Species Observations

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View generalized observations online:

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Through our data request process, we provide detailed observation records, along with species overlays, using a fee schedule as provided below. Learn more about our data sensitivity policy and our species overlays.

 

Fee Schedule for requests manually filled by WYNDD

WYNDD's primary mission is to maintain a statewide database of spatial and biological information on rare species and important plant communities, and disseminate data to interested parties. State funding covers a portion of the costs associated with this mission, therefore state agencies, including the University of Wyoming, are exempt from paying fees. Monies generated through data request fees and outside contracts are used to cover the remaining costs.

Area-based requests:

fee is based on number of townships intersected by request area

One township: $200.00
Each additional township intersected by the request area will add $20.00 to the base fee

Examples:
1 township = $200.00
2 townships = $220.00
3 townships = $240.00
Up to a maximum of $20,000 (roughly 1000 townships, or about a third of the state)

Species-based requests:

Requests for specific species should use the following formula for calculating the fee

Number of Townships x Number of Taxa (for statewide requests use 2800 as the number of townships)

• Tier 1 - if the number of taxa x the number of townships is less than 6250 then the fee = $200.00
• Tier 2 -if the number of taxa x the number of townships is greater than 6250 then multiply that product by 0.060 for fee (e.g. 25 taxa X 1000 townships = 25,000, multiplied by 0.060 = $1,500.00), up to the maximum fee of $20,000.

WYNDD will not fill data requests for persons/organizations with overdue payments.

 

Recommended Citation

Wyoming Natural Diversity Database. YEAR. Data compilation for PERSON of ORGANIZATION, received MONTH DAY, YEAR. Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming.

 

Contact Information

Contact our Data Coordinator for questions about requesting data.

 

Observation Data File Formats

Observations are delivered in shapefile format. For those without GIS software, the .dbf file associated with the shapefile may be opened and saved in Excel (it includes all the attributes associated with the shapefile). Observation records that are mapped very imprecisely (i.e., coarser than township-level) are omitted from standard data exports.

Attribute	Description	Hidden for Sensitive Records?
row_id	Unique row identifier for each individual request	No
obs_id	Unique ID used internally by WYNDD's database to identify the observation record	No
sensitive	Data included in record is sensitive (see Data Sensitivity Policy)	No
taxgroup	Taxonomic group to which taxon belongs (e.g. Vertebrate Animals, Vascular Plants)	No
taxgroup2	More specific information about higher taxonomy Vertebrate Animals: Common Name of Taxonomic Class Invertebrate Animals: Scientific Name of Taxonomic Order (Common Name of Taxonomic Order) Vascular Plants, Nonvascular Plants, and Lichens: Scientific Name of Taxonomic Family	No
sciname	Scientific name of the observed taxon	No
comname	Common name of the observed taxon	No
vrbtm_tax	Name of taxon as provided to WYNDD	No
observer	Name(s) of the person or people who made the observation	Yes
obsdate	Date of the observation	No
year	Year of the observation	No
month	Month of the observation	No
day	Day of the observation	No
date_other	If date was provided in a non-standard format (e.g., "96-Summer"), the original date information is provided here	No
date_error	If date was not precise, error is given in days (e.g., "96-Summer," OBSDATE will be displayed as July 15, 1996, with DATE_ERROR of 60 days)	No
det_circum	Description of circumstance leading to the observation: unknown, incidental, or survey	No
tally	Total of all individuals recorded as part of an observation, unless provided as a range, see tally_desc for more details	No
tally_desc	Verbal description of tally or tallies associated with the observation (e.g. 3 adult males and 2 adult females)	Yes
activity	Activity of observed animal(s)	No
flag	Additional flags that may be attached to the observation record	No
dwelling	Dwelling features attached to the observation record	No
measuremnt	Any measurements associated with observed taxon	No
hlth_mort	Health and/or mortality information of observed taxon	No
specimen	Description of associated specimen(s), including repository, collection identification information, etc.	No
habitat	Habitat description	Yes
obs_com	General notes about the observation	Yes
biol_eval	Result of a WYNDD biologist's evaluation of the record	No
eval_com	Biologist comments about their confidence in the record	Yes
eval_date	Date of WYNDD biologist evaluation	No
eval_by	Name of biologist that evaluated record	No
sys_cnflct	System generated notes describing any conflict(s) detected during an automated system evaluation of record.   activity: e.g. "flying" when taxon is a frog detectability_date: e.g. "Dec 10" when taxon is a frog life_stage: e.g. "yearling" when taxon is a frog life_history: reproduction or migration indicated but not known in area mapping: possible error in mapping, consult other errors measurement: an unusual measurement was recorded obsdate: possible issue with reported date occurrence: taxon is listed as absent in area tally: an unusual number of individuals was recorded (50 grizzlies) Conflicts don't necessarily mean there is a problem with the record. They are indicated when observed attributes fall outside set evaluation criteria. Evaluation criteria are modified from time to time based on incoming information.	No
loc_desc	Verbal description provided by observer about the location (e.g. top of hill)	Yes
loc_error	Mapping error or uncertainty for the observation record, expressed in meters	No
location	Location name, if provided	Yes
longitude	When orig_geom = ST_Point then longitude is provided. Note: loc_error must be considered when assessing if this is the actual location where the observation was made.	Yes
latitude	When orig_geom = ST_Point then latitude is provided. Note: loc_error must be considered when assessing if this is the actual location where the observation was made.	Yes
orig_geom	Geometry type (e.g. point, line, poly) from which record was added to WYNDD database.	No
wyndd_soc	WYNDD Species of Concern ranking	No
s_rank	Wyoming risk of extirpation, based on a standardized ranking system coordinated by NatureServe	No
g_rank	Global risk of extirpation, based on a standardized ranking system coordinated by NatureServe	No
usfws_esa	Current status under the Endangered Species Act	No
blm_wy	BLM sensitive status	No
usfs_sens	USFS sensitive status, by USFS Region	No
usfs_solc	USFS Species of Local Concern designation, by Forest/Grassland	No
wgfd_nss	Wyoming Game and Fish Department Native Species Status	No
wgfd_tier	Wyoming Game and Fish Department Tier rankings	No
wgfd_sgcn	Wyoming Game and Fish Department Species of Greatest Conservation Need	No
wy_contrib	WYNDD ranking system indicating the contribution of Wyoming populations of a taxon to the rangewide persistence of that taxon	No
orig_uid	Unique identifier for observation within a given dataset (may or may not have been provided by original data source)	No
other_id	Identifiers associated with the record (may be unique or non-unique), but use orid_uid to see unique identifier for observation within a given dataset.	No
area	Area of spatial feature representing observation (includes loc_error).	No
assoc_code	Codes associated with the record	Yes
dataset	Name or description of the dataset containing the record, as provided to WYNDD	Yes
data_src	Source of the observation record (generally an organization or individual)	Yes
taxon_id	Unique ID used internally by WYNDD's database to identify the observed taxon	No
loc_id	Unique ID used internally by WYNDD's database to identify the location record associated with the observation	Yes