Biota of New Zealand provides access to information about the fungi, land invertebrates and plants as well as some virus and bacteria that are found in, or relevant to, Aotearoa – New Zealand.

Scope of information provided

The information provided is the taxonomic and nomenclatural data associated with the collections managed by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. It includes

• scientific names. Details on a record may include
  • the publication details for the name
  • associated taxonomy information including the status as a current (preferred) name or synonym, place in the higher classification
  • biostatus details (origin and occurrence) if it is considered a current name
  • descriptions and identification keys
  • images of the taxon or associated specimens
  • vernacular names
• vernacular (common) names
  • details on the origin of the vernacular name (when available)
  • details on the application of the vernacular name
• references - the literature associated with taxonomic and nomenclatural data. Details may include
  • the taxonomy and names used in the reference
  • descriptions published in the reference

For Biota of New Zealand "relevant" includes information for the taxa that are found naturally in, or introduced to, Aotearoa New Zealand. It also includes taxa that may be absent from Aotearoa New Zealand, for example taxa intercepted at the border. The data also includes scientific names that have been historically incorrectly used for organisms in New Zealand, so called misapplications.

The taxonomic groups covered by the data are

• fungi
• land invertebrates - including insects and nematodes
• "plants" - including seed plants, ferns and allies, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, lichens, and some algae (mainly fresh-water)
• plant pathogenic bacteria and virus

Data sources

Biota of NZ combines the data from three data sources

The source of each record is indicatedthe search results and the detailed view of the record, it can also be used to filter search results.

Currency of data

We attempt to keep these sources up-to-date with the scientific literature.  The data within each of the sources is therefore edited on a daily basis.  These changes are published to the website automatically, and will normally appear within 15 minutes of an editor updating the record.

The updated date in the metadata of a record indicates when a record was last modified.  The updated date should be used only to indicate there has been recent work in that taxonomic area that we have captured in the databases.  It should not be taken to indicate that a record is out of date if it is not recent. Taxonomic areas vary in the rates of taxonomic and nomenclatural change, reflecting the differences of scientific understanding and/or endeavour.

Notification service

A notification service for changes to data is available as an ATOM feed for:

• Names_Plants – https://nzflora.landcareresearch.co.nz/feed
• Names_Fungi – https://nzfungi2.landcareresearch.co.nz/feed