Lebenskatalog

Lebenskatalog is a term used in German-language biodiversity informatics and data management to describe a structured catalog or database that records information about life histories of organisms or individuals. In its broad sense, a Lebenskatalog can function as a metadata schema, data model, or repository intended to capture attributes and events across the lifespan of living beings. The term is not tied to a single universal standard but is used to discuss approaches for organizing life-history data in research projects, museums, and citizen science initiatives.

Elements commonly included in a Lebenskatalog are taxonomic identifiers (scientific name, taxonID), life stage and age, dates of birth and death when known, geographic locality and habitat, sex, and ecological context. It may also store measurements and phenotypic traits, genetic or epigenetic data, life-history events (reproduction, molt, migration, disease), and links to specimen records, observations, or publications. Data models often rely on established standards such as Darwin Core or ABCD for interoperability, and may use graph or relational databases to reflect relationships among individuals, populations, and observations.

Applications include biodiversity inventories, museum collections management, conservation planning, and ecological or epidemiological research that requires longitudinal life-history data. Benefits include improved traceability, data reuse, and reproducibility; challenges include data quality, privacy concerns for human lifecourses, and the need for agreed vocabularies and version control. See also life history, Darwin Core, biodiversity informatics.