Taksonomin

Taksonomin is a term used in taxonomic informatics to describe a proposed framework for representing taxon concepts and their nomenclatural ties in a machine-readable, interoperable form.

Central to taksonomin is the idea of a persistent taksonomin ID for each taxon concept, which remains stable across taxonomic revisions. The system couples this identifier with semantic metadata that records the accepted name, synonyms, circumscriptions, source references, publication status, and provenance of the concept. This combination aims to provide a stable, auditable basis for linking data across disparate sources.

The framework is designed to bridge pure Linnaean names and modern ontology-based representations. It supports cross-database mappings, links to related concepts in ontologies, and versioning to track changes in circumscription. By organizing information around stable identifiers rather than only textual names, taksonomin seeks to improve data interoperability and reusability in biodiversity informatics and related fields.

Origin and status: The term arose in discussions within biodiversity informatics in the mid-2010s and has been used primarily in scholarly debate and prototype tooling. There is no single, universally adopted standard for taksonomin; implementations vary, and governance is a matter of community consensus and project scope. It remains a topic of research and pilot integrations rather than a widely adopted protocol.

Applications: In practice, taksonomin-inspired approaches aim to improve data integration across collections, literature, and genomic resources by providing stable identifiers tied to rich metadata and mapping relationships between names, synonyms, and concepts. Critics note potential complexity and governance challenges, and call for clear standards before widespread adoption.

See also: Taxonomy, Nomenclature, Taxon concept, Biodiversity informatics, Ontologies, Data interoperability.