July 2017 - tdwg-content - lists.tdwg.org

Re: [tdwg-content] If you need something for referring to a population, then it is probably best to do it as a related class
by Nico Franz 05 Jun '25

05 Jun '25

Hello all: I have a few inserted comments, hopefully with some clarifying effect: On 5/4/2011 10:54 AM, Peter DeVries wrote: > Hi Steve, > > I may have overloaded the term specimen to make the explanation easier > to follow. > > A specimen could be an individual or it could be part of an individual. > > To some extent you need to think about how these models will be used. > > If you subscribe to the model that a species is whatever a taxonomists > says it is then it is difficult to make statements like. > > X% of the world's species will be extinct by 2050. > > If you mean a species as defined by the concept documented at this URI > which is supported by these specimens, images, and DNA then you are on > firmer ground. > > Species in the natural world do a pretty good job recognizing those > individuals that are appropriate mates. In other words members of > their own species. > > Are we modeling species or variations in human conceptualizations of > species? > >> Assuming that there was only one individual organism identified >> there is really one one species (or hybrid). > Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Please Nico C., don't take this one up! > > > I stick with this. Assuming you don't have a hybrid individual. That > individual is one species. The fact that human may disagree on what > species it is a human issue. > > Again, Are we modeling species or variations in human > conceptualizations of species? NMF: I believe there is a history of biodiversity database engineering that actually led some people, initially in Australia (Greg Whitbread?) and Europe (Berendsohn's group) to place more emphasis on modeling human conceptualizations of taxa. I understand this happened in the late 80s / early 90s. The motivation was, apparently, that no long-term consensus seemed available to model a single and sufficiently widely accepted taxonomy of, say, Central European vascular plant species or mosses. I believe that projects such as the Euro + Med PlantBase (http://www.emplantbase.org/home.html) are examples of the persistence (success?) of this 20+ year old practice. I think this is the kind of background that Steve is referring to. > > Which of these is of primary importance to decision makers and > non-taxonomist biologists? > Part of the problem with various publications relating to ontologies > and taxonomy is that their species models entail a specific > phylogenetic hypothesis. > > In the real world taxa are not as clean as some would like to make > them out to be. > > Each individual is a unique combination of thousands of separate gene > lineages which often do not follow clean monophyletic paths. > > I would argue that most of those who work with species related data > see them as useful typological constructs which in general follow the > biological species model. NMF: The solution of how to properly model things such as species in RDF, OWL (etc.) should ideally accommodate all "species concepts" (BCS, ESC, PSC, GSC, there's dozens), i.e. it should be neutral towards this issue. The examples below are too simple, ignoring for example cases such as pro parte synonymy, or a concept ("species") that appears unique and monophyletic to one author but (vastly) polyphyletic to another. To do an accurate mapping in that latter case (which is not super-common but it's real), I think one would have to come down on saying we're modeling human conceptualizations. They are not just that, so really it's not a strict dichotomy, meaning that by modeling conceptualizations we do not have to say "the species only exist on our heads", or "well, then anything goes". I agree (sheepishly) that it does come down to what the input data look like, and what the expectations are towards just accommodating the user community versus pushing them in a particular direction. Some of this also on p. 47 of this PDF: https://journals.ku.edu/index.php/jbi/article/view/3927/3852 > > /Aedes triseriatus/ owl:sameAs /Ochlerotatus triseriatus/ > > Others seem to see them as phylogenetic end nodes which entail a > specific phylogenetic history. > > /Aedes triseriatus/ distinctFrom /Ochlerotatus triseriatus/ > / > / > If you are primarily interested in understanding issues of ecology, > disease, diversity and conservation the former model is more > appropriate than the later. > > Respectfully, > > - Pete Regards, Nico Nico M. Franz, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Director, UPRM Invertebrate Collection Department of Biology University of Puerto Rico Call Box 9000 Mayagüez, PR 00681-9000 Phone: (787) 832-4040, ext. 3005 Fax: (787) 834-3673 E-mail: nico.franz(a)upr.edu Laboratory website: http://academic.uprm.edu/~franz/ UPRM-INVCOL: http://uprm-invcol-project.tumblr.com/

3 2

Abstract deadline extended; 4th keynote announced
by Stanley Blum 14 Jul '17

14 Jul '17

Due to numerous requests, we have extended the deadline for abstract submission by one week. Abstracts are now due July 21. To ease life for workshop and symposium organizers, please submit earlier, if possible. We have added a final keynote address for this year's meeting: Anne Bowser, who works in a number of fora around issues of data interoperability in citizen science, and who's work on gamification is familiar to many of us. Anne joins an illustrious lineup, and we now have keynotes for each of the first four days of the week. We will meet in plenary each of these mornings, and then break out in parallel sessions for the remainder of each day. Please also note that computer demonstration will be in the form of a software bazaar. We will have a designated time slot, and a room with tables where those with demos can set up laptops, and attendees can float around from demo to demo, as in a poster session. Abstracts are required for computer demonstrations. With best regards, Joel Sachs James Macklin

1 0

TDWG 2017: program additions and upcoming deadlines
by Stanley Blum 12 Jul '17

12 Jul '17

[View this in your browser <http://mailchi.mp/38b6a4f1a9cb/tdwg-2017-program-additions-and-upcoming-dea…> ] We are excited to announce two additions to the TDWG 2017 program: i. A pre-conference data carpentry workshop will be held at the Museum of Nature on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Details can be found at https://idigbio.github.io/2017-09-30-TDWG-Ottawa/, and registration for the workshop will be available shortly on the conference registration site <https://www.regonline.com/tdwg2017>. (If you have already registered for the conference, you can amend your registration to include the workshop.) These data carpentry workshops are excellent and popular; we will restrict registration to TDWG attendees until the early-bird registration deadline (Aug. 1), after which we will open it up to local students and the general public, until the course capacity is reached. ii. We have added a keynote address from Javier de la Torre, founder and CEO of CartoDB. Many of you know Javier from his many years of involvement with TDWG, and for his visionary leadership in visualization and location intelligence. He will be speaking Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Recall that we have two other outstanding keynotes - Rod Page on Monday morning, and Pam Soltis on Thursday. We'd also like to remind everyone that the deadline for abstract submissions is this Friday, July 14. Please see the call for abstracts <https://tdwg.github.io/conferences/2017/call-for-abstracts/> for details, and instructions on submitting an abstract <https://tdwg.github.io/conferences/2017/call-for-abstracts/instructions/>. We look forward to seeing you in Ottawa! James Macklin Joel Sachs TDWG 2017 Conference Website

1 0

Darwin Core Hour #6: Where am I, exactly? Darwin Core Georeferencing Terms
by Deborah Paul 11 Jul '17

11 Jul '17

Greetings TDWG! One week from today - find out precisely where you are - via Darwin Core Hour #6: Where am I, exactly? Darwin Core Georeferencing Terms Abstract: In this chapter of the Darwin Core Hour series, we will look in depth at two Darwin Core georeferencing terms that can be confusing when sharing location data: coordinateUncertaintyInMeters and coordinatePrecision. We will cover these specific Location terms, along with related terms needed to understand their definitions, importance, and uses. Finally, we will use these terms to demonstrate the process by which community feedback leads to improved Darwin Core documentation. Please bring your insights, community experience, and questions surrounding locality data issues. Presenters: David Bloom, John Wieczorek Date, Time: Tuesday, 11 July at 8am PDT, 11am EDT, 12pm GMT-3 Where: https://idigbio.adobeconnect.com/room References: Darwin Core Location terms: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/index.htm#locationindex BioGeomancer Guide to Best Practices in Georeferencing: http://www.gbif.org/resource/80536 Darwin Core Georeferences Questions & Answers page: https://github.com/tdwg/dwc-qa/wiki/Georeferences MVZ and iDigBio GWG Guide for Recording Localities in Field Notes http://www.idigbio.org/sites/default/files/working-groups/gwg/GoodBadLocali… Hints for best Adobe Connect experience: https://www.idigbio.org/wiki/index.php/Web_Conferencing Brought to you by the Darwin Core Hour Team - Connecting Biodiversity Data Communities Deb Paul, et al -- -- Upcoming iDigBio Events https://www.idigbio.org/calendar -- Deborah Paul, iDigBio Digitization and Workforce Training Specialist iDigBio -- Steering Committee Member, SPNHC Liaison and Member-At-Large, SYNTHESYS3 Representative Institute for Digital Information, 234 LSB Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida 32306 850-644-6366

2 1