Supplementary material 1 from: Wieczorek J, Robertson T, Zermoglio P (2025) Darwin Core Data Package: A Practical Evolution to Support Richer, Deeper, and New Biodiversity Data Sharing. Biodiversity Information Science and Standards 9: e181043. https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.9.181043

21 October 2025 John Wieczorek, Tim Robertson, Paula Zermoglio Darwin Core Data Package A practical evolution to support richer, deeper, and new biodiversity data sharing Abstract After nearly two decades of success with Darwin Core and the Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), the biodiversity informatics community faces the need to share data that are both richer in detail and deeper in structure than existing formats support. The Darwin Core Data Package (DwC-DP) emerges as a direct response to this need—not as a replacement, but as a natural, practical evolution of a trusted standard. This presentation introduces DwC-DP as the result of six years of iterative, use case–driven development and testing, designed to extend the capabilities of Darwin Core without discarding its simplicity or adoption base. The journey began with the Unified Model—a comprehensive conceptual design proven to meet complex use cases, but too burdensome for everyday use. DwC-DP captures the “sweet spot” of that design: flexible enough to support emerging data types (e.g., Nucleotide Analyses, Organism Interactions, Survey Targets, Phylogenetic Trees), while retaining usability for current data publishers. Key features include modular schemas, a clearly event-based structure, and reusable extension patterns for concepts like Agent Roles, Media, Assertions, Protocols, and References. DwC-DP supports both flattened and nested forms, empowering users to adopt the level of complexity appropriate to their data. 1 This talk will demystify DwC-DP for audiences ranging from cautious data providers to advanced integrators, highlighting its role as a community-informed technical foundation—supported by GBIF, governed by TDWG, and shaped by global feedback. Attendees will leave with a clearer sense of how DwC-DP enables more science and better decision-making without requiring a disruptive shift for those already using Darwin Core. What is a Darwin Core Data Package? ● What is a Darwin Core Data Package? ● To answer that, we probably have to take a step back and ask, "What is Darwin Core?" 2 What is Darwin Core? A standard that includes a glossary of terms intended to facilitate the sharing of information about biological diversity by providing identifiers, labels, and definitions. https://dwc.tdwg.org/ ● Darwin Core is a standard meant to support the sharing of biodiversity data. https://dwc.tdwg.org/ ● ● It's ratified by the organization Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG). ● It is managed by the Darwin Core Maintenance Group, for which the current convener is Steve Baskauf, from whom we'll hear a little bit later in the symposium about the public review that is in progress. 3 What is in the Darwin Core standard? currently under public review https://dwc.tdwg.org/ ● What is in the Darwin Core Standard? ● A vocabulary - a "bag of terms" with definitions, comments about usage, and examples ● Documents that specify how to use Darwin Core with certain technologies, such as the Darwin Core Text Guide 4 What is in the Darwin Core standard? currently under public review https://dwc.tdwg.org/ ● The Darwin Core Quick Reference Guide, though not a part of the standard, is the best reference to understand what the terms mean. ● There are two kinds of terms, classes and properties. ● The classes are subject areas (concepts such as Event) ● The properties are terms that describe instances of classes (e.g., eventID), or of datasets that combine them (e.g., datasetName). 5 What is a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A)? A data packaging format that uses Darwin Core terms to share taxon checklists, occurrence data, or sampling-event data, following the specifications in the Darwin Core Text Guide. ● The most popular way to share Darwin Core-based data today is through something called a "Darwin Core Archive", abbreviated as "DwC-A". ● A Darwin Core Archive includes text files with data, a file that defines what is in those text files, and a file that provides information about the dataset as a whole. ● Darwin Core Archives are not actually part of the Darwin Core standard either. They are implementations designed by GBIF and others with structures conforming to the Darwin Core Text Guide, which IS part of the standard. 6 What is a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A)? What is a Darwin Core Data Package (DwC-DP)? A data packaging format that uses Darwin Core terms to share a wide variety of biodiversity data following the specifications in the Darwin Core Data Package Guide and implementing the Darwin Core Conceptual Model. A data packaging format that uses Darwin Core terms to share taxon checklists, occurrence data, or sampling-event data, following the specifications in the Darwin Core Text Guide. ● Now we can now get back to the question, "What is a Darwin Core Data Package?" ● A Darwin Core Data Package fulfills the same role as a Darwin Core Archive. It also consists of text files with data, a file that defines what is in those text files, and a file that provides information about the dataset as a whole. ● Darwin Core Data Packages are also not actually part of the Darwin Core standard. They are an implementation designed by GBIF with structures conforming to the Darwin Core Data Package Guide, which IS proposed as part of the standard. 7 If DwC-A and DwC-DP serve the same purpose, what is the difference? DwC-A DwC-DP Guide Darwin Core Text Guide Darwin Core Data Package Guide Data structure Limited: “Star schema”: a “Core” file and optional “Extensions”. Relationships only from Extensions to the Core. Flattened, “spreadsheet-like” Defined in: meta.xml Relational: No “Core”, no “Extensions”, just tables. Multiple relationships between tables. Relational, “database-like” Defined in: datapackage.json Data type Cores: Event, Occurrence, Taxon Extensions: Chronometric Age, DNA, Identification, Identifier, Literature Reference, Media, MeasurementsOrFact, Survey Agent, Assertion, Bibliographic Resource, Chronometric Age, Event, Geological Context, Identification, Identifier, Material, Media, Molecular Protocol, Nucleotide Analysis, Nucleotide Sequence, Occurrence, Organism, Organism Interaction, Protocol, Provenance, Survey, Survey Target, Usage Policy Semantics No explicit semantics Darwin Core Conceptual Model Dataset metadata eml.xml eml.xml Data format CSV, TSV CSV, TSV ● Though the Darwin Core Archive and Darwin Core Data Package both serve the purpose of sharing biodiversity data in text files, the capabilities of the two are very different. ● Let's look at a table that compares DwC-A and DwC-DP. (Table 1 from https://gbif.github.io/dwc-dp/qrg/index.html#dwca). ● The Darwin Core Archive has a structural limitation that the Darwin Core Data Package doesn't have. A Darwin Core Archive requires a single file called a "core" that optional additional files must connect to. This is referred to as the "star schema" limitation. A Darwin Core Data Package has no such limitation. In a minute I'll try to illustrate the profound consequences of this difference graphically. 8 A DwC-DP Epic Novel Icons: Park Jisun, shin_icons, Maxim Basinski Premium, Freepik, Luvdat, zero_wing, Flaticon.com ● If the observer was unable to precisely identify the bee and no similar bee had yet been collected, the observer collected the bee. Bee, flower: Park Jisun DNA: Luvdat Book: zero_wing Net: shin_icons Person: Maxim Basinski Premium Test tube: Freepik Ruler: Freepik Camera: Freepik Identification: Freepik 15 A DwC-DP Epic Novel Icons: Park Jisun, shin_icons, Maxim Basinski Premium, Freepik, Luvdat, zero_wing, Flaticon.com ● For difficult identifications, a leg was separated from the bee and used to prepare a DNA extract. Those were sequenced and Identifications were made. Bee, flower: Park Jisun DNA: Luvdat Book: zero_wing Net: shin_icons Person: Maxim Basinski Premium Test tube: Freepik Ruler: Freepik Camera: Freepik Identification: Freepik 16 Can there be more to the story? YES ●Measurements and other Assertions about almost anything. In addition to this basic story, all of the entities of interest can be further elaborated: ● Measurements and other Assertions about almost anything. ● Media of the interactions, of the individual participants in the interactions, of the specimens collected, of the parts of specimens, even of the environment. ● Bibliographic Resources in which any of the basic entities is mentioned, or used for any of the different kinds of Identifications. ● Agents (people, groups, organizations, machines, software) and any roles they had with respect to any of the basic entities. 17 A DwC-DP Epic Novel Icons: Park Jisun, shin_icons, Maxim Basinski Premium, Freepik, Luvdat, zero_wing, Flaticon.com ● Here is the story with various kinds of Assertions added (e.g, Event Assertions, Occurrence Assertions, Material Assertions). Bee, flower: Park Jisun DNA: Luvdat Book: zero_wing Net: shin_icons Person: Maxim Basinski Premium Test tube: Freepik Ruler: Freepik Camera: Freepik Identification: Freepik 18 Can there be more to the story? YES ●Media of interactions, participants in the interactions, specimens collected, parts of specimens, even of the environment. ●Measurements and other Assertions about almost anything. In addition to this basic story, all of the entities of interest can be further elaborated: ● Measurements and other Assertions about almost anything. ● Media of the interactions, of the individual participants in the interactions, of the specimens collected, of the parts of specimens, even of the environment. ● Bibliographic Resources in which any of the basic entities is mentioned, or used for any of the different kinds of Identifications. ● Agents (people, groups, organizations, machines, software) and any roles they had with respect to any of the basic entities. 19 A DwC-DP Epic Novel Icons: Park Jisun, shin_icons, Maxim Basinski Premium, Freepik, Luvdat, zero_wing, Flaticon.com ● Here is the story with Media about various aspects of the Survey added. Bee, flower: Park Jisun DNA: Luvdat Book: zero_wing Net: shin_icons Person: Maxim Basinski Premium Test tube: Freepik Ruler: Freepik Camera: Freepik Identification: Freepik 20 Can there be more to the story? YES ●Bibliographic Resources in which any of the basic entities is mentioned, or which were used for (e.g., for different kinds of Identifications). ●Measurements and other Assertions about almost anything. ●Media of interactions, participants in the interactions, specimens collected, parts of specimens, even of the environment. In addition to this basic story, all of the entities of interest can be further elaborated: ● Measurements and other Assertions about almost anything. ● Media of the interactions, of the individual participants in the interactions, of the specimens collected, of the parts of specimens, even of the environment. ● Bibliographic Resources in which any of the basic entities is mentioned, or used for any of the different kinds of Identifications. ● Agents (people, groups, organizations, machines, software) and any roles they had with respect to any of the basic entities. 21 A DwC-DP Epic Novel Icons: Park Jisun, shin_icons, Maxim Basinski Premium, Freepik, Luvdat, zero_wing, Flaticon.com ● Here is the story with Bibliographic Resources added. Bee, flower: Park Jisun DNA: Luvdat Book: zero_wing Net: shin_icons Person: Maxim Basinski Premium Test tube: Freepik Ruler: Freepik Camera: Freepik Identification: Freepik 22 Can there be more to the story? YES ●Agents (people, groups, organizations, machines, software) and any roles they had with respect to any of the basic entities. ●Measurements and other Assertions about almost anything. ●Media of interactions, participants in the interactions, specimens collected, parts of specimens, even of the environment. ●Bibliographic Resources in which any of the basic entities is mentioned, or which were used for (e.g., for different kinds of Identifications). In addition to this basic story, all of the entities of interest can be further elaborated: ● Measurements and other Assertions about almost anything. ● Media of the interactions, of the individual participants in the interactions, of the specimens collected, of the parts of specimens, even of the environment. ● Bibliographic Resources in which any of the basic entities is mentioned, or used for any of the different kinds of Identifications. ● Agents (people, groups, organizations, machines, software) and any roles they had with respect to any of the basic entities. 23 A DwC-DP Epic Novel Icons: Park Jisun, shin_icons, Maxim Basinski Premium, Freepik, Luvdat, zero_wing, Flaticon.com ● Here is the story with Agent Roles added. Bee, flower: Park Jisun DNA: Luvdat Book: zero_wing Net: shin_icons Person: Maxim Basinski Premium Test tube: Freepik Ruler: Freepik Camera: Freepik Identification: Freepik 24 What's next? ●Continued DwC-A support ●Continued DwC-DP support ●Publishing platforms: ○GBIF Integrated Publishing Toolkit ○Metabarcoding Toolkit ●Guides & references: ○Data Mapping Guide ○Mapped Example Datasets ○DwC-DP User's Guide ●Schemas Maintenance: TDWG Darwin Core Maintenance Group Biodiversity data community What commitments to DwC-DP are there? Public Review Dec 2025 Ratification Sep 2025 Icon: Purito, Flaticon.com Icon manitos: Purito ● GBIF will continue to support DwC-A ● GBIF will continue and ramp up DwC-DP support ● We'll hear more about advances and commitments for GBIF's Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) in Mikhail's presentation later in this symposium. The Metabarcoding Toolkit is already able to produce DwC-DP. ● Existing references include Data Mapping Guide, Mapped Example Datasets, and a nascent DwC-DP User's Guide (a community project to provide use case recipes) ● The Darwin Core Maintenance Group of TDWG is committed to maintain schemas for both DwC-A and DwC-DP starting on a quarterly release schedule in 2026. 31 What existing resources are there? ●Diversifying the GBIF Data Model Webinars ●Darwin Core Conceptual Model ●Darwin Core Public Review https://gbif.github.io/dwc-dp/ DwC-A ●Darwin Core Quick Reference Guide ●Darwin Core Text Guide DwC-DP ●Darwin Core Quick Data Package Quick Reference Guide ●Darwin Core Data Package Guide ●Darwin Core Data Package Explorer ●Diversifying the GBIF Data Model Webinars ●Darwin Core Conceptual Model ●Darwin Core Quick Reference Guide (DwC-A) ●Darwin Core Text Guide (DwC-A) ●Darwin Core Quick Data Package Quick Reference Guide (DwC-DP) ●Darwin Core Data Package Guide (DwC-DP) ●Darwin Core Data Package Explorer (DwC-DP) ●Darwin Core Public Review 32 Thank you! John Wieczorek | [email protected] Tim Robertson, Paula Zermoglio 33