunit

String

Yes

The unit of measurement of the size (time duration, length, area, or volume) of a sample in a sampling event.

lastcrawled

Timestamp

Yes

The time this occurrence was last retrieved from the publisher’s systems.

classkey

Integer

Yes

A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the class of thisoccurrence.

taxonid

String

Yes

An identifier for the set of dwc:Taxon information. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

pathway

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The process by which an Organism came to be in a given place at a given time.

Values are aligned to the GBIF Pathway vocabulary, which is derived from the Darwin Core Pathway vocabulary.

catalognumber

String

Yes

An identifier (preferably unique) for the record within the data set or collection.

collectioncode

String

Yes

The name, acronym, coden, or initialism identifying the collection or data set from which the record was derived.

nomenclaturalstatus

String

Yes

The status related to the original publication of the name and its conformance to the relevant rules of nomenclature. It is based essentially on an algorithm according to the business rules of the code. It requires no taxonomic opinion.

locality

String

Yes

The specific description of the place.

minimumdistanceabovesurfaceinmeters

String

Yes

The lesser distance in a range of distance from a reference surface in the vertical direction, in meters. Use positive values for locations above the surface, negative values for locations below. If depth measures are given, the reference surface is the location given by the depth, otherwise the reference surface is the location given by the elevation.

reproductivecondition

String

Yes

The reproductive condition of the biological individual(s) represented in the dwc:Occurrence.

disposition

String

Yes

The current state of a dwc:MaterialEntity with respect to a collection.

geologicalcontextid

String

Yes

An identifier for the set of information associated with a dwc:GeologicalContext (the location within a geological context, such as stratigraphy). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

family

String

Yes

The family name (excluding authorship) for the family from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

typestatus

String array

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of nomenclatural types (type status, typified scientific name, publication) applied to the occurrence.

language

String

Yes

A language of the resource.

level1gid

String

Yes

The identifier for the first-level division from the GADM database.

repatriated

String

Yes

Boolean indicating if the publishing country is different to the location country.

typifiedname

String

Yes

The scientific name that is based on the type specimen.

This is not yet a Darwin Core term, see the proposal to add it.

isinvasive

String

Yes

–

lastparsed

Timestamp

Yes

The time this occurrence was last processed by GBIF’s interpretation system “Pipelines”.

This is the time the record was last changed in GBIF, not the time the record was last changed by the publisher. Data is also reprocessed when we changed the taxonomic backbone, geographic data sources or other interpretation procedures.

An earlier interpretation system distinguished between “parsing” and “interpretation”, but in the current system there is only one process — the two dates will always be the same.

elevation

Double

Yes

Elevation (altitude) in metres above sea level. This is not a current Darwin Core term.

parentnameusage

String

Yes

The full name, with authorship and date information if known, of the direct, most proximate higher-rank parent dwc:Taxon (in a classification) of the most specific element of the dwc:scientificName.

lowestbiostratigraphiczone

String

Yes

The full name of the lowest possible geological biostratigraphic zone of the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

locationid

String

Yes

An identifier for the set of dcterms:Location information. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

modified

Timestamp

Yes

The most recent date-time on which the occurrence was changed, according to the publisher.

georeferenceverificationstatus

String

Yes

A categorical description of the extent to which the georeference has been verified to represent the best possible spatial description for the dcterms:Location of the dwc:Occurrence.

latesteraorhighesterathem

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The full name of the latest possible geochronologic era or highest chronostratigraphic erathem attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

recordedbyid

String array

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of the globally unique identifier for the person, people, groups, or organizations responsible for recording the original dwc:Occurrence.

decimallatitude

Double

Yes

The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the WGS84 datum) of the geographic centre of the location of the occurrence.

rightsholder

String

Yes

A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.

nontaxonomicissue

String array

Yes

–

year

Integer

Yes

The four-digit year in which the event occurred, according to the Common Era calendar.

identifiedbyid

String array

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of the globally unique identifier for the person, people, groups, or organizations responsible for assigning the dwc:Taxon to the subject.

identificationqualifier

String

Yes

A brief phrase or a standard term ("cf.", "aff.") to express the determiner’s doubts about the dwc:Identification.

occurrenceid

String

Yes

An identifier for the dwc:Occurrence (as opposed to a particular digital record of the dwc:Occurrence). In the absence of a persistent global unique identifier, construct one from a combination of identifiers in the record that will most closely make the dwc:occurrenceID globally unique.

organismremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dwc:Organism instance.

waterbody

String

Yes

The name of the water body in which the Location occurs.

decimallongitude

Double

Yes

The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the WGS84 datum) of the geographic centre of the location of the occurrence.

tribe

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the tribe in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

publishingcountry

String

Yes

The country, territory or island based on ISO-3166 of the organization publishing the dataset containing this occurrence.

lifestage

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The age class or life stage of the Organism(s) at the time the Occurrence was recorded.

Values are aligned to the GBIF LifeStage vocabulary

recordnumber

String

Yes

An identifier given to the dwc:Occurrence at the time it was recorded. Often serves as a link between field notes and a dwc:Occurrence record, such as a specimen collector’s number.

originalnameusageid

String

Yes

An identifier for the name usage (documented meaning of the name according to a source) in which the terminal element of the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.

island

String

Yes

The name of the island on or near which the dcterms:Location occurs.

taxonremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the taxon or name.

tribekey

String

Yes

–

phylumkey

Integer

Yes

A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the phylum of thisoccurrence.

hasgeospatialissues

Boolean

Yes

Boolean indicating that some spatial validation rule has not passed.

materialentityremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dwc:MaterialEntity instance.

vitality

String

Yes

An indication of whether a dwc:Organism was alive or dead at the time of collection or observation.

organismname

String

Yes

A textual name or label assigned to a dwc:Organism instance.

footprintsrs

String

Yes

The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geometry given in dwc:footprintWKT is based.

behavior

String

Yes

The behavior shown by the subject at the time the dwc:Occurrence was recorded.

level0gid

String

Yes

The identifier for the top-level division from the GADM database. This is usually a three-letter code from ISO 3166.

scientificnameid

String

Yes

An identifier for the nomenclatural (not taxonomic) details of a scientific name.

associatedreferences

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, bibliographic reference, global unique identifier, URI) of literature associated with the dwc:Occurrence.

stateprovince

String

Yes

The name of the next-smaller administrative region than country (state, province, canton, department, region, etc.) in which the occurrence occurs.

This value is unaltered by GBIF’s processing; see also the GADM fields.

phylum

String

Yes

The phylum name (excluding authorship) for the phylum from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

previousidentifications

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of previous assignments of names to the dwc:Organism.

order

String

Yes

The order name (excluding authorship) for the order from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

basisofrecord

String

Yes

The values of the Darwin Core term Basis of Record which can apply to occurrences.

See GBIF’s Darwin Core Type Vocabulary for definitions.

individualcount

Integer

Yes

The number of individuals present at the time of the Occurrence.

datasetkey

String

The UUID of the GBIF dataset containing this occurrence.

organismid

String

Yes

An identifier for the dwc:Organism instance (as opposed to a particular digital record of the dwc:Organism). May be a globally unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

taxonconceptid

String

Yes

An identifier for the taxonomic concept to which the record refers - not for the nomenclatural details of a dwc:Taxon.

occurrenceremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dwc:Occurrence.

habitat

String

Yes

A category or description of the habitat in which the dwc:Event occurred.

datasetid

String array

Yes

An identifier for the set of data. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to a collection or institution.

acceptednameusageid

String

Yes

An identifier for the name usage (documented meaning of the name according to a source) of the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) taxon.

latestageorhigheststage

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The full name of the latest possible geochronologic age or highest chronostratigraphic stage attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

coordinateprecision

Double

Yes

A decimal representation of the precision of the coordinates given in the decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude.

formation

String

Yes

The full name of the lithostratigraphic formation from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

verbatimeventdate

String

Yes

The verbatim original representation of the date and time information for a dwc:Event.

familykey

Integer

Yes

A taxon key from the GBIF backbone for the family of thisoccurrence.

level2name

String

Yes

The English name for the second-level division from the GADM database.

identificationverificationstatus

String

Yes

A categorical indicator of the extent to which the taxonomic identification has been verified to be correct.

identificationid

String

Yes

An identifier for the dwc:Identification (the body of information associated with the assignment of a scientific name). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

eventdate

String

Yes

The date-time during which an Event occurred. For occurrences, this is the date-time when the event was recorded. Not suitable for a time in a geological context.

depthaccuracy

Double

Yes

The value of the potential error associated with the depth. This is not a current Darwin Core term.

verbatimelevation

String

Yes

The original description of the elevation (altitude, usually above sea level) of the Location.

cultivarepithet

String

Yes

Part of the name of a cultivar, cultivar group or grex that follows the dwc:scientificName.

pointradiusspatialfit

String

Yes

The ratio of the area of the point-radius (dwc:decimalLatitude, dwc:decimalLongitude, dwc:coordinateUncertaintyInMeters) to the area of the true (original, or most specific) spatial representation of the dcterms:Location. Legal values are 0, greater than or equal to 1, or undefined. A value of 1 is an exact match or 100% overlap. A value of 0 should be used if the given point-radius does not completely contain the original representation. The dwc:pointRadiusSpatialFit is undefined (and should be left empty) if the original representation is any geometry without area (e.g., a point or polyline) and without uncertainty and the given georeference is not that same geometry (without uncertainty). If both the original and the given georeference are the same point, the dwc:pointRadiusSpatialFit is 1.

parenteventid

String

Yes

An identifier for the broader dwc:Event that groups this and potentially other dwc:Events.

fieldnumber

String

Yes

An identifier given to the dwc:Event in the field. Often serves as a link between field notes and the dwc:Event.

maximumdistanceabovesurfaceinmeters

String

Yes

The greater distance in a range of distance from a reference surface in the vertical direction, in meters. Use positive values for locations above the surface, negative values for locations below. If depth measures are given, the reference surface is the location given by the depth, otherwise the reference surface is the location given by the elevation.

bed

String

Yes

The full name of the lithostratigraphic bed from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

vernacularname

String

Yes

A common or vernacular name.

verbatimsrs

String

Yes

The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which coordinates given in dwc:verbatimLatitude and dwc:verbatimLongitude, or dwc:verbatimCoordinates are based.

level3gid

String

Yes

The identifier for the third-level division from the GADM database.

kingdom

String

Yes

The kingdom name (excluding authorship) for the kingdom from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

superfamilykey

String

Yes

–

informationwithheld

String

Yes

Additional information that exists, but that has not been shared in the given record.

highergeography

String array

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of geographic names less specific than the information captured in the dwc:locality term.

issequenced

String

Yes

Flag occurrence when associatedSequences/extension exists

identifiedby

String array

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations who assigned the Taxon to the occurrence.

highestbiostratigraphiczone

String

Yes

The full name of the highest possible geological biostratigraphic zone of the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

subfamilykey

String

Yes

–

verbatimcoordinatesystem

String

Yes

The coordinate format for the dwc:verbatimLatitude and dwc:verbatimLongitude or the dwc:verbatimCoordinates of the dcterms:Location.

footprintwkt

String

Yes

A Well-Known Text (WKT) representation of the shape (footprint, geometry) that defines the dcterms:Location. A dcterms:Location may have both a point-radius representation (see dwc:decimalLatitude) and a footprint representation, and they may differ from each other.

taxonomicstatus

String

Yes

The status of the use of the scientificName as a label for a taxon.

materialsampleid

String

Yes

An identifier for the dwc:MaterialSample (as opposed to a particular digital record of the dwc:MaterialSample). In the absence of a persistent global unique identifier, construct one from a combination of identifiers in the record that will most closely make the dwc:materialSampleID globally unique.

georeferenceprotocol

String

Yes

A description or reference to the methods used to determine the spatial footprint, coordinates, and uncertainties.

georeferenceremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the spatial description determination, explaining assumptions made in addition or opposition to the those formalized in the method referred to in dwc:georeferenceProtocol.

lastinterpreted

Timestamp

Yes

The time this occurrence was last processed by GBIF’s interpretation system “Pipelines”.

An earlier interpretation system distinguished between “parsing” and “interpretation”, but in the current system there is only one process — the two dates will always be the same.

organismquantitytype

String

Yes

The type of quantification system used for the quantity of organisms.

bibliographiccitation

String

Yes

A bibliographic reference for the resource.

eventid

String

Yes

An identifier for the set of information associated with a dwc:Event (something that occurs at a place and time). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

acceptedscientificname

String

Yes

The accepted scientific name (including authorship) for the taxon from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

identificationremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dwc:Identification.

georeferenceddate

String

Yes

The date on which the dcterms:Location was georeferenced.

parentnameusageid

String

Yes

An identifier for the name usage (documented meaning of the name according to a source) of the direct, most proximate higher-rank parent taxon (in a classification) of the most specific element of the dwc:scientificName.

verbatimdepth

String

Yes

The original description of the depth below the local surface.

institutioncode

String

Yes

The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.

acceptednameusage

String

Yes

The full name, with authorship and date information if known, of the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) dwc:Taxon.

hascoordinate

Boolean

Yes

Boolean indicating that a valid latitude and longitude exists.

sex

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The sex of the biological individual(s) represented in the dwc:Occurrence.

identificationreferences

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of references (publication, global unique identifier, URI) used in the dwc:Identification.

collectionid

String

Yes

An identifier for the collection or dataset from which the record was derived.

enddayofyear

String

Yes

The earliest integer day of the year on which the Event occurred (1 for 1 January, 365 for 31 December, except in a leap year, in which case it is 366).

islandgroup

String

Yes

The name of the island group in which the dcterms:Location occurs.

species

String

Yes

The species name (excluding authorship) for the species from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

georeferencedby

String array

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations who determined the georeference (spatial representation) for the dcterms:Location.

caste

String

Yes

Categorisation of individuals for eusocial species (including some mammals and arthropods).

earliestageorloweststage

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic age or lowest chronostratigraphic stage attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

level1name

String

Yes

The English name for the first-level division from the GADM database.

specificepithet

String

Yes

The specific name part of the species name from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

infraspecificepithet

String

Yes

The infraspecific name part of the species name from the GBIF backbone matched to this occurrence.

relativeorganismquantity

String

Yes

The relative measurement of the quantity of the organism (i.e. without absolute units).

license

String

Yes

A legal document giving official permission to do something with the occurrence.

accessrights

String

Yes

Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status.

taxonrank

String

Yes

The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the scientificName.

iucnredlistcategory

String

Yes

The IUCN Red List Category of the taxon of this occurrence.

See the GBIF vocabulary for the values and their definitions, and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species dataset in GBIF for the version of the Red List GBIF’s interpretation procedures are using.

latesteonorhighesteonothem

Structure with string .concept and string array .lineage

Yes

The full name of the latest possible geochronologic eon or highest chrono-stratigraphic eonothem or the informal name ("Precambrian") attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

datasetname

String array

Yes

The name identifying the data set from which the record was derived.

highergeographyid

String

Yes

An identifier for the geographic region within which the dcterms:Location occurred.

samplingprotocol

String array

Yes

The methods or protocols used during an Event, denoted by an IRI.

higherclassification

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of taxa names terminating at the rank immediately superior to the referenced dwc:Taxon.

superfamily

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the superfamily in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

isincluster

String

Yes

Experimental. Whether the occurrence belongs to a machine-calculated cluster of probable duplicate occurrences.

institutionkey

String

Yes

Experimental. The UUID of the institution holding the specimen occurrence, from GRSciColl.

publishingorgkey

String

Yes

The UUID of the organization which publishes the dataset containing this occurrence.

collectionkey

String

Yes

Experimental. The UUID of the collection containing the specimen occurrence, from GRSciColl.

eventdatelte

Timestamp

Yes

Experimental The upper bound for the eventDate term as a timestamp, 2000-12-31T23:59:59 for an event date of 2000.

hostingorganizationkey

String

Yes

The UUID of the publishing organization which operates the technical installation hosting the dataset containing this occurrence.

programmeacronym

String

Yes

The identifier for a programme which funded the digitization of this occurrence.

dwcaextension

String array

Yes

The list of Darwin Core extensions present on the occurrence record.

eventdategte

Timestamp

Yes

Experimental The lower bound for the eventDate term as a timestamp, 2000-01-01T00:00:00 for an event date of 2000.

installationkey

String

Yes

The UUID of the technical installation hosted the dataset containing this occurrence.

v_bed

String

Yes

The full name of the lithostratigraphic bed from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_identificationverificationstatus

String

Yes

A categorical indicator of the extent to which the taxonomic identification has been verified to be correct.

v_county

String

Yes

The full, unabbreviated name of the next smaller administrative region than stateProvince (county, shire, department, etc.) in which the dcterms:Location occurs.

v_collectionid

String

Yes

An identifier for the collection or dataset from which the record was derived.

v_verbatimlabel

String

Yes

v_accessrights

String

Yes

Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status.

v_month

String

Yes

The integer month in which the dwc:Event occurred.

v_locationid

String

Yes

An identifier for the set of dcterms:Location information. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

v_latesteonorhighesteonothem

String

Yes

v_basisofrecord

String

Yes

The specific nature of the data record.

v_latestperiodorhighestsystem

String

Yes

The full name of the latest possible geochronologic period or highest chronostratigraphic system attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_lithostratigraphicterms

String

Yes

The combination of all lithostratigraphic names for the rock from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_formation

String

Yes

The full name of the lithostratigraphic formation from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_maximumelevationinmeters

String

Yes

The upper limit of the range of elevation (altitude, usually above sea level), in meters.

v_fieldnotes

String

Yes

One of a) an indicator of the existence of, b) a reference to (publication, URI), or c) the text of notes taken in the field about the dwc:Event.

v_samplingprotocol

String

Yes

The names of, references to, or descriptions of the methods or protocols used during a dwc:Event.

v_islandgroup

String

Yes

The name of the island group in which the dcterms:Location occurs.

v_decimallongitude

String

Yes

The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in dwc:geodeticDatum) of the geographic center of a dcterms:Location. Positive values are east of the Greenwich Meridian, negative values are west of it. Legal values lie between -180 and 180, inclusive.

v_scientificname

String

Yes

The full scientific name, with authorship and date information if known. When forming part of a dwc:Identification, this should be the name in lowest level taxonomic rank that can be determined. This term should not contain identification qualifications, which should instead be supplied in the dwc:identificationQualifier term.

v_verbatimidentification

String

Yes

A string representing the taxonomic identification as it appeared in the original record.

v_institutioncode

String

Yes

The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.

v_associatedtaxa

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers or names of dwc:Taxon records and the associations of this dwc:Occurrence to each of them.

v_modified

String

Yes

Date on which the resource was changed.

v_degreeofestablishment

String

Yes

The degree to which a dwc:Organism survives, reproduces, and expands its range at the given place and time.

v_namepublishedinid

String

Yes

An identifier for the publication in which the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.

v_subtribe

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the subtribe in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_samplesizeunit

String

Yes

The unit of measurement of the size (time duration, length, area, or volume) of a sample in a sampling dwc:Event.

v_georeferenceverificationstatus

String

Yes

A categorical description of the extent to which the georeference has been verified to represent the best possible spatial description for the dcterms:Location of the dwc:Occurrence.

v_georeferenceprotocol

String

Yes

A description or reference to the methods used to determine the spatial footprint, coordinates, and uncertainties.

v_group

String

Yes

The full name of the lithostratigraphic group from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_verbatimelevation

String

Yes

The original description of the elevation (altitude, usually above sea level) of the Location.

v_recordedby

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations responsible for recording the original dwc:Occurrence. The primary collector or observer, especially one who applies a personal identifier (dwc:recordNumber), should be listed first.

v_ownerinstitutioncode

String

Yes

The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having ownership of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.

v_geologicalcontextid

String

Yes

v_coordinateprecision

String

Yes

A decimal representation of the precision of the coordinates given in the dwc:decimalLatitude and dwc:decimalLongitude.

v_countrycode

String

Yes

The standard code for the country in which the dcterms:Location occurs.

v_georeferencedby

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations who determined the georeference (spatial representation) for the dcterms:Location.

v_taxonconceptid

String

Yes

An identifier for the taxonomic concept to which the record refers - not for the nomenclatural details of a dwc:Taxon.

v_institutionid

String

Yes

An identifier for the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record.

v_organismquantity

String

Yes

A number or enumeration value for the quantity of dwc:Organisms.

v_highestbiostratigraphiczone

String

Yes

The full name of the highest possible geological biostratigraphic zone of the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_minimumdepthinmeters

String

Yes

The lesser depth of a range of depth below the local surface, in meters.

v_datasetid

String

Yes

An identifier for the set of data. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to a collection or institution.

v_genus

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the genus in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_associatedorganisms

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers of other dwc:Organisms and the associations of this dwc:Organism to each of them.

v_establishmentmeans

String

Yes

Statement about whether a dwc:Organism has been introduced to a given place and time through the direct or indirect activity of modern humans.

v_cultivarepithet

String

Yes

Part of the name of a cultivar, cultivar group or grex that follows the dwc:scientificName.

v_verbatimlocality

String

Yes

The original textual description of the place.

v_order

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the order in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_sex

String

Yes

The sex of the biological individual(s) represented in the dwc:Occurrence.

v_tribe

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the tribe in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_earliesteraorlowesterathem

String

Yes

The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic era or lowest chronostratigraphic erathem attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_subgenus

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the subgenus in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_language

String

Yes

A language of the resource.

v_acceptednameusage

String

Yes

The full name, with authorship and date information if known, of the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) dwc:Taxon.

v_identificationqualifier

String

Yes

A brief phrase or a standard term ("cf.", "aff.") to express the determiner’s doubts about the dwc:Identification.

v_originalnameusageid

String

Yes

v_license

String

Yes

A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource.

v_continent

String

Yes

The name of the continent in which the dcterms:Location occurs.

v_coordinateuncertaintyinmeters

String

Yes

The horizontal distance (in meters) from the given dwc:decimalLatitude and dwc:decimalLongitude describing the smallest circle containing the whole of the dcterms:Location. Leave the value empty if the uncertainty is unknown, cannot be estimated, or is not applicable (because there are no coordinates). Zero is not a valid value for this term.

v_locality

String

Yes

The specific description of the place.

v_recordnumber

String

Yes

An identifier given to the dwc:Occurrence at the time it was recorded. Often serves as a link between field notes and a dwc:Occurrence record, such as a specimen collector’s number.

v_parentnameusageid

String

Yes

v_minimumdistanceabovesurfaceinmeters

String

Yes

v_dateidentified

String

Yes

The date on which the subject was determined as representing the dwc:Taxon.

v_verbatimtaxonrank

String

Yes

The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the dwc:scientificName as it appears in the original record.

v_originalnameusage

String

Yes

v_startdayofyear

String

Yes

The earliest integer day of the year on which the dwc:Event occurred (1 for January 1, 365 for December 31, except in a leap year, in which case it is 366).

v_subfamily

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the subfamily in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_latestageorhigheststage

String

Yes

The full name of the latest possible geochronologic age or highest chronostratigraphic stage attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_geodeticdatum

String

Yes

The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geographic coordinates given in dwc:decimalLatitude and dwc:decimalLongitude are based.

v_occurrenceid

String

Yes

v_verbatimlongitude

String

Yes

The verbatim original longitude of the dcterms:Location. The coordinate ellipsoid, geodeticDatum, or full Spatial Reference System (SRS) for these coordinates should be stored in dwc:verbatimSRS and the coordinate system should be stored in dwc:verbatimCoordinateSystem.

v_fieldnumber

String

Yes

An identifier given to the dwc:Event in the field. Often serves as a link between field notes and the dwc:Event.

v_collectioncode

String

Yes

The name, acronym, coden, or initialism identifying the collection or data set from which the record was derived.

v_namepublishedinyear

String

Yes

The four-digit year in which the dwc:scientificName was published.

v_acceptednameusageid

String

Yes

An identifier for the name usage (documented meaning of the name according to a source) of the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) taxon.

v_organismid

String

Yes

An identifier for the dwc:Organism instance (as opposed to a particular digital record of the dwc:Organism). May be a globally unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

v_samplesizevalue

String

Yes

A numeric value for a measurement of the size (time duration, length, area, or volume) of a sample in a sampling dwc:Event.

v_decimallatitude

String

Yes

The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in dwc:geodeticDatum) of the geographic center of a dcterms:Location. Positive values are north of the Equator, negative values are south of it. Legal values lie between -90 and 90, inclusive.

v_earliestageorloweststage

String

Yes

The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic age or lowest chronostratigraphic stage attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_municipality

String

Yes

v_projectid

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers for projects that contributed to a dwc:Event.

v_locationremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dcterms:Location.

v_vernacularname

String

Yes

A common or vernacular name.

v_enddayofyear

String

Yes

The latest integer day of the year on which the dwc:Event occurred (1 for January 1, 365 for December 31, except in a leap year, in which case it is 366).

v_identificationreferences

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of references (publication, global unique identifier, URI) used in the dwc:Identification.

v_verbatimcoordinatesystem

String

Yes

The coordinate format for the dwc:verbatimLatitude and dwc:verbatimLongitude or the dwc:verbatimCoordinates of the dcterms:Location.

v_individualcount

String

Yes

The number of individuals present at the time of the dwc:Occurrence.

v_disposition

String

Yes

The current state of a dwc:MaterialEntity with respect to a collection.

v_earliesteonorlowesteonothem

String

Yes

v_namepublishedin

String

Yes

A reference for the publication in which the dwc:scientificName was originally established under the rules of the associated dwc:nomenclaturalCode.

v_nomenclaturalstatus

String

Yes

v_recordedbyid

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of the globally unique identifier for the person, people, groups, or organizations responsible for recording the original dwc:Occurrence.

v_pathway

String

Yes

The process by which a dwc:Organism came to be in a given place at a given time.

v_identifiedby

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations who assigned the dwc:Taxon to the subject.

v_superfamily

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the superfamily in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_day

String

Yes

The integer day of the month on which the dwc:Event occurred.

v_materialsampleid

String

Yes

v_eventtype

String

Yes

The nature of the dwc:Event.

v_eventid

String

Yes

An identifier for the set of information associated with a dwc:Event (something that occurs at a place and time). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

v_othercatalognumbers

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of previous or alternate fully qualified catalog numbers or other human-used identifiers for the same dwc:Occurrence, whether in the current or any other data set or collection.

v_occurrenceremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dwc:Occurrence.

v_verbatimsrs

String

Yes

The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which coordinates given in dwc:verbatimLatitude and dwc:verbatimLongitude, or dwc:verbatimCoordinates are based.

v_materialentityremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dwc:MaterialEntity instance.

v_associatedreferences

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, bibliographic reference, global unique identifier, URI) of literature associated with the dwc:Occurrence.

v_georeferenceremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the spatial description determination, explaining assumptions made in addition or opposition to the those formalized in the method referred to in dwc:georeferenceProtocol.

v_identifiedbyid

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of the globally unique identifier for the person, people, groups, or organizations responsible for assigning the dwc:Taxon to the subject.

v_scientificnameid

String

Yes

An identifier for the nomenclatural (not taxonomic) details of a scientific name.

v_behavior

String

Yes

The behavior shown by the subject at the time the dwc:Occurrence was recorded.

v_highergeographyid

String

Yes

An identifier for the geographic region within which the dcterms:Location occurred.

v_type

String

Yes

The nature or genre of the resource.

v_nameaccordingto

String

Yes

v_latesteraorhighesterathem

String

Yes

The full name of the latest possible geochronologic era or highest chronostratigraphic erathem attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_parenteventid

String

Yes

An identifier for the broader dwc:Event that groups this and potentially other dwc:Events.

v_lifestage

String

Yes

The age class or life stage of the dwc:Organism(s) at the time the dwc:Occurrence was recorded.

v_country

String

Yes

The name of the country or major administrative unit in which the dcterms:Location occurs.

v_informationwithheld

String

Yes

Additional information that exists, but that has not been shared in the given record.

v_kingdom

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the kingdom in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_datasetname

String

Yes

The name identifying the data set from which the record was derived.

v_taxonomicstatus

String

Yes

The status of the use of the dwc:scientificName as a label for a taxon. Requires taxonomic opinion to define the scope of a dwc:Taxon. Rules of priority then are used to define the taxonomic status of the nomenclature contained in that scope, combined with the experts opinion. It must be linked to a specific taxonomic reference that defines the concept.

v_georeferenceddate

String

Yes

The date on which the dcterms:Location was georeferenced.

v_nomenclaturalcode

String

Yes

The nomenclatural code (or codes in the case of an ambiregnal name) under which the dwc:scientificName is constructed.

v_family

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the family in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_fundingattributionid

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of the globally unique identifiers for the funding organizations or agencies that supported the project.

v_taxonid

String

Yes

An identifier for the set of dwc:Taxon information. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

v_highergeography

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of geographic names less specific than the information captured in the dwc:locality term.

v_typestatus

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of nomenclatural types (type status, typified scientific name, publication) applied to the subject.

v_catalognumber

String

Yes

An identifier (preferably unique) for the record within the data set or collection.

v_reproductivecondition

String

Yes

The reproductive condition of the biological individual(s) represented in the dwc:Occurrence.

v_maximumdepthinmeters

String

Yes

The greater depth of a range of depth below the local surface, in meters.

v_lowestbiostratigraphiczone

String

Yes

The full name of the lowest possible geological biostratigraphic zone of the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_vitality

String

Yes

An indication of whether a dwc:Organism was alive or dead at the time of collection or observation.

v_pointradiusspatialfit

String

Yes

v_infragenericepithet

String

Yes

The infrageneric part of a binomial name at ranks above species but below genus.

v_identificationid

String

Yes

An identifier for the dwc:Identification (the body of information associated with the assignment of a scientific name). May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the data set.

v_specificepithet

String

Yes

The name of the first or species epithet of the dwc:scientificName.

v_infraspecificepithet

String

Yes

The name of the lowest or terminal infraspecific epithet of the dwc:scientificName, excluding any rank designation.

v_nameaccordingtoid

String

Yes

An identifier for the source in which the specific taxon concept circumscription is defined or implied. See dwc:nameAccordingTo.

v_organismname

String

Yes

A textual name or label assigned to a dwc:Organism instance.

v_class

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the class in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_samplingeffort

String

Yes

The amount of effort expended during a dwc:Event.

v_member

String

Yes

The full name of the lithostratigraphic member from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_latestepochorhighestseries

String

Yes

The full name of the latest possible geochronologic epoch or highest chronostratigraphic series attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_earliestepochorlowestseries

String

Yes

The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic epoch or lowest chronostratigraphic series attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_associatedoccurrences

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers of other dwc:Occurrence records and their associations to this dwc:Occurrence.

v_eventdate

String

Yes

The date-time or interval during which a dwc:Event occurred. For occurrences, this is the date-time when the dwc:Event was recorded. Not suitable for a time in a geological context.

v_references

String

Yes

A related resource that is referenced, cited, or otherwise pointed to by the described resource.

v_parentnameusage

String

Yes

The full name, with authorship and date information if known, of the direct, most proximate higher-rank parent dwc:Taxon (in a classification) of the most specific element of the dwc:scientificName.

v_verbatimcoordinates

String

Yes

The verbatim original spatial coordinates of the dcterms:Location. The coordinate ellipsoid, geodeticDatum, or full Spatial Reference System (SRS) for these coordinates should be stored in dwc:verbatimSRS and the coordinate system should be stored in dwc:verbatimCoordinateSystem.

v_maximumdistanceabovesurfaceinmeters

String

Yes

v_dynamicproperties

String

Yes

A list of additional measurements, facts, characteristics, or assertions about the record. Meant to provide a mechanism for structured content.

v_previousidentifications

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of previous assignments of names to the dwc:Organism.

v_eventremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dwc:Event.

v_stateprovince

String

Yes

The name of the next smaller administrative region than country (state, province, canton, department, region, etc.) in which the dcterms:Location occurs.

v_scientificnameauthorship

String

Yes

The authorship information for the dwc:scientificName formatted according to the conventions of the applicable dwc:nomenclaturalCode.

v_island

String

Yes

The name of the island on or near which the dcterms:Location occurs.

v_bibliographiccitation

String

Yes

A bibliographic reference for the resource.

v_publisher

String

Yes

An entity responsible for making the image available.

v_verbatimlatitude

String

Yes

The verbatim original latitude of the dcterms:Location. The coordinate ellipsoid, geodeticDatum, or full Spatial Reference System (SRS) for these coordinates should be stored in dwc:verbatimSRS and the coordinate system should be stored in dwc:verbatimCoordinateSystem.

v_eventtime

String

Yes

The time or interval during which a dwc:Event occurred.

v_identificationremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dwc:Identification.

v_organismremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the dwc:Organism instance.

v_georeferencesources

String

Yes

v_verticaldatum

String

Yes

The vertical datum used as the reference upon which the values in the elevation terms are based.

v_verbatimeventdate

String

Yes

The verbatim original representation of the date and time information for a dwc:Event.

v_footprintwkt

String

Yes

v_projecttitle

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of titles or names for projects that contributed to a dwc:Event.

v_year

String

Yes

The four-digit year in which the dwc:Event occurred, according to the Common Era Calendar.

v_locationaccordingto

String

Yes

Information about the source of this dcterms:Location information. Could be a publication (gazetteer), institution, or team of individuals.

v_taxonremarks

String

Yes

Comments or notes about the taxon or name.

v_phylum

String

Yes

The full scientific name of the phylum or division in which the dwc:Taxon is classified.

v_footprintspatialfit

String

Yes

v_waterbody

String

Yes

The name of the water body in which the dcterms:Location occurs.

v_rightsholder

String

Yes

A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource.

v_organismquantitytype

String

Yes

The type of quantification system used for the quantity of dwc:Organisms.

v_preparations

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of preparations and preservation methods for a dwc:MaterialEntity.

v_fundingattribution

String

Yes

–

v_habitat

String

Yes

A category or description of the habitat in which the dwc:Event occurred.

v_taxonrank

String

Yes

The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the dwc:scientificName.

v_datageneralizations

String

Yes

Actions taken to make the shared data less specific or complete than in its original form. Suggests that alternative data of higher quality may be available on request.

v_associatedmedia

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, global unique identifier, URI) of media associated with the dwc:Occurrence.

v_earliestperiodorlowestsystem

String

Yes

The full name of the earliest possible geochronologic period or lowest chronostratigraphic system attributable to the stratigraphic horizon from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

v_associatedsequences

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, global unique identifier, URI) of genetic sequence information associated with the dwc:MaterialEntity.

v_footprintsrs

String

Yes

The ellipsoid, geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geometry given in dwc:footprintWKT is based.

v_verbatimdepth

String

Yes

The original description of the depth below the local surface.

v_genericname

String

Yes

The genus part of the dwc:scientificName without authorship.

v_occurrencestatus

String

Yes

A statement about the presence or absence of a dwc:Taxon at a dcterms:Location.

v_higherclassification

String

Yes

A list (concatenated and separated) of taxa names terminating at the rank immediately superior to the referenced dwc:Taxon.

v_minimumelevationinmeters

String

Yes

The lower limit of the range of elevation (altitude, usually above sea level), in meters.

v_materialentityid

String

Yes

An identifier for a particular instance of a dwc:MaterialEntity.

v_organismscope

String

Yes

A description of the kind of dwc:Organism instance. Can be used to indicate whether the dwc:Organism instance represents a discrete organism or if it represents a particular type of aggregation.

v_caste

String

Yes

Categorisation of individuals for eusocial species (including some mammals and arthropods).

Quoting column names

The SQL parser is strict, and column names that are also SQL keywords must be quoted. This affects the columns "year", "month", "day", "order", "group", "language", "references" and "member". They must be quoted even if qualified with the table name as in occurrence."year" or "occurrence"."year".

Query validation

You can validate your queries using the validation API call.

curl --include --header "Content-Type: application/json" --data @query.json https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/download/request/validate

Your query will be returned if it is valid, and an error message with an explanation will be returned if it is invalid.

Troubleshooting

Many GBIF APIs are tolerant of small differences in how they are queried — you can make an occurrence download query using the search parameter taxonKey, taxon_key, TAXONKEY and so on, and using the value 1, '1', "1", 1, " 01" etc.

The SQL API is less forgiving, so some common parts of queries must be specified exactly as documented.

Within the SQL query itself:

If column names are quoted they must use double quotes and lowercase: "year", "basisofrecord". It’s only necessary to quote column names that are also SQL functions: "year", "month", "day", "order", "group", "language", "references" and "member".
When column and function names aren’t quoted, the letter case doesn’t matter: basisOfRecord, basisofrecord, gbif_eeargcode(…), GBIF_EEARGCode(…).
String values use single quotes, like basisOfRecord = 'HUMAN_OBSERVATION'.
SQL comments (lines beginning -- ) cannot be included in queries.
Columns with numeric types must be filtered using numbers, not quoted string values — use "year" IN (2020, 2021) or startdayofyear >= 200.
Array values (including vocabulary lineages) should be converted to delimited strings, for example CONCAT_WS(' | ', recordedByID) and CONCAT_WS(' | ', occurrence.lifestage.lineage).

When converting the SQL query to JSON for submission to the API:

JSON uses double quotes for attributes and values, so when the SQL is written values containing double quotes must have these escaped using \"
Newlines, if used, should be replaced with either spaces ` ` or \n

{
  "sendNotification": true,
  "notificationAddresses": [
    "userEmail@example.org"
  ],
  "format": "SQL_TSV_ZIP",
  "sql": "SELECT DISTINCT \"year\" \n FROM occurrence \n WHERE \"year\" > 2000";
}

It can be convenient to work with neatly formatted SQL files, and convert them to JSON format automatically:

# Using jq
grep -v -- '--' neat-query.sql | jq -R -s .

# Using Python
grep -v -- '--' neat-query.sql | python3 -c 'import sys, json; print(json.dumps(sys.stdin.read()))'

Further examples

For a complete example of generating a data cube see the Species occurrence cubes page.

Known issues

Known faults with the system are tracked on GitHub.