The term ’checklist’ can be interpreted in several ways. Here it refers to data published using Taxon Concept Schema or the Darwin Core terminology adopted by GBIF for the Global Names Architecture.

A taxonomic checklist is a list of taxa (usually species) that contains explicit assertions of taxonomic – and optionally, nomenclatural – status for a listed taxon. It includes a reference to the taxonomic usage and definition of the taxon concept. Examples: the Catalogue of Life, Euro+Med PlantBase and Fauna Europaea.

A nomenclatural checklist is a list of taxon names that may contain details about the original publication of the name but do not provide information about its taxonomic status. Examples: data curated by Index Fungorum, ZooBank and the International Plant Names Index.

A general checklist is a distinct list of taxa that does not provide explicit (or implicit, via details of the parent resource or assertions of synonymy) information concerning the taxonomic or nomenclatural status of the taxon name. Taxonomic status may be implied but is not provided directly.

Any of these three checklist types may include data detailing the following properties:

• A hierarchical classification where the listed taxa or taxon names are ordered into a hierarchically nested set of parent taxa
• Explicitly designated synonymy or definition details that qualify names into taxonomically accepted or unaccepted forms
• Vernacular (or common names) as a specialised form of a synonym representing a name that is not governed by formal codes of nomenclature. These names are generally accompanied by a language referenced and may also include specific regional usage referenced.
• Distribution details related to the species
• Specimen and type information related to the taxonomic definition
• References detailing resources reviewed in documenting the taxon.

In addition to these basic properties about names, the data schema supported by GBIF allows users to extend the core taxon object to include other related details, such as distribution information, threat or invasive status, or any other elements of value to the publisher. This page is specifically focused on those properties that relate to the names themselves.

Checklist scope

Any of these three checklist types may also include resource metadata that further qualify the scope of the list according to the following properties:

• A taxonomic scope refers to the highest common taxon group to which all members of the list are nominally ascribed, e.g. a taxonomic monograph.
• A regional scope sets the geographic boundaries for all members of the list. An example is a traditional flora or faunal checklist.
• A thematic scope provides a common semantic qualifier to all members of the list, e.g. lists of regulated or threatened species. It may include common ecological characteristics (leaf-miners, predators, invasives).