The Biological Collections Ontology was originally created at the Biocode Commons Hackathon at GSC14. Older versions can be viewed at http://code.google.com/p/biocode-commons/source/browse/#svn%2Ftrunk%2Fontologies%2Fbiocollections. Some of the classes in this ontology may be replaced by existing or newly requested terms from OBI or other ontologies. The Biological Collections Ontology (BCO) is licensed under a Creative Commons zero (CC0) license - http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. We ask that anyone using this ontology follow the standards of the scientific ontology community by re-using ontology identifiers whenever possible and properly citing the ontology and its creators.
Biocode Commons Ontology Hackathon members
taxonomic inventory metadata preferred name
BCO preferred label
editor preferred term
PERSON:Daniel Schober
The concise, meaningful, and human-friendly name for a class or property preferred by the ontology developers. (US-English)
example of usage
A phrase describing how a class name should be used. May also include other kinds of examples that facilitate immediate understanding of a class semantics, such as widely known prototypical subclasses or instances of the class. Although essential for high level terms, examples for low level terms (e.g., Affymetrix HU133 array) are not
example
in branch
An annotation property indicating which module the terms belong to. This is currently experimental and not implemented yet.
has curation status
PERSON:Alan Ruttenberg
PERSON:Bill Bug
PERSON:Melanie Courtot
definition
The official definition, explaining the meaning of a class or property. Shall be Aristotelian, formalized and normalized. Can be augmented with colloquial definitions.
editor note
An administrative note intended for its editor. It may not be included in the publication version of the ontology, so it should contain nothing necessary for end users to understand the ontology.
definition editor
term editor
20110707, MC: label update to term editor and definition modified accordingly. See http://code.google.com/p/information-artifact-ontology/issues/detail?id=115.
Name of editor entering the definition in the file. The definition editor is a point of contact for information regarding the term. The definition editor may be, but is not always, the author of the definition, which may have been worked upon by several people
Name of editor entering the term in the file. The term editor is a point of contact for information regarding the term. The term editor may be, but is not always, the author of the definition, which may have been worked upon by several people
alternative term
An alternative name for a class or property which means the same thing as the preferred name (semantically equivalent)
definition source
Discussion on obo-discuss mailing-list, see http://bit.ly/hgm99w
formal citation, e.g. identifier in external database to indicate / attribute source(s) for the definition. Free text indicate / attribute source(s) for the definition. EXAMPLE: Author Name, URI, MeSH Term C04, PUBMED ID, Wiki uri on 31.01.2007
has obsolescence reason
Relates an annotation property to an obsolescence reason. The values of obsolescence reasons come from a list of predefined terms, instances of the class obsolescence reason specification.
curator note
An administrative note of use for a curator but of no use for a user
In OWL 2 add AnnotationPropertyRange('is denotator type' 'denotator type')
relates an class defined in an ontology, to the type of it's denotator
is denotator type
imported from
For external terms/classes, the ontology from which the term was imported
expand expression to
A macro expansion tag applied to an object property (or possibly a data property) which can be used by a macro-expansion engine to generate more complex expressions from simpler ones
ObjectProperty: RO_0002104 Label: has plasma membrane part Annotations: IAO_0000424 "http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some (http://purl.org/obo/owl/GO#GO_0005886 and http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some ?Y)"
expand assertion to
A macro expansion tag applied to an annotation property which can be expanded into a more detailed axiom.
Chris Mungall
ObjectProperty: RO??? Label: spatially disjoint from Annotations: expand_assertion_to "DisjointClasses: (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some ?X) (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some ?Y)"
first order logic expression
antisymmetric property
Alan Ruttenberg
part_of antisymmetric property xsd:true
use boolean value xsd:true to indicate that the property is an antisymmetric property
OBO foundry unique label
The intended usage of that property is as follow: OBO foundry unique labels are automatically generated based on regular expressions provided by each ontology, so that SO could specify unique label = 'sequence ' + [label], etc. , MA could specify 'mouse + [label]' etc. Upon importing terms, ontology developers can choose to use the 'OBO foundry unique label' for an imported term or not. The same applies to tools .
An alternative name for a class or property which is unique across the OBO Foundry.
GROUP:OBO Foundry <http://obofoundry.org/>
PERSON:Bjoern Peters
PERSON:Chris Mungall
term replaced by
Person:Alan Ruttenberg
Use on obsolete terms, relating the term to another term that can be used as a substitute
has_specified_input
8/17/09: specified inputs of one process are not necessarily specified inputs of a larger process that it is part of. This is in contrast to how 'has participant' works.
A relation between a planned process and a continuant participating in that process that is not created during the process. The presence of the continuant during the process is explicitly specified in the plan specification which the process realizes the concretization of.
PERSON: Alan Ruttenberg
see is_input_of example_of_usage
has_specified_output
A relation between a planned process and a continuant participating in that process. The presence of the continuant at the end of the process is explicitly specified in the objective specification which the process realizes the concretization of.
temporal interpretation
x never in taxon T if and only if T is a class, and x does not instantiate the class expression "in taxon some T". Note that this is a shortcut relation, and should be used as a hasValue restriction in OWL.
tooth SubClassOf 'never in taxon' value 'Aves'
has role
The relationship between an independent continuant and a role. Slightly more specific than the parent class bearer of.
This property was originally created in OBI, but in OBI it was deprecated and replaced by BFO:0000087. However, the BFO relation was replaced by has role at some time, which is not yet part of a stable release. Once the BFO role has been tested and released, it may replace this relation.
part of
Intended meaning: Ambiguous between continuant-parthood and occurrent-parthood. domain: continuant range: continuant time: at some time domain: occurrent range: occurrent time: atemporal
Parthood as a relation between instances: The primitive instance-level relation p part_of p1 is illustrated in assertions such as: this instance of rhodopsin mediated phototransduction part_of this instance of visual perception. This relation satisfies at least the following standard axioms of mereology: reflexivity (for all p, p part_of p); anti-symmetry (for all p, p1, if p part_of p1 and p1 part_of p then p and p1 are identical); and transitivity (for all p, p1, p2, if p part_of p1 and p1 part_of p2, then p part_of p2). Analogous axioms hold also for parthood as a relation between spatial regions. For parthood as a relation between continuants, these axioms need to be modified to take account of the incorporation of a temporal argument. Thus for example the axiom of transitivity for continuants will assert that if c part_of c1 at t and c1 part_of c2 at t, then also c part_of c2 at t. Parthood as a relation between classes: To define part_of as a relation between classes we again need to distinguish the two cases of continuants and processes, even though the explicit reference to instants of time now falls away. For continuants, we have C part_of C1 if and only if any instance of C at any time is an instance-level part of some instance of C1 at that time, as for example in: cell nucleus part_ of cell.
part_of
has part
has_part
realized in
Intended meaning: domain: realizable entity range: processual entity time: atemporal
is realized by
realized_in
realizes
Intended meaning: domain: processual entity range: realizable entity time: atemporal
preceded by
An example is: translation preceded_by transcription; aging preceded_by development (not however death preceded_by aging). Where derives_from links classes of continuants, preceded_by links classes of processes. Clearly, however, these two relations are not independent of each other. Thus if cells of type C1 derive_from cells of type C, then any cell division involving an instance of C1 in a given lineage is preceded_by cellular processes involving an instance of C. The assertion P preceded_by P1 tells us something about Ps in general: that is, it tells us something about what happened earlier, given what we know about what happened later. Thus it does not provide information pointing in the opposite direction, concerning instances of P1 in general; that is, that each is such as to be succeeded by some instance of P. Note that an assertion to the effect that P preceded_by P1 is rather weak; it tells us little about the relations between the underlying instances in virtue of which the preceded_by relation obtains. Typically we will be interested in stronger relations, for example in the relation immediately_preceded_by, or in relations which combine preceded_by with a condition to the effect that the corresponding instances of P and P1 share participants, or that their participants are connected by relations of derivation, or (as a first step along the road to a treatment of causality) that the one process in some way affects (for example, initiates or regulates) the other.
Intended meaning: domain: occurrent range: occurrent time: atemporal
is preceded by
preceded_by
precedes
occurs in
Intended meaning: domain: occurrent range: independent continuant time: atemporal
occurs_in
unfolds in
unfolds_in
contains process
site of
is about
Smith, Ceusters, Ruttenberg, 2000 years of philosophy
This document is about information artifacts and their representations
is_about is a (currently) primitive relation that relates an information artifact to an entity.
person:Alan Ruttenberg
is_specified_input_of
some Autologous EBV(Epstein-Barr virus)-transformed B-LCL (B lymphocyte cell line) is_input_for instance of Chromum Release Assay described at https://wiki.cbil.upenn.edu/obiwiki/index.php/Chromium_Release_assay
is_specified_output_of
inheres in
Intended meaning: domain: specifically dependent continuant range: independent continuant time: at all times A specifically dependent continuant A inheres in its independent continuant B at all times during which A exists.
inheres_in
bearer of
Intended meaning: domain: independent continuant range: specifically dependent continuant time: at some time
bearer_of
is bearer of
participates in
Intended meaning: domain: continuant and (not spatial region) range: processual entity time: at some time
participates_in
has participant
has_participant
Has_participant is a primitive instance-level relation between a process, a continuant, and a time at which the continuant participates in some way in the process. The relation obtains, for example, when this particular process of oxygen exchange across this particular alveolar membrane has_participant this particular sample of hemoglobin at this particular time.
Intended meaning: domain: processual entity range: continuant and (not spatial region) time: at some time
derives from
See also BFO_0001009
derives into
location of
location_of
contained in
Containment is location not involving parthood, and arises only where some immaterial continuant is involved.
Containment obtains in each case between material and immaterial continuants, for instance: lung contained_in thoracic cavity; bladder contained_in pelvic cavity. Hence containment is not a transitive relation. If c part_of c1 at t then we have also, by our definition and by the axioms of mereology applied to spatial regions, c located_in c1 at t. Thus, many examples of instance-level location relations for continuants are in fact cases of instance-level parthood. For material continuants location and parthood coincide. Containment is location not involving parthood, and arises only where some immaterial continuant is involved. To understand this relation, we first define overlap for continuants as follows: c1 overlap c2 at t =def for some c, c part_of c1 at t and c part_of c2 at t. The containment relation on the instance level can then be defined (see definition):
Intended meaning: domain: material entity range: spatial region or site (immaterial continuant)
contained_in
contains
Intended meaning: domain: spatial region or site (immaterial continuant) range: material entity
located in
Location as a relation between instances: The primitive instance-level relation c located_in r at t reflects the fact that each continuant is at any given time associated with exactly one spatial region, namely its exact location. Following we can use this relation to define a further instance-level location relation - not between a continuant and the region which it exactly occupies, but rather between one continuant and another. c is located in c1, in this sense, whenever the spatial region occupied by c is part_of the spatial region occupied by c1. Note that this relation comprehends both the relation of exact location between one continuant and another which obtains when r and r1 are identical (for example, when a portion of fluid exactly fills a cavity), as well as those sorts of inexact location relations which obtain, for example, between brain and head or between ovum and uterus
located_in
before_or_simultaneous_with
Primitive instance level timing relation between events
simultaneous_with
t1 simultaneous_with t2 iff:= t1 before_or_simultaneous_with t2 and not (t1 before t2)
before
t1 before t2 iff:= t1 before_or_simulataneous_with t2 and not (t1 simultaeous_with t2)
during_which_ends
Previously had ID http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/RO_0002122 in test files in sandpit - but this seems to have been dropped from ro-edit.owl at some point. No re-use under this ID AFAIK, but leaving note here in case we run in to clashes down the line. Official ID now chosen from DOS ID range.
encompasses
Previously had ID http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/RO_0002124 in test files in sandpit - but this seems to have been dropped from ro-edit.owl at some point. No re-use under this ID AFAIK, but leaving note here in case we run in to clashes down the line. Official ID now chosen from DOS ID range.
ends_after
X ends_after Y iff: end(Y) before_or_simultaneous_with end(X)
immediately_preceded_by
X immediately_preceded_by Y iff: end(X) simultaneous_with start(Y)
during_which_starts
Previously had ID http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/RO_0002123 in test files in sandpit - but this seems to have been dropped from ro-edit.owl at some point. No re-use under this ID AFAIK, but leaving note here in case we run in to clashes down the line. Official ID now chosen from DOS ID range.
starts_before
immediately_precedes
X immediately_precedes_Y iff: end(X) simultaneous_with start(Y)
starts_during
X starts_during Y iff: (start(Y) before_or_simultaneous_with start(X)) AND (start(X) before_or_simultaneous_with end(Y))
happens_during
X happens_during Y iff: (start(Y) before_or_simultaneous_with start(X)) AND (end(X) before_or_simultaneous_with end(Y))
ends_during
X ends_during Y iff: ((start(Y) before_or_simultaneous_with end(X)) AND end(X) before_or_simultaneous_with end(Y).
overlaps
x overlaps y if and only if there exists some z such that x has part z and z part of y
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000051 some (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/BFO_0000050 some ?Y)
connected to
X connected_to Y if and only if X and Y share a fiat boundary.
Consider relabeling this to "continuous with" (FMA:85972). The standard notion of connectedness does not imply shared boundaries - e.g. Glasgow connected_to Edinburgh via M8; my patella connected_to my femur (via patellar-femoral joint)
proper overlaps
(forall (?x ?y) (iff (proper_overlaps ?x ?y) (and (overlaps ?x ?y) (not (part_of ?x ?y)) (not (part_of ?y ?x)))))
A is spatially_disjoint_from B if and only if they have no parts in common
There are two ways to encode this as a shortcut relation. The other possibility to use an annotation assertion between two classes, and expand this to a disjointness axiom.
has component
For use in recording has_part with a cardinality constraint.
actively participates in
x actively participates in y if and only if x participates in y and x realizes some active role
has active participant
x has participant y if and only if x realizes some active role that inheres in y
surrounded by
x surrounded_by y if and only if x is adjacent to y and for every region r that is adjacent to x, r overlaps y
adjacent to
x adjacent to y if and only if x and y share a boundary
TODO: replaced by BFO_0001008
surrounds
temporally related to
A relation that holds between two occurrents. This is a grouping relation that collects together all the Allen relations.
starts
starts with
Every insulin receptor signaling pathway starts with the binding of a ligand to the insulin receptor
x starts with y if and only if x has part y and the time point at which x starts is equivalent to the time point at which y starts. Formally: α(y) = α(x) ∧ ω(y) < ω(x), where α is a function that maps a process to a start point, and ω is a function that maps a process to an end point.
ends
ends with
x ends with y if and only if x has part y and the time point at which x ends is equivalent to the time point at which y ends. Formally: α(y) > α(x) ∧ ω(y) = ω(x), where α is a function that maps a process to a start point, and ω is a function that maps a process to an end point.
has input
has output
inheres in part of
mereotopologically related to
A mereological relationship or a topological relationship
member of
is member of is a mereological relation between a item and a collection.
An organism that is a member of a population of organisms
has member
has member is a mereological relation between a collection and an item.
input of
output of
formed as result of
taxonomic inventory process
not sure if this should be a type of assay or a type of planned process
A planned process by which a taxonomic inventory is created.
inventory type
taxonomic inventory
An information content entity that is a list of taxa recorded in some geospatially defined area over some stated time period using some method involving some actor.
restricted search taxonomic inventory process
A taxonomic inventory process that is restricted to defined plots, transects, or points, in which a person or group of people is comprehensively covering the entire defined area, usually with a defined survey time or pace. The search is restricted to a well-defined and human-scale geospatial area (traversable within a time course of less than a day) within which there is an expectation of a comprehensive accounting of the taxonomic items of interest.
Pollard transect-- "walk a 1km transect at a slow&steady pace, and report on all TOI within 5m in front, and 2.5m on either side of you."
restricted search
open search taxonomic inventory process
Search restricted within a larger defined geographic area, but where effort isn't even or complete across the defined region. That is, a planned search restricted to a larger, defined geographic area, but effort isn't evenly distributed throughout the area, nor expected to be a complete and comprehensive accounting of TOI's across the defined region. Temporal duration is typically longer than restricted search-- lasting hours to all day.
Individual Christmas Bird Count by some team. Organized field trip to a State Park.
open search
opportunistic search taxonomic inventory process
Many E-Bird lists are of this nature; useful supplementary information is that observers should state whether they documented every taxon of interest they saw.
A taxonomic inventory process that is a more casual reporting of occurrences of taxa of interest, often intended to be comprehensive accounting of the taxa of interest, but with no planned trajectory for discovery, nor pre-specified investment of effort.
This is more typically used to report multiple sightings, where the motivation is to record presence and abundance, rather than for individual anecdotal occurrences that are noteworthy.
opportunistic search
trap or sample taxonomic inventory process
A taxonomic inventory process that is typically highly restricted in geospatial extent that involves either the physical extracton of some evidence of the presence of the taxa of interest, such as scat, fur, other material samples or information artifacts such as photographs or sound recordings.
Can be highly targeted and or baited (pheromone trap), or general (pitfall). Trap events can either be "triggered" but of long-term deployment, or rigorously temporally specified (left out overnight).
an inventory of insects in a area using pheremone traps
an inventory of the large mammals of a park based on camera traps
inventories based on trawl samples
trap/sample inventory
adventitious taxonomic inventory process
A taxonomic inventory in which taxon occurrences are recorde as a co-variates of another study and later compiled as a taxonomic inventory.
adventitious inventory
data from ecological studies in which presence of some taxa is recorded to clarify population or community parameters
compilation taxonomic inventory process
A compiliation taxonomic inventory process is typically required to document the occurences of taxa of interest over large geospatial areas, or to derive the most comprehensive accounting of presence and absence of taxa of interest in a larger region.
A taxonomic inventory process in which a list of taxa of interes is assembled from various combinations of existing taxonomic inventories, rather than generated de novo from observations or samples.
compilation inventory
museum
An institution that cares for (conserves) a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary.
The Louvre Museum
The Smithsonian Institution
The class museum has meaning that is much broader than biological collecitons. It would probably be better to import this term from another, more general ontology and create a specific subclass for natural history museum.
Material anatomical entity that is a member of an individual species or is a viral or viroid particle.
Common Anatomy Reference Onotology - CARO2
organism or virus
data item
2/2/2009 Alan and Bjoern discussing FACS run output data. This is a data item because it is about the cell population. Each element records an event and is typically further composed a set of measurment data items that record the fluorescent intensity stimulated by one of the lasers.
2009-03-16: data item deliberatly ambiguous: we merged data set and datum to be one entity, not knowing how to define singular versus plural. So data item is more general than datum.
2009-03-16: removed datum as alternative term as datum specifically refers to singular form, and is thus not an exact synonym.
Data items include counts of things, analyte concentrations, and statistical summaries.
PERSON: Chris Stoeckert
PERSON: Jonathan Rees
a data item is an information content entity that is intended to be a truthful statement about something (modulo, e.g., measurement precision or other systematic errors) and is constructed/acquired by a method which reliably tends to produce (approximately) truthful statements.
data
information content entity
Examples of information content entites include journal articles, data, graphical layouts, and graphs.
an information content entity is an entity that is generically dependent on some artifact and stands in relation of aboutness to some entity
directive information entity
8/6/2009 Alan Ruttenberg: Changed label from "information entity about a realizable" after discussions at ICBO
An information content entity whose concretizations indicate to their bearer how to realize them in a process.
PERSON: Bjoern Peters
Werner pushed back on calling it realizable information entity as it isn't realizable. However this name isn't right either. An example would be a recipe. The realizable entity would be a plan, but the information entity isn't about the plan, it, once concretized, *is* the plan. -Alan
curation status specification
Better to represent curation as a process with parts and then relate labels to that process (in IAO meeting)
The curation status of the term. The allowed values come from an enumerated list of predefined terms. See the specification of these instances for more detailed definitions of each enumerated value.
data about an ontology part
data about an ontology part is a data item about a part of an ontology, for example a term
obsolescence reason specification
PERSON: Melanie Courtot
The creation of this class has been inspired in part by Werner Ceusters' paper, Applying evolutionary terminology auditing to the Gene Ontology.
The reason for which a term has been deprecated. The allowed values come from an enumerated list of predefined terms. See the specification of these instances for more detailed definitions of each enumerated value.
A denotator type indicates how a term should be interpreted from an ontological perspective.
The Basic Formal Ontology ontology makes a distinction between Universals and defined classes, where the formal are "natural kinds" and the latter arbitrary collections of entities.
planned process
'Plan' includes a future direction sense. That can be problematic if plans are changed during their execution. There are however implicit contingencies for protocols that an agent has in his mind that can be considered part of the plan, even if the agent didn't have them in mind before. Therefore, a planned process can diverge from what the agent would have said the plan was before executing it, by adjusting to problems encountered during execution (e.g. choosing another reagent with equivalent properties, if the originally planned one has run out.)
6/11/9: Edited at workshop. Used to include: is initiated by an agent
Injecting mice with a vaccine in order to test its efficacy
A processual entity that realizes a plan which is the concretization of a plan specification.
This class merges the previously separated objective driven process and planned process, as they the separation proved hard to maintain. (1/22/09, branch call)
assay
Assay the wavelength of light emitted by excited Neon atoms. Count of geese flying over a house.
A planned process with the objective to produce information about some evaluant
OBI branch derived
PlanAndPlannedProcess Branch
measuring
scientific observation
organization
An organization is a continuant entity which can play roles, has members, and has a set of organization rules. Members of organizations are either organizations themselves or individual people. Members can bear specific organization member roles that are determined in the organization rules. The organization rules also determine how decisions are made on behalf of the organization by the organization members.
PMID: 16353909.AAPS J. 2005 Sep 22;7(2):E274-80. Review. The joint food and agriculture organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives and its role in the evaluation of the safety of veterinary drug residues in foods.
protocol
OBI branch derived + wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol_%28natural_sciences%29)
PMID: 18388943.Nat Protoc. 2008;3(4):612-8.Protocol for the induction of arthritis in C57BL/6 mice.
a protocol is a plan specification which has sufficient level of detail and quantitative information to communicate it between domain experts, so that different domain experts will reliably be able to independently reproduce the process.
sequence data
example of usage: the representation of a nucleotide sequence in FASTA format used for a sequence similarity search.
sequencing assay
The use of the Sanger method of DNA sequencing to determine the order of the nucleotides in a DNA template
has_output should be sequence of input; we don't have sequence well defined yet
the use of a chemical or biochemical means to infer the sequence of a biomaterial
evidence role
It might be better to request this term in OBI or IAO.
A museum specimen that serves as evidence for a taxonomic identification process bears an evidence role.
A role that is borne by some entity as a result of the entity providing evidence to support an assertion.
persistent evidence role
An evidence role that persists through time.
Could add relation that persistant evidence role is specifically dependent on a museum material samples. Deprecated because we do not need this term. Can use OBI:evidence role. Not clear what it means for an evidence role to persist through time.
collecting process
This term is now redundant and is merged with material sampling process http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/bco_0000022.
observing process
Observing butterflies during a transect walk.
A process in which a person or machine sees or detects a material entity and selects it as worthy of observation, and which has as output an information content entity about the selected material entity.
A trip camera capture of an image of a jaguar is an observation, because it is "selected" by the camera as worthy of obsevation simply by virtue of moving in front of the camera.
Seeing three pelicans flying overhead on Christmas day.
The information artifact may written or recorded or just be stored in someone's head (specifically depenedent upon that person). In the context of a taxonomic inventory, an observing process may be called a sighting, and is an ad hoc reporting of, typically, a single taxon occurrence, usually motivated by rarity, individual interest in the taxon, or atypicality of circumstances.
sighting
being there process
This term was originally developed at the Semantics of Biodiversity workshop in 5/2012. It is no longer needed for the BCO.
A process of existing in a particular spatio-temporal region.
printed report
IAO has the term document, which is defined as "A collection of information content entities intended to be understood together as a whole" and has as examples journal article, patent application, laboratory notebook, and book. IAO also has a term for report, but it is not defined. With this term, we want to describe the physical object that corresponds to some information content entity, together with the information content contained in the document or report. This class may be less important for modeling collection data, but could be important for efforts to get hand written (specifically dependent) reports into an electronic (generically dependent) report, and monitoring that process.
a book
a field notebook
printed observational report
A printed report that records the outcome of some observing process.
selecting process
A process by which a person or machine decides that a particular material entity as worthy of collection or observation.
Filtering sea water to extract only organisms smaller than a certain size.
The criteria for selection may be specified in a protocol or may be ad hoc.
deciding which branch to collect for a herbarium specimen
submitting process
A planned process whereby a person submits a material sample to an organization.
a curator submitting a herbarium speciman to a museum
a researcher submitting a water sample to a laboratory storage collection
physical extraction process
Considered acquisition in OBI, but that is about taking possession. Physical extraction may involve taking pocession, but it may also just involve extraction of something that is already posessed (e.g. of dna from cells).
removing a fish from the ocean with a net
A process that involves removing a material entity from its original site to another site.
material sampling process
A planned process that includes selecting a material entity for study, physically extracting the material entity, and submitting the material entity to some institution for preservation or study.
Consider use of specimen collection from OBI.
collecting event
collecting plant parts for herbarium specimens
collecting sea water samples as part of Ocean Sampling Day
data sampling process
This term has been deprecated until it is determined whether or not it is needed in the BCO. Should probably be replaced by a term from OBI or IAO.
statistical sampling process
locality description
An information artifact that is about a spatio-temporal region at which a process (such as collecting process, observing process, or material sampling process) occured.
Darwin Core needs to describe both the site and time where some activity occurred as an information content entity (e.g., in recording data from a lab notebook),therefore, we made locality description about a spatial temporal region, rather than a site.
material sample role
A role that is borne by some material entity and is realized by the material entity being the output of a material sampling process.
This term may be replaced by OBI:specimen role.
the role borne by a branch when it becomes a herbarium specimen
successful material sampling process
A sampling process that has as output some material sample.
Do not need this class. By virtue of the existance of the material sample, we know that the sampling process was successful.
unsuccessful material sampling process
A material sampling process that has as output exactly zero material samples.
Do not need this class. By virtue of the absence of the material sample, we know that the sampling process was unsuccessful.
museum collection entity
At the GSC14 hackathon in 09/2012, we decided to deprecate this term.
organismal museum collection entity
A museum collections entity that derives from an organismal entity, has a persistent evidence role and 'depends on' a process of collecting.
The label for this on the original diagram was 'collection object'. However, not all entities in collections will fit the defition of 'object', so 'collection entity is probably a better name. The relation 'depends on' cannot really be used here. Old BFO has 'inverse depends on', but this is not in the current BFO. See dwc_bfo2_new.owl for the original logical definition. At the GSC14 hackathon in 09/2012, we decided to deprecate this term.
museum collection
An object aggregate that has as member part a material sample that is located in museum as a result of a process of curation.
Intent is to document biodiversity for research and education. The class museum collection has meaning that is much broader than biological collections. It would probably be better to import this term from another, more general ontology and create a specific subclass for natural history museum collection.
The herbarium collection at the New York Botanical Garden.
the painting collection at the Louvre Museum
organismal museum collection
A museum collection that has as member part a material sample that was derived from an organism.
the insect collection at the Smithsonian Institution
institution
Replaced by OBI organization. Request institution as synonym in OBI.
organismal entity
A material entity that derives from an organism or virus or viroid.
This class is understood to mean: A material entity that is either an organism, a part of an organism, a collection of organisms, or a fossil. The relation 'organismal entity derives from organism' was in the original diagram. Subclasses of organismal entity include organism, and It is not clear if it is valid to that an organism derives from an organism (is the derives from relation reflexive?). At the GSC14 hackathon in 09/2012, we decided to deprecate this term.
obsolete organism or virus or viroid
This terms was replaced by a term imported from CARO. The original diagram only had organsim, but DWC and GOs both need to include viruses and viroids.
material sample
A jar of water, the microbes that were filtered from that water, the DNA extracted from those microbes, a subsample of that DNA.
A material entity that has a material sample role. A material entity takes on the material sample role by being the output of a material samping process. That is, is selected for study, collected, and submitted to an institution for preservation or study.
Material sample is already in OBI, but with a slightly different meaning. Consider import of OBI:specimen to replace this term.
data sample
An information content entity (?) that is the result of some data sampling process.
statistical sample
protocol governed sampling activity
If sampling is a OBI planned process, that captures that it is protocal governed.
taxonomic identification process
Using BLAST to identify the taxa present in an environmental (metagenomic) sample.
Associating a museum specimen with a specific taxonomic concept based on its characters.
Using a key to identify a plant in the field.
Using DNA barcoding to identify a plant species.
A process by which a material sample is associated with a taxon or taxa.
process that yields a material representation of a material entity
Consider term from OBI or IAO.
Includes as output rubbings, casts, photographic prints, audio or video tapes. Needs a better name. Current name is the definition.
material target of observation
A material entity that has a target of observation role, that is, a material entity that is the input of some observing process.
A bird observed during a Christmas Bird Count
An lizard observed in the field that is not collected but whose location is recorded in a field notebook.
A tree is forest plot that is measured for diameter at breast height (DBH).
process that yields an information artifact that is a representation of a material entity
Includes audio recordings and photographs (which are information artifacts). Needs a better name. Current name is the definition.
Some instances of term could possibly be replaced by OBI:image acquisition. Maybe request another OBI term for audio recording acquisition.
material target of observation role
A role that is borne by some material entity and is realized by the material entity being the input of an observing process.
the role borne by a bird during a Christmas Bird Count
Definition: An entity [bfo:Entity] that exists in full at any time in which it exists at all, persists through time while maintaining its identity and has no temporal parts.
Examples: a heart, a person, the color of a tomato, the mass of a cloud, a symphony orchestra, the disposition of blood to coagulate, the lawn and atmosphere in front of our building
Definition: A continuant [snap:Continuant] that is either dependent on one or other independent continuant [snap:IndependentContinuant] bearers or inheres in or is borne by other entities.
Definition: A realizable entity [snap:RealizableEntity] that essentially causes a specific process or transformation in the object [snap:Object] in which it inheres, under specific circumstances and in conjunction with the laws of nature. A general formula for dispositions is: X (object [snap:Object] has the disposition D to (transform, initiate a process) R under conditions C.
Examples: the disposition of vegetables to decay when not refrigerated, the disposition of a vase to brake if dropped, the disposition of blood to coagulate, the disposition of a patient with a weakened immune system to contract disease, the disposition of metal to conduct electricity.
Definition: A material entity [snap:MaterialEntity] that is part of an object [snap:Object] but is not demarcated by any physical discontinuities.
Examples: upper and lower lobes of the left lung, the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the body, the east side of Saarbruecken, the lower right portion of a human torso
Definition: A realizable entity [snap:RealizableEntity] the manifestation of which is an essentially end-directed activity of a continuant [snap:Continuant] entity in virtue of that continuant [snap:Continuant] entity being a specific kind of entity in the kind or kinds of contexts that it is made for.
Examples: the function of a birth canal to enable transport, the function of the heart in the body: to pump blood, to receive de-oxygenated and oxygenated blood, etc., the function of reproduction in the transmission of genetic material, the digestive function of the stomach to nutriate the body, the function of a hammer to drive in nails, the function of a computer program to compute mathematical equations, the function of an automobile to provide transportation, the function of a judge in a court of law
Definition: A continuant [snap:Continuant] that is dependent on one or other independent continuant [snap:IndependentContinuant] bearers. For every instance of A requires some instance of (an independent continuant [snap:IndependentContinuant] type) B but which instance of B serves can change from time to time.
Examples: a certain PDF file that exists in different and in several hard drives
Definition: A continuant [snap:Continuant] that is a bearer of quality [snap:Quality] and realizable entity [snap:RealizableEntity] entities, in which other entities inhere and which itself cannot inhere in anything.
Examples: an organism, a heart, a leg, a person, a symphony orchestra, a chair, the bottom right portion of a human torso, the lawn and atmosphere in front of our building
Definition: An independent continuant [snap:IndependentContinuant] that is spatially extended whose identity is independent of that of other entities and can be maintained through time. Note: Material entity [snap:MaterialEntity] subsumes object [snap:Object], fiat object part [snap:FiatObjectPart], and object aggregate [snap:ObjectAggregate], which assume a three level theory of granularity, which is inadequate for some domains, such as biology.
Examples: collection of random bacteria, a chair, dorsal surface of the body
Definition: A material entity [snap:MaterialEntity] that is spatially extended, maximally self-connected and self-contained (the parts of a substance are not separated from each other by spatial gaps) and possesses an internal unity. The identity of substantial object [snap:Object] entities is independent of that of other entities and can be maintained through time.
Examples: an organism, a heart, a chair, a lung, an apple
Definition: A material entity [snap:MaterialEntity] that is a mereological sum of separate object [snap:Object] entities and possesses non-connected boundaries.
Examples: a heap of stones, a group of commuters on the subway, a collection of random bacteria, a flock of geese, the patients in a hospital
Comment: Boundaries are theoretically difficult entities to account for, however the intuitive notion of a physical boundary as a surface of some sort (whether inside or outside of a thing) will generally serve as a good guide for the use of this universal.
Definition: An independent continuant [snap:IndependentContinuant] that is a lower dimensional part of a spatial entity, normally a closed two-dimensional surface. Boundaries are those privileged parts of object [snap:Object] entities that exist at exactly the point where the object [snap:Object] is separated off from the rest of the existing entities in the world.
Examples: the surface of the skin, the surface of the earth, the surface of the interior of the stomach, the outer surface of a cell or cell wall
Definition: A spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] with one dimension.
Examples: the part of space that is a line stretching from one end of absolute space to the other, an edge of a cube-shaped part of space
Definition: A specifically dependent continuant [snap:SpecificallyDependentContinuant] that is exhibited if it inheres in an entity or entities at all (a categorical property).
Examples: the color of a tomato, the ambient temperature of air, the circumference of a waist, the shape of a nose, the mass of a piece of gold, the weight of a chimpanzee
Comment: If a realizable entity [snap:RealizableEntity] inheres in a continuant [snap:Continuant], this does not imply that it is actually realized.
Definition: A specifically dependent continuant [snap:SpecificallyDependentContinuant] that inheres in continuant [snap:Continuant] entities and are not exhibited in full at every time in which it inheres in an entity or group of entities. The exhibition or actualization of a realizable entity is a particular manifestation, functioning or process that occurs under certain circumstances.
Examples: the role of being a doctor, the function of the reproductive organs, the disposition of blood to coagulate, the disposition of metal to conduct electricity
Definition: A realizable entity [snap:RealizableEntity] the manifestation of which brings about some result or end that is not essential to a continuant [snap:Continuant] in virtue of the kind of thing that it is but that can be served or participated in by that kind of continuant [snap:Continuant] in some kinds of natural, social or institutional contexts.
Examples: the role of a person as a surgeon, the role of a chemical compound in an experiment, the role of a patient relative as defined by a hospital administrative form, the role of a woman as a legal mother in the context of system of laws, the role of a biological grandfather as legal guardian in the context of a system of laws, the role of ingested matter in digestion, the role of a student in a university
Comment: An instance of Site [snap:Site] is a mixture of independent continuant [snap:IndependentContinuant] entities which act as surrounding environments for other independent continuant [snap:IndependentContinuant] entities, most importantly for instances of object [snap:Object]. A site [snap:Site] is typically made of object [snap:Object] or fiat object part [snap:FiatObjectPart] entities and a surrounding medium in which is found an object [snap:Object] occupying the site [snap:Site]. Independent continuant [snap:IndependentContinuant] entities may be associated with others (which, then, are site [snap:Site] entities) through a relation of "occupation". That relation is connected to, but distinct from, the relation of spatial location. Site [snap:Site] entities are not to be confused with spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] entities. In BFO, site [snap:Site] allows for a so-called relational view of space which is different from the view corresponding to the class spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] (see the comment on this class).
Definition: An independent continuant [snap:IndependentContinuant] consisting of a characteristic spatial shape in relation to some arrangement of other continuant [snap:Continuant] entities and of the medium which is enclosed in whole or in part by this characteristic spatial shape. Site [snap:Site] entities are entities that can be occupied by other continuant [snap:Continuant] entities.
Examples: a particular room in a particular hospital, Maria's nostril or her intestines for a variety of bacteria.
Comment: All instances of continuant [snap:Continuant] are spatial entities, that is, they enter in the relation of (spatial) location with spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] entities. As a particular case, the exact spatial location of a spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] is this region itself.
Comment: An instance of spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] is a part of space. All parts of space are spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] entities and only spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] entities are parts of space. Space is the entire extent of the spatial universe, a designated individual, which is thus itself a spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion].
Comment: Space and spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] entities are entities in their own rights which exist independently of any entities which can be located at them. This view of space is sometimes called "absolutist" or "the container view". In BFO, the class site [snap:Site] allows for a so-called relational view of space, that is to say, a view according to which spatiality is a matter of relative location between entities and not a matter of being tied to space. The bridge between these two views is secured through the fact that while instances of site [snap:Site] are not spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] entities, they are nevertheless spatial entities.
Definition: A continuant [snap:Continuant] that is neither bearer of quality [snap:Quality] entities nor inheres in any other entities.
Examples: the sum total of all space in the universe, parts of the sum total of all space in the universe
Definition: A continuant [snap:Continuant] that inheres in or is borne by other entities. Every instance of A requires some specific instance of B which must always be the same.
Examples: the mass of a cloud, the smell of mozzarella, the liquidity of blood, the color of a tomato, the disposition of fish to decay, the role of being a doctor, the function of the heart in the body: to pump blood, to receive de-oxygenated and oxygenated blood, etc.
Definition: A spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] with three dimensions.
Examples: a cube-shaped part of space, a sphere-shaped part of space
Definition: A spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] with two dimensions.
Examples: the surface of a cube-shaped part of space, the surface of a sphere-shaped part of space, the surface of a rectilinear planar figure-shaped part of space
Definition: A spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] with no dimensions.
Definition: A spatiotemporal region [span:SpatiotemporalRegion] that has temporal and spatial dimensions such that all points within the spatiotemporal region are mediately or immediately connected to all other points within the same spatiotemporal region [span:SpatiotemporalRegion].
Examples: the spatial and temporal location of an individual organism's life, the spatial and temporal location of the development of a fetus
Definition: A temporal region [span:TemporalRegion] every point of which is mediately or immediately connected with every other point of which.
Examples: the 1970s years, the time from the beginning to the end of a heart attack, the time taken up by cellular meiosis
Definition: A processual entity [span:ProcessualEntity] that is part of a process but that does not have bona fide beginnings and endings corresponding to real discontinuities.
Examples: chewing during a meal, the middle part of a rainstorm, the worst part of a heart-attack, the most interesting part of Van Gogh's life
Definition: An entity [bfo:Entity] that has temporal parts and that happens, unfolds or develops through time. Sometimes also called perdurants.
Examples: the life of an organism, a surgical operation as processual context for a nosocomical infection, the spatiotemporal context occupied by a process of cellular meiosis, the most interesting part of Van Gogh's life, the spatiotemporal region occupied by the development of a cancer tumor
Definition: A processual entity [span:ProcessualEntity] that is a maximally connected spatiotemporal whole and has bona fide beginnings and endings corresponding to real discontinuities.
Examples: the life of an organism, the process of sleeping, the process of cell-division
Definition: A processual entity [span:ProcessualEntity] that is a mereological sum of process [span:Process] entities and possesses non-connected boundaries.
Examples: the beating of the hearts of each of seven individuals in the room, the playing of each of the members of an orchestra, a process of digestion and a process of thinking taken together
Definition: A processual entity [span:ProcessualEntity] that is the fiat or bona fide instantaneous temporal process boundary.
Examples: birth, death, the forming of a synapse, the onset of REM sleep, the detaching of a finger in an industrial accident, the final separation of two cells at the end of cell-division, the incision at the beginning of a surgery
Comment: An instance of a processual context [span:ProcessualContext] is a mixture of processual entity [span:ProcessualEntity] which stand as surrounding environments for other processual entity [span:ProcessualEntity] entities. The class processual context [span:ProcessualContext] is the analogous among occurrent [span:Occurrent] entities to the class site [snap:Site] among continuant [snap:Continuant] entities.
Definition: An occurrent [span:Occurrent] consisting of a characteristic spatial shape inhering in some arrangement of other occurrent [span:Occurrent] entities. Processual context [span:ProcessualContext] entities are characteristically entities at or in which other occurrent [span:Occurrent] entities can be located or occur.
Examples: The processual context for a given manipulation occurring as part of an experiment is made of processual entities which occur in parallel, are not necessarily all parts of the experiment themselves and may involve continuant [snap:Continuant] entities which are in the spatial vicinity of the participants in the experiment.
Definition: An occurrent [span:Occurrent] that exists in time by occurring or happening, has temporal parts and always involves and depends on some entity.
Examples: the life of an organism, the process of meiosis, the course of a disease, the flight of a bird
Definition: A spatiotemporal region [span:SpatiotemporalRegion] that has spatial and temporal dimensions and every spatial and temporal point of which is not connected with every other spatial and temporal point of which.
Examples: the space and time occupied by the individual games of the World Cup, the space and time occupied by the individual liaisons in a romantic affair
Definition: A temporal region [span:TemporalRegion] every point of which is not mediately or immediately connected with every other point of which.
Examples: the time occupied by the individual games of the World Cup, the time occupied by the individual liaisons in a romantic affair
Definition: A connected spatiotemporal region [span:ConnectedSpatiotemporalRegion] at a specific moment.
Examples: the spatiotemporal region occupied by a single instantaneous temporal slice (part) of a process
Definition: A connected spatiotemporal region [span:ConnectedSpatiotemporalRegion] that endures for more than a single moment of time.
Examples: the spatiotemporal region occupied by a process or by a fiat processual part
Comment: All instances of occurrent [span:Occurrent] are spatiotemporal entities, that is, they enter in the relation of (spatiotemporal) location with spatiotemporal region [span:SpatiotemporalRegion] entities. As a particular case, the exact spatiotemporal location of a spatiotemporal region [span:SpatiotemporalRegion] is this region itself.
Comment: An instance of the spatiotemporal region [span:SpatiotemporalRegion] is a part of spacetime. All parts of spacetime are spatiotemporal region [span:SpatiotemporalRegion] entities and only spatiotemporal region [span:SpatiotemporalRegion] entities are parts of spacetime. In particular, neither spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion] entities nor temporal region [span:TemporalRegion] entities are in BFO parts of spacetime. Spacetime is the entire extent of the spatiotemporal universe, a designated individual, which is thus itself a spatiotemporal region [span:SpatiotemporalRegion]. Spacetime is among occurrents the analogous of space among continuant [snap:Continuant] entities.
Comment: Spacetime and spatiotemporal region [span:SpatiotemporalRegion] entities are entities in their own rights which exist independently of any entities which can be located at them. This view of spacetime can be called "absolutist" or "the container view". In BFO, the class processual context [span:ProcessualContext] allows for a so-called relational view of spacetime, that is to say, a view according to which spatiotemporality is a matter of relative location between entities and not a matter of being tied to spacetime. In BFO, the bridge between these two views is secured through the fact that instances of processual context [span:ProcessualContext] are too spatiotemporal entities.
Definition: An occurrent [span:Occurrent] at or in which processual entity [span:ProcessualEntity] entities can be located.
Examples: the spatiotemporal region occupied by a human life, the spatiotemporal region occupied by the development of a cancer tumor, the spatiotemporal context occupied by a process of cellular meiosis
Definition: A connected temporal region [span:ConnectedTemporalRegion] comprising a single moment of time.
Examples: right now, the moment at which a finger is detached in an industrial accident, the moment at which a child is born, the moment of death
Definition: A connected temporal region [span:ConnectedTemporalRegion] lasting for more than a single moment of time.
Examples: any continuous temporal duration during which a process occurs
Comment: All instances of occurrent [span:Occurrent] are temporal entities, that is, they enter in the relation of (temporal) location with temporal region [span:TemporalRegion] entities. As a particular case, the exact spatiotemporal location of a temporal region [span:TemporalRegion] is this region itself. Continuant [snap:Continuant] entities are not temporal entities in the technical sense just explained; they are related to time in a different way, not through temporal location but through a relation of existence at a time or during a period of time (see continuant [snap:Continuant].
Comment: An instance of temporal region [span:TemporalRegion] is a part of time. All parts of time are temporal region [span:TemporalRegion] entities and only temporal region [span:TemporalRegion] entities are parts of time. Time is the entire extent of the temporal universe, a designated individual, which is thus a temporal region itself.
Comment: Time and temporal region [span:TemporalRegion] entities are entities in their own rights which exist independently of any entities which can be located at them. This view of time can be called "absolutist" or "the container view" in analogy to what is traditionally the case with space (see spatial region [snap:SpatialRegion].
Definition: An occurrent [span:Occurrent] that is part of time.
Examples: the time it takes to run a marathon, the duration of a surgical procedure, the moment of death
example to be eventually removed
failed exploratory term
The term was used used in an attempt to structure part of the ontology but in retrospect failed to do a good job
metadata complete
Class has all its metadata, but is either not guaranteed to be in its final location in the asserted IS_A hierarchy or refers to another class that is not complete.
organizational term
term created to ease viewing/sort terms for development purpose, and will not be included in a release
ready for release
Class has undergone final review, is ready for use, and will be included in the next release. Any class lacking "ready_for_release" should be considered likely to change place in hierarchy, have its definition refined, or be obsoleted in the next release. Those classes deemed "ready_for_release" will also derived from a chain of ancestor classes that are also "ready_for_release."
metadata incomplete
Class is being worked on; however, the metadata (including definition) are not complete or sufficiently clear to the branch editors.
uncurated
Nothing done yet beyond assigning a unique class ID and proposing a preferred term.
pending final vetting
All definitions, placement in the asserted IS_A hierarchy and required minimal metadata are complete. The class is awaiting a final review by someone other than the definition editor.
core
Core is an instance of a grouping of terms from an ontology or ontologies. It is used by the ontology to identify main classes.
placeholder removed
terms merged
An editor note should explain what were the merged terms and the reason for the merge.
term imported
This is to be used when the original term has been replaced by a term imported from an other ontology. An editor note should indicate what is the URI of the new term to use.
term split
This is to be used when a term has been split in two or more new terms. An editor note should indicate the reason for the split and indicate the URIs of the new terms created.
other
This is to be used if none of the existing instances cover the reason for obsolescence. An editor note should indicate this new reason.
We expect to be able to mine these new reasons and add instances as required.
A Formal Theory of Substances, Qualities, and Universals, http://ontology.buffalo.edu/bfo/SQU.pdf
Hard to give a definition for. Intuitively a "natural kind" rather than a collection of any old things, which a class is able to be, formally. At the meta level, universals are defined as positives, are disjoint with their siblings, have single asserted parents.
"definitions", in some readings, always are given by necessary and sufficient conditions. So one must be careful (and this is difficult sometimes) to distinguish between defined classes and universal.
A defined class is a class that is defined by a set of logically necessary and sufficient conditions but is not a universal
A named class expression is a logical expression that is given a name. The name can be used in place of the expression.
named class expressions are used in order to have more concise logical definition but their extensions may not be interesting classes on their own. In languages such as OWL, with no provisions for macros, these show up as actuall classes. Tools may with to not show them as such, and to replace uses of the macros with their expansions
to be replaced with external ontology term
Terms with this status should eventually replaced with a term from another ontology.
requires discussion
A term that is metadata complete, has been reviewed, and problems have been identified that require discussion before release. Such a term requires editor note(s) to identify the outstanding issues.
axiom holds for all times
## Elucidation This is used when the statement/axiom is assumed to hold true 'eternally' ## How to interpret (informal) First the "atemporal" FOL is derived from the OWL using the standard interpretation. This axiom is temporalized by embedding the axiom within a for-all-times quantified sentence. The t argument is added to all instantiation predicates and predicates that use this relation. ## Example Class: nucleus SubClassOf: part_of some cell forall t : forall n : instance_of(n,Nucleus,t) implies exists c : instance_of(c,Cell,t) part_of(n,c,t) ## Notes This interpretation is *not* the same as an at-all-times relation
relation has no temporal argument
## Elucidation This is used when the first-order logic form of the relation is binary, and takes no temporal argument. ## Example: Class: limb SubClassOf: develops_from some lateral-plate-mesoderm forall t, t2: forall x : instance_of(x,Limb,t) implies exists y : instance_of(y,LPM,t2) develops_from(x,y)