U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey The Biological Data Profile Extending the FGDC Metadata Standard Kirsten Larsen

The Biological Data Profile  Lesson Goal: To be able to add the Biological Data Profile (BDP) elements within a metadata record  Objectives :  1. Add BDP elements in Metavist  2. Retrieve taxonomic information from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)  3. Find keywords using the Biocomplexity Thesaurus

 Additional biological elements define:  Taxonomy  Methodology  Analytical Tools  Document three types of data sets:  Explicitly biological  Biological and geospatial  Explicitly geospatial The Biological Data Profile

Where are Biological Elements Added?  Section 1 Identification Information  Section 2 Data Quality Information  Section 6 Distribution Information  Section 9 Time Period Information

Identification Information (Section 1)  1.5 Spatial Domain:  BDP Description of Geographic Extent:  Short description of the geographic aerial domain of the data set. This is especially important when the extent of the data set is not well described by the "Bounding Rectangle Coordinates".  BDP 5.2 Altitude  Altitudinal domain of data set

BDP1.7 Taxonomy(MA)  BDP1.7.1 Taxon/Keywords (M)  BDP1.7.2 Taxonomic System (MA)  BDP1.7.3 General Taxonomic Coverage (O)  description of range of taxa…“all vascular plants were identified to family or species, mosses and lichens were identified as moss or lichen”  BDP1.7.4 Taxonomic Classification (M)

BDP Keywords/Taxon (M)  Taxonomic Keyword Thesaurus (M)  Consider Biocomplexity Thesaurus  Taxonomic Keywords (M)  Domain: collection, multiple species, single species, amphibians, animals, bacteria, fungi, invertebrates, lichens, mammals, mosses, plants, protists, reptiles, vegetation, vertebrates, viruses, free text.

BDP Taxonomic System (MA) Classification System/Authority (M) CitationModifications Identification Reference(MA) CitationIdentifier(O)Contact

BDP Taxonomic System (MA) Taxonomic Procedures (M) Taxonomic Completeness (MA) Vouchers (MA) Specimen Type (M) Domain: herbarium specimens, blood samples, photographs, free text Repository - Contact (M)

BDP1.7.4 Taxonomic Classification (M) Taxon Rank Name Taxon Rank Value Applicable Common Name Taxon Rank Name Taxon Rank Name Taxon Rank Value Taxon Rank Value Applicable Common Name Applicable Common Name Repeat as necessary

Tools Supporting the Biological Data Profile  To View BDPs:  NPS Extension  To Create BDPs:  TKME and Metavist support the BDP  TKME is available for download at  Metavist can be ordered online at

 BDP not supported in ArcCatalog  NPS Metadata Extension  MP includes configuration file for parsing  Adds FGDC NBII stylesheet for view BPD metadata records The Biological Data Profile

Display Biological Data Profile metadata records using the FGDC NBII stylesheet

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)  Cooperative effort  Standardized reference for scientific names for plants and animals of North America. 

Controlled Vocabularies – Keyword Thesaurus NBII Biocomplexity Thesaurus ISO Topic Categories Global Change Master Directory Keyword List AFSA Thesaurus – aquatic science and fisheries CERES – integrated environmental thesaurus EnVoc – UN Environmental Information Exchange NBII recommends using the Biocomplexity Thesaurus for biological metadata records.

Exercise 1. Using the Web Browser on your computer, go to: Search for information on your favorite organism: Scientific or Common Name Appropriate Kingdom Click on the link under Search Results for details on the Taxonomic Hierarchy 2.Go to the NBII Biocomplexity Thesaurus site: Find key words describing your organism or a hypothetical biological dataset

Section 1 Section 1.5 BDP BDP

Now its your turn….  Enter the keywords from you NBII Biocomplexity Thesaurus search into Metavist  Use the information from your ITIS search to add taxonomic information in Metavist

Review  Section 1 BDP Elements:  Spatial Extent  Keywords  Taxonomic Information  Tools supporting the BDP  NPS extension  TKME  Metavist  Web Support  ITIS  NBII Biocomplexity Thesaurus