This is the current version of the Data Dictionary for BIEN 3+ and RBIEN. It is also downloadable in Excel format.
| Field | Definition | Value | Function Family |
| access | The access conditions, if any, for using a particular trait observation. | If "public" the record may be used without first contacting the PIs, if "public (notify the PIs)" The PIs must be contacted prior to publishing using this record. | BIEN_trait |
| class | The taxonomic class that to which a taxon belongs. | BIEN_taxonomy | |
| collection_code | The name or acronym identifying the institution, collection or data set from which the record was derived. Can be the same as custodial_institution_codes, or different if several collections are housed within the same institution. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| country | The country associated with a given observation. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_list, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_trait | |
| county | The county or other third-level political division associated with a given observation. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| custodial_institution_codes | The name(s) (or acronyms) in use by the institution(s) having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| datasource_id | A unique integer that identifies an individual data set in the BIEN database | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| datasource | The institution of person that provided the data set to BIEN (the proximate data provider). | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| dataset | The name of the data set | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| dataowner | The person or institution that produced and/or owns the data set and serves as primary contact for questions of authorship & access | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| date_collected | The date which an organism or group of organisms was collected or observed. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| elevation | Elevation of observation (in original units). | BIEN_trait | |
| elevation_m | Elevation of observation (in meters). | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| growth_forms_included_all | Were all plant growth forms included in the survey of the plot? | "No", NA | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| growth_forms_included_epiphytes | Were epiphytes included in the survey of the plot? | "Yes", "No", NA, "partial" indicates that some (but not all) epiphytes were included. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| growth_forms_included_herbs | Were herbs included in the survey of the plot? | "Yes", "No", NA, "partial" indicates that some (but not all) herbs were included. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| growth_forms_included_lianas | Were lianas included in the survey of the plot? | "Yes", "No", NA, "partial" indicates that some (but not all) lianas were included. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| growth_forms_included_notes | How was growth form inclusion determined? | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| growth_forms_included_shrubs | Were shrubs included in the survey of the plot? | "Yes", "No", NA, "partial" indicates that some (but not all) shrubs were included. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| growth_forms_included_trees | Were trees included in the survey of the plot? | "Yes", "No", NA, "partial" indicates that some (but not all) trees were included. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| higher_plant_group | The higher plant group to which a given taxon belongs. Note that these include both monophyletic and non-monophyletic groups. | "bryophytes", "gymnosperms (non-conifer)", "gymnosperm (conifers)", "flowering plants", "ferns and allies", "NA" | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_taxonomy, BIEN_trait |
| id | A unique numeric identifier assigned to each trait observation. | BIEN_trait | |
| individual_count | The number of individuals represented by this observation (applies to aggregate count observations only) | BIEN_plot | |
| is_cultivated | Is an occurrence record likely from a cultivated individual plant? | 1 indicates "Yes", 0 indicates "No", and a missing value indicates cultivated status could not be evaluated due to insufficient information. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_list, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| is_cultivated_in_region | Is the species known to be commonly cultivated in the region (country or state/province) in which it was observed? | 1 indicates "Yes", 0 indicates "No", and a missing value indicates insufficient information (either no checklist for the region of observation, or available checklists do not evaluate cultivated status). | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_list, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| is_geovalid | Do the GIS coordinates fall within the declared country (and state/province for Brazil, Canada, and the USA)? | 1 indicates "Yes", 0 indicates "NO", and "NA" indicates that geovalidation could not be completed due to missing or invalid geocoordinates or misspelled political division names. | |
| is_new_world | Is the occurrence record from the New World (North or South America)? | 1 indicates "yes", 0 indicates "no", and a value of "NA" indicates that there was not sufficient information to determine this. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_list, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| isintroduced | Is the occurrence likely to represent an introduced species? | 1 indicates "Yes", 0 indicates "No", and a missing value indicates that there is not enough information to tell. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| latitude | The latitude (in decimal degrees) associated with a given record | Numeric, -90 to 90. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_trait |
| locality | The specific description of the place where an observation or collection was made. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| longitude | The longitude (in decimal degrees) associated with a given record. | Numeric, -180 to 180. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_trait |
| lower_political | The geopolitical division below county(or other third-level political division) associated with a given record. | BIEN_trait | |
| matched_taxonomic_status | The taxonomic status of the name matched by the TNRS (see "name_matched"). That is, the status of the published name whose spelling most closely matches the verbatim name in the original data. | BIEN_trait | |
| method | Short standardized name of the methodology used to generate the plot or trait data. | BIEN_trait | |
| methodology_description | More detailed description of the methodology used to generate the plot or trait data. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| methodology_reference | A URL source describing the the methodology in greater detail. | URL | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| family_matched | Family matched by the TNRS. Populated only if a family name was included in the original data. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_trait | |
| name_matched | Scientific name with the highest match score in the TNRS. May be an exact match or a fuzzy match. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_trait | |
| name_matched_author | Standard authority for the name_matched. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_trait | |
| name_submitted | The name of the taxon exactly as it was submitted to the TNRS. Will included the family preprended to the scientific name, if family was present in the original data. | BIEN_trait | |
| native_status | The native status of the observed taxon within the lowest political division evaluated by the NSR. Currently, observations within Canada, the US, and Brazil are evaluated to the second political division (state/province). Observations for all other countries are evaluated to the country level only. | N Native to region of observation (RO), as declared by one or more checklists Ne Native and endemic to RO I Introduced, as declared in checklist for RO Ie Endemic to other region and therefore introduced in RO P Present in one or more checklists for RO, but no explicit status assigned A Absent from all checklists for RO and not endemic elsewhere according to available checklists UNK Unknown; no checklists available for RO and taxon not endemic elsewhere |
BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| native_status_country | The native_status within the country of observation. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| native_status_county_parish | The native_status within the third political division (county/parish) of an observation. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| native_status_reason | Reason(s) native status was assigned | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| native_status_sources | The checklist sources that were used to assign native status. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| native_status_state_province | native_status within second political division (state/province) of observation | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| observation_type | Is an observation from plot or specimen data? | "specimen", "plot" | BIEN_occurrence |
| order | The taxonomic order that to which a taxon belongs. | BIEN_taxonomy | |
| plot_area_ha | The area of an ecological plot in hectares. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| plot_name | The name identifying a given plot. Plot names (unlike subplots) are globally unique. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| project_pi | The Principal Investigator (or contact author) of the study that published the associated trait data. | BIEN_trait | |
| recorded_by | A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups, or organizations responsible for recording the original Occurrence. The primary collector or observer, especially one who applies a personal identifier (recordNumber), should be listed first. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| region | The geopolitical region, typically above country level, where a trait observation was made. | BIEN_trait | |
| relative_x_m | The relative position (in meters) of an observation within a plot, relative to the origin of the plot. | BIEN_stem | |
| relative_y_m | The relative position (in meters) of an observation within a plot, relative to the origin of the plot. | BIEN_stem | |
| sampling_protocol | The sampling protocol used to sample the associated plot. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| scrubbed_author | The accepted author of the final scientific name resolved by the TNRS. Will be the author of the matched name if no accepted name found. See "scrubbed_taxon_name_no_author" for details. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_taxonomy, BIEN_trait | |
| scrubbed_family | The accepted APG III family of the final scientific name resolved by the TNRS. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_taxonomy, BIEN_trait | |
| scrubbed_genus | Genus portion of the final scientific name resolved by the TNRS. Will be the genus of the matched name if no accepted name found. See "scrubbed_taxon_name_no_author" for details. Null if name not resolved to genus. | BIEN_taxonomy, BIEN_trait | |
| scrubbed_species_binomial | Binomial (species) portion of the final scientific name resolved by the TNRS. Will be the binomial portion of the matched name if no accepted name was found. See "scrubbed_taxon_name_no_author" for details. Null if name not resolved to species (e.g., a partial match to genus only). | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_list, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_taxonomy, BIEN_trait | |
| scrubbed_species_binomial_with_morphospecies | Genus or binomial (species) portion of the final scientific name resolved by the TNRS, plus any additional text not resolved by the TNRS. In many cases, may represent a morphospecies used intentionally by the original author (e.g., "Ocotea sp.2", "Miconia 'fuzzy leaf'"). In other cases, may include a specific epithet so badly misspelled it could not be resolved by the TNRS. In other cases, may be complete garbage. In plot data, this field usually represents morphospecies, and normally should be used instead of "scrubbed_taxon_name_no_author" to count species. In specimen or trait observation, this field is more likely to contain erroneous names (if different from "scrubbed_taxon_name_no_author") and therefore in general should be not be used. Use with caution. | BIEN_trait | |
| scrubbed_specific_epithet | Specific epithet portion of the final scientific name resolved by the TNRS. Will be the specific epithet portion of the matched name if no accepted name was found. See "scrubbed_taxon_name_no_author" for details. Null if name not resolved to species (e.g., a partial match to genus only). | BIEN_trait | |
| scrubbed_taxon_canonical | Final scientific name resolved by the TNRS, minus the authority and rank indicators such as 'var.', 'subspecies', etc. See "scrubbed_taxon_name_no_author" | BIEN_trait | |
| scrubbed_taxon_name_no_author | Final scientific name resolved by the TNRS, minus the authority. If the matched name (see "name_matched") was a synonym, the scrubbed name will be the accepted name. If no accepted name was provided by the taxonomic references consulted, then scrubbed name will be the matched name. Such names (scrubbed names whose taxonomic status is not equal to "Accepted") should be used with caution. See "scrubbed_taxonomic_status". | BIEN_trait | |
| scrubbed_taxon_name_with_author | Authority of the final scientific name resolved by the TNRS. See "scrubbed_taxon_name_no_author" for details. | BIEN_trait | |
| scrubbed_taxonomic_status | Taxonomic status of the final resolved taxon name returned by the TNRS. See "scrubbed_taxon_name_no_author" for details. | BIEN_taxonomy, BIEN_trait | |
| state_province | The state, province, or other second-level political division associated with a given observation. | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| stateprovince | The state, province, or other second-level political division associated with a given observation. | BIEN_trait | |
| stem_code | Code applied to a specific stem in a plot to associate a field data entry with a stem in the database. | BIEN_stem | |
| stem_dbh_cm | The diameter at breast height (1.3m), measured in cm. | BIEN_stem | |
| stem_height_m | The height of a stem, in meters. | BIEN_stem | |
| subplot | Identifier for a subplot, line, or any other subsample or subdivision of plot. Note that a subplot identifier is only unique within a given plot (i.e. there are many different plots that share subplot identifiers). | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| superorder | The taxonomic superorder to which a taxon belongs. | BIEN_taxonomy | |
| taxa_included_all | Were all land plant taxa included in the survey of the plot? | "Yes","No", NA | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| taxa_included_bryophytes | Were bryophytes included in the survey of the plot? | "Yes","No", NA | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| taxa_included_exclusions | What taxa were excluded from the survey of the plot? | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem | |
| taxa_included_ferns_lycophytes | Were ferns and lycophytes included in the survey of the plot? | "Yes","No", NA, "partial" indicates that some (but not all) ferns and lycophytes were included. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| taxa_included_seed_plants | Were seed plants included in the survey of the plot? | "Yes","No", NA, "partial" indicates that some (but not all) seed plants were included. | BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem |
| taxonobservation_id | BIEN-generated unique integer (primary key) assigned to each unique observation of a taxon. Unique within the BIEN database. | BIEN_stem | |
| tnrs_warning | Warning returned by the TNRS if name not completely matched. "Partial match only" indicates that the name matched is at a higher taxonomic rank than the name submitted. For example, a species name is submitted but only a genus name was matched. Use this field in combination with "scrubbed_taxonomic_status" in deciding if the taxonomic name attached to a particular observation is correct and sufficient resolved to use. | "Partial match only", NA | BIEN_trait |
| trait_name | The name of a trait. In many cases, these are standardized according to http://www.top-thesaurus.org/. | BIEN_trait | |
| trait_value | The value of a particular trait. Usually numeric but can also be categorical (e.g. growth form). | BIEN_trait | |
| unit | The unit that a trait is measured in. | BIEN_trait | |
| url_source | The URL associated with a trait observation. | BIEN_trait | |
| verbatim_family | The family name as recorded in the original dataset, before passing through the TNRS | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_trait | |
| verbatim_scientific_name | The scientific name as recorded in the original dataset, before passing through the TNRS | BIEN_occurrence, BIEN_plot, BIEN_stem, BIEN_trait |