FAQ
Why are there duplicate records for some scientific names?
Biota of New Zealand combines the data from three seperate data sources. There is a small amount of overlap between these data sources that may result in duplicated entries. The source of these is indicated on each record and ,when detected by the publication processes, these records a linked together on the details page allowing you to move between each record easily. Future versions may integrate these records more fully.
What data does this website include?
Biota of New Zealand provides data for the fungi, land invertebrates and plants as well as some virus and bacteria that are found in, or relevant to, Aotearoa – New Zealand. The website provides data for:
- scientific names
- vernacular (common) names
- associated references
Can I limit my search results to a single taxonomic domain?
Yes. This can by achieved using a filter(s) after a search (e.g., the Record source or Kingdom filters), or by including a specific field in your search term. For example your search string to find records within the kingdom Fungi that contain the text "australis" would be: australis kingdom:Fungi
How can I find all host associations for a given species?
The easiest way is to enter the species name in the search box then select the assocations search option (located below the search box) before triggering the search. This will return records that have association data, and each result will provide the option of viewing the normal (full) record or an association record.
Note that the association view provides more details of the associations data than is presented in the full view, but does not include other classes of data.
If the last updated date is not recent, does that mean the data is out-of-date?
No. 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 It should not be taken to indicate that a record is out of date.
How can I report a possible error or omission?
We appreciate reports of data errors or omissions. These can be sent to us using the details on the Contact us page.
Why does my data request expire?
We expire data requests to save storage space on the server, but more importantly, given that the data are edited on a daily basis, to ensure that old downloads are not used that may contain out-of-date data.
We expire data requests after a set period. We may change the duration between creation of the dataset to when it expires at any time. When it has expired you will receive a notification when you try to follow the link to download the data set.
I see no warning about cookies on the site, why?
There is no warning about cookies because the site does not use any.
Why is there sometimes a difference between the number of collection records shown on a scientific name and on Systematics Collections Data (SCD)?
This is a result of the different purposes, and therefore structure of the data, of the two sites. Biota of New Zealand provides an indicative summary of the collection objects for the most recent collection event with priority given to the field collection event. By comparison SCD provides the data from all collection events. For example, for a collection object that was collected in the wild then raised/grown at one or more subsequent locations, Biota of New Zealand will only consider the field collection in the tally of records whilst SCD will include the full history.
Why does the search return more records than in the previous websites, NZFlora, NZFungi and NZInverts. How can I reduce the results quickly so they are more similar to what I would have got in NZFlora and NZFungi?
Searches in Biota of NZ will return more results because the taxonomic data covering plants, invertebrates, bacteria and fungi have been combined into a single site. In addition the search now allows you to search across scientific names, vernacular names and literature at the same time. In the NZFlora, NZFungi and NZInverts websites these required searches within each portal and then separate searches for each type of record.
To rapidly reduce the search result we recommend that you:
- ensure that the sorting option is set to Relevance;
- apply a fitler in Record class (e.g., scientific name);
- optionally, apply a filter in the Record source e.g., if you more frequently used NZFlora previous apply the Names_Plants filter.
