Occurrence download formats

Data downloads are available from GBIF in three primary formats:

  • Simple. This format contains a selection of commonly used terms, after the data has been aligned to GBIF’s taxonomic and geographic indices and structured vocabularies

    • Downloads created on www.gbif.org or through the API using the format SIMPLE_CSV are produced in a tab-separated text format, suitable for use with spreadsheets and programming/scripting languages

    • Occurrence data accessed through cloud services, or with the API format SIMPLE_PARQUET, are produced in Apache Parquet format. The fields are the same as for tab-separated text format.

  • Darwin Core Archive (API: DWCA). This is a compressed Zip file, containing data in tab-separated text format, and metadata in XML format.

    • occurrence.txt contains occurrence data after interpretation by GBIF’s systems.

    • multimedia.txt contains information on multimedia (images, audio, video) relating to the occurrences.

    • verbatim.txt contains the original, uninterpreted data, without modifications by GBIF’s systems.

    • optionally, additional verbatim Darwin Core Archive extensions. The data are as-received from the publisher. See GBIF Registered Extensions for documentation of these — note not all of them are maintained by GBIF.

  • Species List (API: SPECIES_LIST). This is a summary format containing the distinct list of species names returned by the filter.

The header row (first row) of all these files contain the short name of the terms they contain. Most of the terms are defined by the Darwin Core standard. For example, the column catalogNumber contains data of the Darwin Core term http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/catalogNumber.

Simple download – Term definitions

The definitions marked with 24 are from the Darwin Core standard.

The definitions marked with 24 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

gbifID

String

No

24 Unique GBIF key for the occurrence.

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

datasetKey

String

No

24 The UUID of the GBIF dataset containing this occurrence.

occurrenceID

String

Yes

24 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.

kingdom

String

Yes

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

phylum

String

Yes

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

class

String

Yes

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

order

String

Yes

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

family

String

Yes

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

genus

String

Yes

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

species

String

Yes

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

infraspecificEpithet

String

Yes

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

taxonRank

String

Yes

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

scientificName

String

Yes

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

verbatimScientificName

String

Yes

24 Scientific name as provided by the source.

verbatimScientificNameAuthorship

String

Yes

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

countryCode

String

Yes

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

locality

String

Yes

24 The specific description of the place.

stateProvince

String

Yes

24 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.

occurrenceStatus

String

Yes

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

For definitions, see the GBIF occurrence status vocabulary.

individualCount

Integer

Yes

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

publishingOrgKey

String

Yes

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

decimalLatitude

Double

Yes

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

decimalLongitude

Double

Yes

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

coordinateUncertaintyInMeters

Double

Yes

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

coordinatePrecision

Double

Yes

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

elevation

Double

Yes

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

elevationAccuracy

Double

Yes

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

depth

Double

Yes

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

depthAccuracy

Double

Yes

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

eventDate

String

Yes

24 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.

day

Integer

Yes

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

month

Integer

Yes

24 The integer month in which the Event occurred.

year

Integer

Yes

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

taxonKey

Integer

Yes

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

speciesKey

Integer

Yes

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

basisOfRecord

String

Yes

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

See GBIF’s Darwin Core Type Vocabulary for definitions.

institutionCode

String

Yes

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

collectionCode

String

Yes

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

catalogNumber

String

Yes

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

recordNumber

String

Yes

24 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.

identifiedBy

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

dateIdentified

ISO 8601 Date

Yes

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

license

String

Yes

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

rightsHolder

String

Yes

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

recordedBy

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

typeStatus

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

establishmentMeans

String structure

Yes

24 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.

lastInterpreted

ISO 8601 Date

Yes

24 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.

mediaType

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

issue

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

24 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.

DWCA downloads

Darwin Core Archive downloads from gbif.org contain the following files:

occurrence.txt

Occurrence data after interpretation by GBIF. Described in detail below.

multimedia.txt

Occurrence multimedia data after interpretation by GBIF. Described in detail below.

verbatim.txt

Occurrence data without interpretation by GBIF. Described in detail below.

verbatim/*.txt

Occurrence extension data without interpretation by GBIF. See GBIF Registered Extensions for documentation of these — note not all of them are maintained by GBIF.

meta.xml

The Darwin Core Archive metafile, describing the structure of the archive — the file formats, column names and their terms.

metadata.xml

Metadata about the download in Ecological Metadata Language (EML).

rights.txt

Licence information for all the datasets with occurrences in the download.

citations.txt

Citations for all the datasets with occurrences in the download.

dataset/*.xml

EML metadata for every dataset with occurrences in the download.

The data may be read without any special tools, including by spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel and LibreOffice Calc (see the FAQ). The .txt files are tab-delimited, and all files are in UTF-8 encoding with Unix-style (\n) line endings.

There are libraries to read Darwin Core Archives in these programming languages:

Interpreted term definitions (occurrence.txt)

This is the Darwin Core Archive core entity, with row type Occurrence. Values are tab-delimited and in UTF-8 encoding.

Column name Data type Nullable Definition

gbifID

String

No

24 Unique GBIF key for the occurrence.

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

accessRights

String

Yes

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

bibliographicCitation

String

Yes

24 A bibliographic reference for the resource.

language

String

Yes

24 A language of the resource.

license

String

Yes

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

modified

ISO 8601 Date

Yes

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

publisher

String

Yes

24 The name of the organization publishing this record

references

String

Yes

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

rightsHolder

String

Yes

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

type

String

Yes

24 The nature or genre of the resource.

institutionID

String

Yes

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

collectionID

String

Yes

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

datasetID

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

institutionCode

String

Yes

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

collectionCode

String

Yes

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

datasetName

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

ownerInstitutionCode

String

Yes

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

basisOfRecord

String

Yes

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

See GBIF’s Darwin Core Type Vocabulary for definitions.

informationWithheld

String

Yes

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

dataGeneralizations

String

Yes

24 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.

dynamicProperties

String

Yes

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

occurrenceID

String

Yes

24 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.

catalogNumber

String

Yes

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

recordNumber

String

Yes

24 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.

recordedBy

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

recordedByID

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

individualCount

Integer

Yes

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

organismQuantity

String

Yes

24 A number or enumeration value for the quantity of organisms.

organismQuantityType

String

Yes

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

sex

String

Yes

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

For definitions, see the GBIF sex vocabulary

lifeStage

String structure

Yes

24 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

reproductiveCondition

String

Yes

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

caste

String

Yes

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

behavior

String

Yes

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

vitality

String

Yes

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

establishmentMeans

String structure

Yes

24 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.

degreeOfEstablishment

String structure

Yes

24 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.

pathway

String structure

Yes

24 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.

georeferenceVerificationStatus

String

Yes

24 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.

occurrenceStatus

String

Yes

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

For definitions, see the GBIF occurrence status vocabulary.

preparations

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

24 A preparation or preservation method for a specimen.

disposition

String

Yes

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

associatedOccurrences

String

Yes

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

associatedReferences

String

Yes

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

associatedSequences

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

associatedTaxa

String

Yes

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

otherCatalogNumbers

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

24 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.

occurrenceRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dwc:Occurrence.

organismID

String

Yes

24 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.

organismName

String

Yes

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

organismScope

String

Yes

24 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.

associatedOrganisms

String

Yes

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

previousIdentifications

String

Yes

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

organismRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dwc:Organism instance.

materialEntityID

String

Yes

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

materialEntityRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dwc:MaterialEntity instance.

verbatimLabel

String

Yes

24 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.

materialSampleID

String

Yes

24 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.

eventID

String

Yes

24 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.

parentEventID

String

Yes

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

eventType

String structure

Yes

24 The type for sampling event records.

fieldNumber

String

Yes

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

eventDate

String

Yes

24 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.

eventTime

String

Yes

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

startDayOfYear

String

Yes

24 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).

endDayOfYear

String

Yes

24 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).

year

Integer

Yes

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

month

Integer

Yes

24 The integer month in which the Event occurred.

day

Integer

Yes

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

verbatimEventDate

String

Yes

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

habitat

String

Yes

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

samplingProtocol

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

sampleSizeValue

String

Yes

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

sampleSizeUnit

String

Yes

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

samplingEffort

String

Yes

24 The amount of effort expended during a dwc:Event.

fieldNotes

String

Yes

24 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.

eventRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dwc:Event.

locationID

String

Yes

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

higherGeographyID

String

Yes

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

higherGeography

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

continent

String

Yes

24 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.

waterBody

String

Yes

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

islandGroup

String

Yes

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

island

String

Yes

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

countryCode

String

Yes

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

stateProvince

String

Yes

24 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.

county

String

Yes

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

municipality

String

Yes

24 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.

locality

String

Yes

24 The specific description of the place.

verbatimLocality

String

Yes

24 The original textual description of the place.

verbatimElevation

String

Yes

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

verticalDatum

String

Yes

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

verbatimDepth

String

Yes

24 The original description of the depth below the local surface.

minimumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters

String

Yes

24 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.

maximumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters

String

Yes

24 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.

locationAccordingTo

String

Yes

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

locationRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dcterms:Location.

decimalLatitude

Double

Yes

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

decimalLongitude

Double

Yes

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

coordinateUncertaintyInMeters

Double

Yes

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

coordinatePrecision

Double

Yes

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

pointRadiusSpatialFit

String

Yes

24 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.

verbatimCoordinateSystem

String

Yes

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

verbatimSRS

String

Yes

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

footprintWKT

String

Yes

24 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.

footprintSRS

String

Yes

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

footprintSpatialFit

String

Yes

24 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.

georeferencedBy

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

georeferencedDate

String

Yes

24 The date on which the dcterms:Location was georeferenced.

georeferenceProtocol

String

Yes

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

georeferenceSources

String

Yes

24 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.

georeferenceRemarks

String

Yes

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

geologicalContextID

String

Yes

24 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.

earliestEonOrLowestEonothem

String structure

Yes

24 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.

latestEonOrHighestEonothem

String structure

Yes

24 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.

earliestEraOrLowestErathem

String structure

Yes

24 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.

latestEraOrHighestErathem

String structure

Yes

24 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.

earliestPeriodOrLowestSystem

String structure

Yes

24 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.

latestPeriodOrHighestSystem

String structure

Yes

24 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.

earliestEpochOrLowestSeries

String structure

Yes

24 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.

latestEpochOrHighestSeries

String structure

Yes

24 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.

earliestAgeOrLowestStage

String structure

Yes

24 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.

latestAgeOrHighestStage

String structure

Yes

24 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.

lowestBiostratigraphicZone

String

Yes

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

highestBiostratigraphicZone

String

Yes

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

lithostratigraphicTerms

String

Yes

24 The combination of all litho-stratigraphic names for the rock from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

group

String

Yes

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

formation

String

Yes

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

member

String

Yes

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

bed

String

Yes

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

identificationID

String

Yes

24 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.

verbatimIdentification

String

Yes

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

identificationQualifier

String

Yes

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

typeStatus

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

identifiedBy

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

identifiedByID

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

24 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.

dateIdentified

ISO 8601 Date

Yes

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

identificationReferences

String

Yes

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

identificationVerificationStatus

String

Yes

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

identificationRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dwc:Identification.

taxonID

String

Yes

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

scientificNameID

String

Yes

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

acceptedNameUsageID

String

Yes

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

parentNameUsageID

String

Yes

24 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.

originalNameUsageID

String

Yes

24 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.

nameAccordingToID

String

Yes

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

namePublishedInID

String

Yes

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

taxonConceptID

String

Yes

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

scientificName

String

Yes

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

acceptedNameUsage

String

Yes

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

parentNameUsage

String

Yes

24 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.

originalNameUsage

String

Yes

24 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.

nameAccordingTo

String

Yes

24 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.

namePublishedIn

String

Yes

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

namePublishedInYear

String

Yes

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

higherClassification

String

Yes

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

kingdom

String

Yes

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

phylum

String

Yes

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

class

String

Yes

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

order

String

Yes

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

superfamily

String

Yes

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

family

String

Yes

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

subfamily

String

Yes

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

tribe

String

Yes

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

subtribe

String

Yes

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

genus

String

Yes

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

genericName

String

Yes

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

subgenus

String

Yes

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

infragenericEpithet

String

Yes

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

specificEpithet

String

Yes

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

infraspecificEpithet

String

Yes

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

cultivarEpithet

String

Yes

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

taxonRank

String

Yes

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

verbatimTaxonRank

String

Yes

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

vernacularName

String

Yes

24 A common or vernacular name.

nomenclaturalCode

String

Yes

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

taxonomicStatus

String

Yes

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

nomenclaturalStatus

String

Yes

24 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.

taxonRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the taxon or name.

datasetKey

String

No

24 The UUID of the GBIF dataset containing this occurrence.

publishingCountry

String

Yes

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

lastInterpreted

ISO 8601 Date

Yes

24 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

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

elevationAccuracy

Double

Yes

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

depth

Double

Yes

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

depthAccuracy

Double

Yes

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

distanceFromCentroidInMeters

Double

Yes

24 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.

issue

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

24 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.

mediaType

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

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

hasCoordinate

Boolean

Yes

24 Boolean indicating that a valid latitude and longitude exists.

hasGeospatialIssues

Boolean

Yes

24 Boolean indicating that some spatial validation rule has not passed.

taxonKey

Integer

Yes

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

acceptedTaxonKey

Integer

Yes

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

kingdomKey

Integer

Yes

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

phylumKey

Integer

Yes

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

classKey

Integer

Yes

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

orderKey

Integer

Yes

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

familyKey

Integer

Yes

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

genusKey

Integer

Yes

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

subgenusKey

Integer

Yes

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

speciesKey

Integer

Yes

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

species

String

Yes

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

acceptedScientificName

String

Yes

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

verbatimScientificName

String

Yes

24 Scientific name as provided by the source.

typifiedName

String

Yes

24 The scientific name that is based on the type specimen.

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

protocol

String

Yes

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

lastParsed

ISO 8601 Date

Yes

24 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.

lastCrawled

ISO 8601 Date

Yes

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

repatriated

String

Yes

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

relativeOrganismQuantity

String

Yes

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

projectId

String array, delimited with ;

Yes

24 Identifiers for projects related to this occurrence.

isSequenced

String

Yes

24 Flag occurrence when associatedSequences/extension exists

gbifRegion

String

Yes

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

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

publishedByGbifRegion

String

Yes

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

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

level0Gid

String

Yes

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

level0Name

String

Yes

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

level1Gid

String

Yes

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

level1Name

String

Yes

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

level2Gid

String

Yes

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

level2Name

String

Yes

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

level3Gid

String

Yes

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

level3Name

String

Yes

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

iucnRedListCategory

String

Yes

24 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.

Multimedia term definitions (multimedia.txt)

Column name Data type Nullable Definition

gbifID

String

No

24 Unique GBIF key for the occurrence.

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

type

String

Yes

24 The nature or genre of the resource.

format

String

Yes

24 The format the image is exposed in. It is recommended to use a IANA registered media type, but known file suffices are permissible too. See http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/media-types.xhtml

identifier

String

Yes

24 The public URL that identifies and locates the media file directly, not the html page it might be shown on. It is highly recommended that a URL to a media file of good resolution is provided or at least dc:reference in cases no public URI exists.

references

String

Yes

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

title

String

Yes

24 The media items title. Strongly recommended as in many cases this will be used as the hyperlink text, and should be used accrodingly.

description

String

Yes

24 A textual description of the content of the media item

source

String

Yes

24 If the media item was derived or taken from another source this is the reference to that resource. For example a book from which an image was scanned or the original provider of a photo/graphic, such as photography agencies.

audience

String

Yes

24 A class or description for whom the image is intended or useful

created

String

Yes

24 The date and time this media item was taken

creator

String

Yes

24 The person that took the image, recorded the video or sound

contributor

String

Yes

24 Any contributor in addition to the creator that helped in recording the media item

publisher

String

Yes

24 The name of the organization publishing this record

license

String

Yes

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

rightsHolder

String

Yes

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

Verbatim term definitions (verbatim.txt)

Data in this table is not modified by GBIF interpretation processes, except for conversion to Unicode and possible changes to whitespace (spaces, tabs, newlines etc).

Column name Data type Nullable Definition

gbifID

String

No

24 Unique GBIF key for the occurrence.

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

accessRights

String

Yes

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

bibliographicCitation

String

Yes

24 A bibliographic reference for the resource.

language

String

Yes

24 A language of the resource.

license

String

Yes

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

modified

String

Yes

24 The most recent date-time on which the resource was changed.

publisher

String

Yes

24 The name of the organization publishing this record

references

String

Yes

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

rightsHolder

String

Yes

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

type

String

Yes

24 The nature or genre of the resource.

institutionID

String

Yes

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

collectionID

String

Yes

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

datasetID

String

Yes

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

institutionCode

String

Yes

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

collectionCode

String

Yes

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

datasetName

String

Yes

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

ownerInstitutionCode

String

Yes

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

basisOfRecord

String

Yes

24 The specific nature of the data record.

informationWithheld

String

Yes

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

dataGeneralizations

String

Yes

24 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.

dynamicProperties

String

Yes

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

occurrenceID

String

Yes

24 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.

catalogNumber

String

Yes

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

recordNumber

String

Yes

24 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.

recordedBy

String

Yes

24 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.

recordedByID

String

Yes

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

individualCount

String

Yes

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

organismQuantity

String

Yes

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

organismQuantityType

String

Yes

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

sex

String

Yes

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

lifeStage

String

Yes

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

reproductiveCondition

String

Yes

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

caste

String

Yes

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

behavior

String

Yes

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

vitality

String

Yes

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

establishmentMeans

String

Yes

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

degreeOfEstablishment

String

Yes

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

pathway

String

Yes

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

georeferenceVerificationStatus

String

Yes

24 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.

occurrenceStatus

String

Yes

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

preparations

String

Yes

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

disposition

String

Yes

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

associatedMedia

String

Yes

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

associatedOccurrences

String

Yes

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

associatedReferences

String

Yes

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

associatedSequences

String

Yes

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

associatedTaxa

String

Yes

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

otherCatalogNumbers

String

Yes

24 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.

occurrenceRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dwc:Occurrence.

organismID

String

Yes

24 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.

organismName

String

Yes

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

organismScope

String

Yes

24 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.

associatedOrganisms

String

Yes

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

previousIdentifications

String

Yes

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

organismRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dwc:Organism instance.

materialEntityID

String

Yes

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

materialEntityRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dwc:MaterialEntity instance.

verbatimLabel

String

Yes

24 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.

materialSampleID

String

Yes

24 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.

eventID

String

Yes

24 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.

parentEventID

String

Yes

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

eventType

String

Yes

24 The nature of the dwc:Event.

fieldNumber

String

Yes

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

eventDate

String

Yes

24 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.

eventTime

String

Yes

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

startDayOfYear

String

Yes

24 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).

endDayOfYear

String

Yes

24 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).

year

String

Yes

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

month

String

Yes

24 The integer month in which the dwc:Event occurred.

day

String

Yes

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

verbatimEventDate

String

Yes

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

habitat

String

Yes

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

samplingProtocol

String

Yes

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

sampleSizeValue

String

Yes

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

sampleSizeUnit

String

Yes

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

samplingEffort

String

Yes

24 The amount of effort expended during a dwc:Event.

fieldNotes

String

Yes

24 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.

eventRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dwc:Event.

locationID

String

Yes

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

higherGeographyID

String

Yes

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

higherGeography

String

Yes

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

continent

String

Yes

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

waterBody

String

Yes

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

islandGroup

String

Yes

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

island

String

Yes

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

country

String

Yes

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

countryCode

String

Yes

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

stateProvince

String

Yes

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

county

String

Yes

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

municipality

String

Yes

24 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.

locality

String

Yes

24 The specific description of the place.

verbatimLocality

String

Yes

24 The original textual description of the place.

minimumElevationInMeters

String

Yes

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

maximumElevationInMeters

String

Yes

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

verbatimElevation

String

Yes

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

verticalDatum

String

Yes

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

minimumDepthInMeters

String

Yes

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

maximumDepthInMeters

String

Yes

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

verbatimDepth

String

Yes

24 The original description of the depth below the local surface.

minimumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters

String

Yes

24 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.

maximumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters

String

Yes

24 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.

locationAccordingTo

String

Yes

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

locationRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dcterms:Location.

decimalLatitude

String

Yes

24 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.

decimalLongitude

String

Yes

24 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.

geodeticDatum

String

Yes

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

coordinateUncertaintyInMeters

String

Yes

24 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.

coordinatePrecision

String

Yes

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

pointRadiusSpatialFit

String

Yes

24 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.

verbatimCoordinates

String

Yes

24 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.

verbatimLatitude

String

Yes

24 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.

verbatimLongitude

String

Yes

24 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.

verbatimCoordinateSystem

String

Yes

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

verbatimSRS

String

Yes

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

footprintWKT

String

Yes

24 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.

footprintSRS

String

Yes

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

footprintSpatialFit

String

Yes

24 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.

georeferencedBy

String

Yes

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

georeferencedDate

String

Yes

24 The date on which the dcterms:Location was georeferenced.

georeferenceProtocol

String

Yes

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

georeferenceSources

String

Yes

24 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.

georeferenceRemarks

String

Yes

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

geologicalContextID

String

Yes

24 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.

earliestEonOrLowestEonothem

String

Yes

24 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.

latestEonOrHighestEonothem

String

Yes

24 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.

earliestEraOrLowestErathem

String

Yes

24 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.

latestEraOrHighestErathem

String

Yes

24 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.

earliestPeriodOrLowestSystem

String

Yes

24 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.

latestPeriodOrHighestSystem

String

Yes

24 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.

earliestEpochOrLowestSeries

String

Yes

24 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.

latestEpochOrHighestSeries

String

Yes

24 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.

earliestAgeOrLowestStage

String

Yes

24 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.

latestAgeOrHighestStage

String

Yes

24 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.

lowestBiostratigraphicZone

String

Yes

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

highestBiostratigraphicZone

String

Yes

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

lithostratigraphicTerms

String

Yes

24 The combination of all litho-stratigraphic names for the rock from which the dwc:MaterialEntity was collected.

group

String

Yes

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

formation

String

Yes

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

member

String

Yes

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

bed

String

Yes

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

identificationID

String

Yes

24 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.

verbatimIdentification

String

Yes

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

identificationQualifier

String

Yes

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

typeStatus

String

Yes

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

identifiedBy

String

Yes

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

identifiedByID

String

Yes

24 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.

dateIdentified

String

Yes

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

identificationReferences

String

Yes

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

identificationVerificationStatus

String

Yes

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

identificationRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the dwc:Identification.

taxonID

String

Yes

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

scientificNameID

String

Yes

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

acceptedNameUsageID

String

Yes

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

parentNameUsageID

String

Yes

24 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.

originalNameUsageID

String

Yes

24 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.

nameAccordingToID

String

Yes

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

namePublishedInID

String

Yes

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

taxonConceptID

String

Yes

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

scientificName

String

Yes

24 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.

acceptedNameUsage

String

Yes

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

parentNameUsage

String

Yes

24 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.

originalNameUsage

String

Yes

24 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.

nameAccordingTo

String

Yes

24 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.

namePublishedIn

String

Yes

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

namePublishedInYear

String

Yes

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

higherClassification

String

Yes

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

kingdom

String

Yes

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

phylum

String

Yes

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

class

String

Yes

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

order

String

Yes

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

superfamily

String

Yes

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

family

String

Yes

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

subfamily

String

Yes

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

tribe

String

Yes

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

subtribe

String

Yes

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

genus

String

Yes

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

genericName

String

Yes

24 The genus part of the dwc:scientificName without authorship.

subgenus

String

Yes

24 The full scientific name of the subgenus in which the dwc:Taxon is classified. Values should include the genus to avoid homonym confusion.

infragenericEpithet

String

Yes

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

specificEpithet

String

Yes

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

infraspecificEpithet

String

Yes

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

cultivarEpithet

String

Yes

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

taxonRank

String

Yes

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

verbatimTaxonRank

String

Yes

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

scientificNameAuthorship

String

Yes

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

vernacularName

String

Yes

24 A common or vernacular name.

nomenclaturalCode

String

Yes

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

taxonomicStatus

String

Yes

24 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.

nomenclaturalStatus

String

Yes

24 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.

taxonRemarks

String

Yes

24 Comments or notes about the taxon or name.

Verbatim extensions (verbatim/*.txt)

Data in these tables is not modified by GBIF interpretation processes, except for conversion to Unicode and possible changes to whitespace (spaces, tabs, newlines etc).

See the GBIF Registered Extensions for documentation of the extensions.

Species list downloads – Term definitions

Species list downloads are a summary format containing the distinct list of species names returned by the filter.

The definitions marked with 24 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

taxonKey

Integer

No

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

scientificName

String

Yes

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

acceptedTaxonKey

Integer

Yes

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

acceptedScientificName

String

Yes

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

numberOfOccurrences

String

Yes

24 The number of occurrences of this species/taxon.

taxonRank

String

Yes

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

taxonomicStatus

String

Yes

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

kingdom

String

Yes

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

kingdomKey

Integer

Yes

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

phylum

String

Yes

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

phylumKey

Integer

Yes

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

class

String

Yes

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

classKey

Integer

Yes

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

order

String

Yes

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

orderKey

Integer

Yes

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

family

String

Yes

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

familyKey

Integer

Yes

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

genus

String

Yes

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

genusKey

Integer

Yes

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

species

String

Yes

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

speciesKey

Integer

Yes

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

iucnRedListCategory

String

Yes

24 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.