Taxonomic database

A taxonomic database is a database created to hold information related to biological taxa - for example groups of organisms organized by species name or other taxonomic identifier - for efficient data management and information retrieval as required. Today, taxonomic databases are routinely used for the automated construction of biological checklists such as floras and faunas, both for print publication and online; to underpin the operation of web based species information systems; as a part of biological collection management (for example in museums and herbaria); as well as providing, in some cases, the taxon management component of broader science or biology information systems. They are also a fundamental contribution to the discipline of biodiversity informatics.

The goal of a taxonomic database is (or should be) to accurately model the characteristics of interest that are relevant to the organisms which are in scope for the intended coverage and usage of the system. For example, databases of fungi, algae, bryophytes and higher plants would need to encode conventions from the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature while their counterparts for animals and most protists would encode equivalent rules from the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature; in both cases modelling the relevant taxonomic hierarchy for any taxon is a natural fit with the relational model employed in almost all database systems. In addition to encoding organism identifiers (most frequently a combination of scientific name, author, and - for zoological taxa - year of original publication), a taxonomic database may frequently incorporate additional taxonomic information such as synonyms and taxonomic opinions, literature sources or citations, plus a range of biological of attributes as desired for each taxon such as geographic distribution, ecology, descriptive information, threatened or vulnerable status, etc.

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