[tdwg-content] Proposed new Darwin Core environmental terms from ENVO

[John Wieczorek]

Dear all,

GBIF has just published "Meeting Report: GBIF hackathon-workshop on
Darwin Core and sample data (22-24 May 2013)" at
http://www.gbif.org/orc/?doc_id=5424. Now that this document is
available for public reference, I would like to formally open the
minimum 30-day comment period on the new environmental terms proposed
during the workshop and defined in the referenced document.

The formal proposal would change the term habitat to align it with the
ENVO habitat term. The related issues in the Darwin Core issue tracker
is https://code.google.com/p/darwincore/issues/detail?id=178. The
Darwin Core term habitat would be redefined as follows:

Term Name: habitat
Identifier: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00002036
Namespace: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/
Label: Habitat
Definition: A spatial region having environmental qualities which may
sustain an organism or a community of organisms.
Comment: Examples: "freshwater habitat",
"http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00002037". For discussion see
http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/Event (there will be no
further documentation here until the term is ratified)
Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class
Refines:
Status: proposed
Date Issued: 2008-11-19
Date Modified: 2013-09-25
Has Domain:
Has Range:
Refines:
Version: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00002036
Replaces: habitat-2009-04-24
IsReplaceBy:
Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Event
ABCD 2.0.6: not in ABCD (someone please confirm or deny this)

The formal proposal would add the following new terms for biome,
environmental feature, and environmental material:

Term Name: biome
Identifier: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000428
Namespace: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/
Label: Biome
Definition: A major class of ecologically similar communities of
plants, animals, and other organisms. Biomes are defined based on
factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses),
leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest,
woodland, savanna), and other factors like climate. Unlike ecozones,
biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical
similarities. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of
ecological succession and climax vegetation.
Comment: Examples: "flooded grassland biome",
"http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_01000195". For discussion see
http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/Event (there will be no
further documentation here until the term is ratified)
Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class
Refines:
Status: proposed
Date Issued: 2013-09-25
Date Modified: 2013-09-25
Has Domain:
Has Range:
Refines:
Version: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000428
Replaces:
IsReplaceBy:
Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Event
ABCD 2.0.6: not in ABCD (someone please confirm or deny this)

Term Name: environmental feature
Identifier: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00002297
Namespace: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/
Label: Environmental Feature
Definition: A prominent or distinctive aspect, quality, or
characteristic of a biome.
Comment: Examples: "meadow",
"http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000108". For discussion see
http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/Event (there will be no
further documentation here until the term is ratified)
Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class
Refines:
Status: proposed
Date Issued: 2013-09-25
Date Modified: 2013-09-25
Has Domain:
Has Range:
Refines:
Version: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00002297
Replaces:
IsReplaceBy:
Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Event
ABCD 2.0.6: not in ABCD (someone please confirm or deny this)

Term Name: environmental material
Identifier: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00010483
Namespace: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/
Label: Environmental Material
Definition: Material in or on which organisms may live.
Comment: Examples: "scum",
"http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00003930". For discussion see
http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/Event (there will be no
further documentation here until the term is ratified)
Type of Term: http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class
Refines:
Status: proposed
Date Issued: 2013-09-25
Date Modified: 2013-09-25
Has Domain:
Has Range:
Refines:
Version: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00010483
Replaces:
IsReplaceBy:
Class: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Event
ABCD 2.0.6: not in ABCD (someone please confirm or deny this)

The related issues in the Darwin Core issue tracker are
https://code.google.com/p/darwincore/issues/detail?id=189
https://code.google.com/p/darwincore/issues/detail?id=190
and
https://code.google.com/p/darwincore/issues/detail?id=191

If there are any objections to the changes proposed for these terms,
or comments about their definitions, please respond to this message.
If there are no objections or if consensus can be reached on any
amendments put forward, the proposal will go before the Executive
Committee for authorization to put these additions into effect after
the public commentary period.

Cheers,

John