Controlled Vocabularies
Standardized terms that support consistent, interoperable biodiversity data.
Overview
Controlled vocabularies provide approved terms for specific specimen data fields to ensure consistent, high-quality data across BOLD. Standardized values support FAIR data principles and enable seamless data integration across biodiversity information systems.
This page provides quick access to the controlled-vocabulary fields supported by BOLD and their accepted values for use in specimen data submissions.
System-Enforced
For fields that use controlled vocabularies, user-submitted values will be matched to approved system terms whenever possible. The original entry will be retained in a verbatim field, and the mapped term will be shown in the corresponding standard field. The following list provides the accepted terms and their definitions for reference.
Identification Method
Accepted term | Definition |
BIN based | Relies on assignment of the sequence to a BIN, permitting comparison with other records putatively belonging to the same taxon. May be informed by images, localities, identifications, or other details associated with records in the BIN. |
BOLD ID Engine | Uses the BOLD Identification Engine to compare query sequences against BOLD's reference library. |
Tree based | Employs phylogenetic trees to infer relationships between query and reference sequences, identifying the query's taxonomy from tree structure. |
Morphology | Uses phenotypic characters to identify specimens. Morphological identification requires expertise in taxonomy. |
Morphology and sequence based | Relies on a combination of morphology and sequence data. |
Image based | Relies on visual comparison of specimen images to those of known species, typically using image databases or machine learning models. |
Image and sequence based | Relies on a combination of images and sequence data. |
Other sequence based approach | Any other identification method or analytical tool that relies on sequence data to obtain an identification (e.g. NCBI BLAST, SINTAX, RDP Classifier). |
Other | Any other identification method. |
Community-Recommended
Some fields incorporate terms and values contributed and recommended by members of the user community. These recommendations draw on community expertise, and current best practices. Although these fields are not currently system-enforced, the use of recommended terminology is encouraged to promote consistency and interoperability. A list of recommended terms is provided below for each field.
Voucher Type
Recommended Term | Definition |
Museum Vouchered:<type series> | The specimen is deposited in a museum or other registered collection and is also designated as part of a nomenclatural type series. Replace <type series> with the appropriate type designation using the GBIF type status vocabulary: |
Vouchered:Registered Collection | The specimen is physically deposited and registered in an institutional collection, such as a museum or herbarium, where it is permanently curated and accessible for future reference. |
To Be Vouchered:Holdup/Private | The specimen exists but has not yet been deposited in a registered collection. It is currently held privately or by the collector and is intended for future vouchering. |
E-Vouchered:DNA/Tissue+Photo | The specimen is not held in a physical collection but is represented digitally through a combination of preserved DNA or tissue material and an accompanying photograph, serving as an electronic voucher. |
DNA/Tissue Vouchered Only | Only DNA or tissue material from the specimen has been preserved and vouchered. No physical specimen or photographic record is available. |
No Specimen | No physical specimen, tissue, or photographic record exists. The record is based solely on sequence data, with no associated voucher material available. |
Sex
| Recommended Term | Definition |
| M | The specimen has been identified as Male, possessing reproductive organs or characteristics that produce male gametes. |
| F | The specimen has been identified as Female, possessing reproductive organs or characteristics that produce female gametes. |
| H | The specimen is identified as Hermaphrodite, possessing both male and female reproductive organs or reproductive characteristics, either simultaneously or at different stages of its life cycle. |
| U | The specimen's sex cannot be determined based on the available information or observable characteristics. |
Reproduction
| Recommended Term | Definition |
| S | Sexual - The organism reproduces through the fusion of male and female gametes, involving genetic contribution from two parent individuals. |
| A | Asexual - The organism reproduces without the fusion of gametes, producing offspring genetically identical or nearly identical to the parent through processes such as budding, fission, or parthenogenesis. |
| C | Cyclic Parthenogen - The organism alternates between sexual and asexual reproduction across generations, typically in response to environmental conditions such as seasonal changes. During asexual phases, offspring develop from unfertilized eggs, while sexual reproduction occurs periodically to introduce genetic variation. |
Life Stage
| Recommended Term | Definition |
| Adult | The specimen has reached full sexual maturity and represents the final stage of development. Alternatively, adults are capable of reproduction and exhibit the complete morphological characteristics of the species. |
| Immature | The specimen has not yet reached sexual maturity. This term is used broadly to describe any pre-adult life stage where full morphological development is incomplete. |
| Juvenile | The specimen is an individual organism that has not yet reached its adult form, sexual maturity or size. Juveniles sometimes look very different from the adult form, particularly in terms of their colour. |
| Pupa | The specimen is in the pupal stage, an intermediate non-feeding and generally immobile phase between the larval and adult stages, occurring in insects that undergo complete metamorphosis. |
Sampling Protocol
| Recommended term | Definition |
| Berlese funnel | Uses a Berlese funnel to extract small invertebrates from soil or leaf litter by driving them into a collection container with light and heat. |
| Bottle trap | Involves baiting a bottle with attractants and placing it in the environment to capture insects, targeting flying or ground-dwelling arthropods attracted to various baits like fruit or decomposing material. |
| Dip net | Uses a fine-mesh net to sample aquatic organisms by dipping it into water bodies, capturing small fish, invertebrates, and other organisms near the water surface or in vegetation. |
| Emergence trap | Covers a section of habitat to trap emerging insects as they develop from juvenile stages to adults. |
| Emergence trap + Berlese funnel | Combines emergence traps with Berlese funnels to capture both emerging insects and soil organisms, allowing for comprehensive sampling of surface and subterranean life stages. |
| Intercept trap | Captures flying insects by blocking their flight paths with a vertical barrier, directing them into a collection container. |
| Malaise trap | A tent-like structure that intercepts and captures flying insects by guiding them upward into a collection bottle, commonly used for flying insects like hymenopterans and dipterans. |
| Mercury vapour trap | Uses a mercury vapour light to attract nocturnal insects to a collection area or surface. |
| Mustard extraction | Uses a mustard solution to irritate and extract earthworms and other soil invertebrates from the soil, driving them to the surface for collection. |
| Pan trap | A passive trap using colored pans filled with water or detergent to attract and capture flying insects. The color lures specific insect groups, especially bees and wasps. |
| Pitfall trap | Consists of a container buried in the ground, capturing ground-dwelling arthropods like beetles and spiders as they fall in. |
| Plankton tow | Involves towing a fine-mesh net through water to collect planktonic organisms, targeting phytoplankton, zooplankton, and small invertebrates. |
| Sweep net | Uses a net to sweep through vegetation to capture insects and spiders, sampling terrestrial arthropods in tall grasses, shrubs, and other vegetation. |
| UV bucket | Uses a UV light to attract night-flying insects to a collection bucket, targeting insects sensitive to UV light. |
| UV light sheet | A setup with a UV light and white sheet to attract and capture nocturnal insects. |
| UV light trap | Uses a UV light to draw insects into a collection device, effective for sampling flying insects such as moths and beetles. |
| Water bucket trap | A passive method where a bucket filled with water captures small animals that fall in, useful for capturing a variety of ground-dwelling organisms. |
| Beating net | Involves hitting vegetation with a stick to dislodge insects onto a net or cloth, effective for collecting arthropods hiding in branches, leaves, and bark. |
| Fogging | Disperses insecticide fog into the canopy to sample insects and arthropods that fall onto collection sheets, widely used to capture canopy insects. |
| Light trap | Uses light to attract nocturnal insects, appealing to certain insect groups. |
| Petite Ponar | A sampling device used to collect benthic sediments in aquatic environments, primarily for collecting benthic invertebrates and sediment samples. |
| Sifting | Involves sifting soil, leaf litter, or detritus to collect small arthropods and other invertebrates, often with a fine mesh or sieve. |
| Free hand collection | Opportunistic collecting of specimens by hand, with or without forceps or small containers, often for easily accessible organisms. |
| Schindler-Patalas sampler | A water sampling device used to collect samples from specific depths in lakes, valuable for studying aquatic biodiversity and collecting plankton. |
| SLAM trap (4-headed) | An interception trap with four collection heads, designed to capture flying insects from multiple directions. |
| SLAM trap (single-headed) | A simplified SLAM trap with one collection head, used to intercept flying insects by blocking their flight path. |
| AIS2 | An Aquatic Invertebrate Sampler used in freshwater ecosystems to collect aquatic invertebrates. |
| Black light trap | Uses black light (UV) to attract and capture nocturnal insects, effective for moths and other UV-sensitive species. |
| CO2 trap | Uses carbon dioxide to attract mosquitoes and other insects drawn to CO2, often combined with a fan or light to increase capture rates. |
| Electroshock | Uses electric currents in aquatic habitats to temporarily stun fish and other aquatic organisms for collection. |
| Larval collection | Specifically targets larval stages of insects, often using methods like leaf sampling or soil extraction. |
| Sherman LF | A live trap designed for capturing small mammals, known for its humane trapping mechanism, allowing for live release. |
| Sherman XLK | An extended-size Sherman trap, used for capturing larger small mammals. |
| Mixed | Combination of collection methods where detailed metadata was not maintained or samples were pooled after collection. |
| Unavailable | Where the sampling protocol is lost or unavailable. |
| Bait trap | Utilizes bait to attract specific organisms, such as carnivorous or herbivorous insects, into a collection container. |
| Beating sheet | A cloth or sheet placed under vegetation, onto which insects are dislodged by beating branches, capturing canopy-dwelling arthropods. |
| Vacuum | Uses suction to collect small invertebrates from vegetation or soil, commonly used for agricultural pest studies and ecological surveys. |
| Vane trap | Intercepts flying insects with vertical panels that direct them into a collection chamber. |
| Pheromone trap | Uses species-specific pheromones to attract target insects, like moths or beetles, into a collection device, ideal for monitoring pest species. |
| Sticky trap | A passive sampling method that uses a sticky surface to capture insects as they land, effective for small, flying insects like aphids, whiteflies, and thrips. |
| Lindgren funnel | A multi-funnel trap designed to intercept and capture flying insects, especially bark beetles and other forest pests, guiding insects down through a series of funnels into a collection container. |
BCDM
Controlled vocabularies are also embedded in the Barcode Core Data Model (BCDM), a flexible data standard that underpins the BOLD submission framework. You can learn more or contribute through the BCDM GitHub repository.