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

[Steve Baskauf]

OK, now that I've had a chance to look at the RDF, it is as I 
suspected.  If I am understanding the proposal correctly, the proposal 
is to replace the term <http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/habitat> (i.e. 
/dwc:habitat/) with the term 
<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00002036> (which I'll call 
/envo:00002036/ for brevity)  However, the definition of /dwc:habitat 
/which you can view at 
http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/source/browse/trunk/rdf/dwcterms.rdf 
says

/ dwc:habitat rdf:type rdfs:Property/

whereas the document I received at the end of those four redirects tells 
me that

/envo:00002036/ /rdf:type owl:Class/

Since

/owl:Class rdfs:subclassOf rdfs:Class/

then we are effectively changing the current DwC "habitat" term from a 
property into a class similar to /dwc:Occurrence/, /dwc:Identification/, 
/dwc:Taxon/, etc. which are all of type/ rdfs:Class/. 

So I'm left wondering what I can do with the new term.  With the old 
term I could make a statement like

<http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/baskauf/50750#eve> /dwc:habitat/ 
"deciduous forest"

or something like that if I take the hint from the DwC class groupings 
that /dwc:habitat/ might be a property of /dwc:Event/ instances.  But I 
can't meaningfully say

<http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/baskauf/50750#eve> /envo:00002036/  
"deciduous forest"

That doesn't make any sense because the way I understand RDF, predicates 
should be properties, not classes.  Even if we weren't talking about 
RDF, I'd still have the same problem (we are changing a property into a 
class) - it's just easier for me to make plain what the issue is by 
giving RDF examples.  So just exactly what can I "do" with 
/envo:00002036/ ?????

I haven't looked up the RDF for the other proposed terms (too much work 
with the four redirects), but I suspect if I did, I'd find that they are 
also classes and not properties.  This particular issue is a case of a 
broader issue that I have about OBO-style ontologies.  They are great 
for defining how many, many kinds of classes are related to each other.  
But they provide very few properties that could be used as predicates to 
serve as properties of instance data.

Steve

John Wieczorek wrote:
> 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
> _______________________________________________
> tdwg-content mailing list
> tdwg-content at lists.tdwg.org
> http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content
>
> .
>
>   

-- 
Steven J. Baskauf, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer
Vanderbilt University Dept. of Biological Sciences

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