Actions22
- Collection Actions
- Dataset Actions
- Dataset Search Actions
- Installation Actions
- Institution Actions
- Occurrence Actions
- Occurrence Count Actions
- Occurrence Search Actions
- Occurrence Search Catalog Number Actions
- Occurrence Search Collection Code Actions
- Occurrence Search Occurrence ID Actions
- Occurrence Search Recorded By Actions
- Occurrence Search Record Number Actions
- Occurrence Search Institution Code Actions
- Organization Actions
- Name Parser Actions
- Network Actions
- Node Actions
- Species Actions
- Species Match Actions
- Species Search Actions
- Species Suggest Actions
Occurrence Search → Get
AI-generatedOverview
The "Occurrence Search - Get" operation in this node allows users to query biodiversity occurrence records from the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) API using a rich set of search parameters. This node is useful for researchers, ecologists, and data scientists who want to retrieve detailed occurrence data about species observations, specimen collections, or other biodiversity records.
Typical use cases include:
- Searching for occurrences of a particular species or taxon within specific geographic or temporal bounds.
- Filtering occurrence records by collection details such as catalog number, institution code, or recorded by a specific person.
- Retrieving occurrence data with spatial constraints like coordinates, polygons, or coordinate uncertainty.
- Limiting results by record issues, establishment means (native, invasive), or media types associated with occurrences.
For example, a user could search for all fossil specimen occurrences of a certain species observed in Africa between 2010 and 2020, or find occurrences recorded by a particular researcher.
Properties
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
Query (q) |
A simple full-text search parameter; can be a word or phrase to filter occurrences. |
| Basis of Record | The type of record basis, e.g., Fossil Specimen, Human Observation, Literature, Living Specimen, Machine Observation, Material Citation, Material Sample, Observation, Occurrence, Preserved Specimen. |
| Catalog Number | Identifier assigned by the source within a physical collection or digital dataset; may not be unique alone but should be fairly unique combined with institution and collection codes. |
| Class Key | Taxonomic class classification key. |
| Collection Code | Identifier assigned by the source to uniquely identify the physical collection or digital dataset within an institution. |
| Continent | Filter occurrences by continent: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America. |
| Coordinate Uncertainty In Meters | Horizontal distance in meters describing the smallest circle containing the location (e.g., "100,200" for 100 to 200 meters uncertainty). |
| Country | 2-letter ISO-3166-1 country code where the occurrence was recorded. |
| Crawl ID | Identifier related to data crawling process. |
| Dataset ID | Identifier of the dataset. |
| Dataset Key | Dataset key identifier. |
| Dataset Name | Name of the dataset. |
| Decimal Latitude | Latitude in decimal degrees (-90 to 90) based on WGS84. |
| Decimal Longitude | Longitude in decimal degrees (-180 to 180) based on WGS84. |
| Depth | Depth in meters relative to altitude (e.g., "10,30" for 10 to 30 meters below a lake surface). |
| Elevation | Elevation in meters above sea level (e.g., "10000,14000"). |
| Establishment Means | Status of the taxon: Introduced, Invasive, Managed, Native, Naturalised, Uncertain. |
| Event Date | Occurrence date in ISO 8601 format; supports exact dates or ranges (e.g., "2021-01-01" or "2021-01-01,2021-01-31"). |
| Event ID | Identifier for the sampling event information. |
| Family Key | Taxonomic family classification key. |
| Format | Export format of the data: CSV or TSV. |
| From Date | Start partial date of a range in yyyy-MM format (e.g., "2015-11"). |
| GADM Geographic Identifiers and Levels | Geographic identifiers at various administrative levels (0 to 3) used for filtering by regions. |
| Genus Key | Taxonomic genus classification key. |
| Geographic Distance | Filters occurrences within a specified distance of a coordinate; supports units like m, km, mi, ft, etc. (e.g., "90m"). |
| Geometry | Polygon described in Well Known Text (WKT) format to search occurrences inside that polygon. Only certain WKT types are accepted. |
| Has Coordinate | Boolean to limit to occurrences with or without latitude and longitude values. |
| Has Geospatial Issue | Boolean to include/exclude records with spatial issues. |
| Identified By | Person who provided the taxonomic identification. |
| Identified By ID | Identifier (e.g., ORCID) for the identifier. |
| Institution Code | Identifier assigned by the source to identify the institution. |
| Issue | Specific interpretation issues to filter by (many options, e.g., ambiguous collection, coordinate invalid, country mismatch, etc.). |
| Kingdom Key | Taxonomic kingdom classification key. |
| Last Interpreted | Date when the record was last changed in GBIF (ISO-8601 format). |
| License | License type applied to the dataset or record: CC0 1.0, CC BY 4.0, CC BY NC 4.0, Unspecified, Unsupported. |
| Limit | Maximum number of results to return (max 300). Default is 20. |
| Locality | Specific description of the place. |
| Media Type | Kind of multimedia associated with the occurrence: Moving Image, Sound, Still Image. |
| Modified | Most recent date-time the resource was changed according to the publisher. |
| Month | Month(s) of the year (e.g., "1" for January or "1,4" for January through April). |
| Network Key | GBIF network to which the occurrence belongs. |
| Occurrence ID | Globally unique identifier for the occurrence record. |
| Occurrence Status | Presence or absence of the occurrence: Present or Absent. |
| Order Key | Taxonomic order classification key. |
| Organism ID | Identifier for the organism instance (not just the record). |
| Organism Quantity | Numeric or enumerated quantity of organisms. |
| Organism Quantity Type | Type of quantification system used. |
| Other Catalog Numbers | Previous or alternate fully qualified catalog numbers. |
| Phylum Key | Taxonomic phylum classification key. |
| Preparations | Preparation or preservation method for a specimen. |
| Programme | Group of activities or funding stream (e.g., GBIF BID programme). |
| Project ID | Identifier for a project often assigned by a funded programme. |
| Protocol | Protocol or mechanism used to provide the occurrence record. |
| Publishing Country | 2-letter country code of the publishing organization's country. |
| Publishing Organization | Name of the publishing organization. |
| Recorded By | Person who recorded the occurrence. |
| Recorded By ID | Identifier (e.g., ORCID) for the recorder. |
| Record Number | Identifier given to the record at the time it was recorded in the field. |
| Relative Organism Quantity | Relative measurement of organism quantity without absolute units. |
| Repatriated | Boolean to search for records whose publishing country differs from the country where recorded. |
| Sample Size Unit | Unit of measurement for sample size (time duration, length, area, volume). |
| Sample Size Value | Numeric value for sample size measurement. |
| Sampling Protocol | Name or description of the sampling method or protocol. |
| Scientific Name | Scientific name searched via GBIF backbone including synonyms; only unique names return results. |
| Species Key | Taxonomic species classification key. |
| State or Province | Name of the next smaller administrative region than country. |
| Subgenus Key | Taxonomic subgenus classification key. |
| Taxon Key | Taxon key from GBIF backbone including children and synonyms. |
| To Date | End partial date of a range in yyyy-MM format (e.g., "2015-11"). |
| Type Status | Nomenclatural type status applied to the subject (many options like Holotype, Paratype, Lectotype, etc.). |
| Verbatim Scientific Name | Scientific name as provided by the data publisher before GBIF processing. |
| Verbatim Taxon ID | Taxon identifier as provided by the data publisher. |
| Water Body | Name of the water body where the location occurs (e.g., Lake Michigan). |
| Year | 4-digit year or year range (e.g., "2020" or "2020,2022"). |
Output
The node outputs an array of JSON objects representing the occurrence search results returned by the GBIF API. Each object corresponds to an occurrence record or a search result page depending on the query.
The output JSON structure includes fields as defined by the GBIF occurrence search API, typically including metadata about the occurrence, taxonomic details, geographic coordinates, event dates, and other relevant attributes matching the input filters.
This node does not output binary data.
Dependencies
- The node depends on access to the public GBIF API endpoint at
https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search. - No authentication or API keys are required as per the code.
- Requires internet connectivity to reach the GBIF API.
- Uses standard HTTP GET requests with query string parameters constructed from the node's input properties.
Troubleshooting
- Empty Results: If no data is returned, verify that the query parameters are correct and that the filters are not too restrictive.
- Invalid Parameter Values: Using incorrect formats (e.g., wrong date format, invalid country codes) may cause errors or empty responses.
- Rate Limits: Although not explicitly handled, excessive requests might be throttled by the GBIF API.
- Network Issues: Ensure the node has internet access and the GBIF API is reachable.
- Limit Exceeded: The maximum allowed limit is 300; setting higher values may cause errors.
- Incorrect Boolean Parameters: For boolean fields like
hasCoordinateorrepatriated, ensure proper true/false values are used.
Common error messages would come from the GBIF API and relate to invalid query parameters or server errors. Users should check the API documentation for parameter constraints.