Distinctions that protect scientific meaning

These contrasts are deliberately prominent. They guide review; they are not a new universal ontology. Consult each source community's definitions and versions.

Organism ≠ taxon ≠ population ≠ community

An individual tree, a taxonomic grouping, a study-defined population and a community composition describe different entities or collections. A taxon name is another distinct thing. Definitions.

Trait ≠ variable ≠ measurement

A trait describes a characteristic. A variable specifies what a dataset records. A measurement determines a value in a method/support context. For example, leaf area, a column describing leaf area and one measured area are related, but not interchangeable. Definitions.

Location ≠ resolution ≠ support ≠ extent

A coordinate locates an observation. Pixel spacing describes one aspect of resolution. Support describes the domain represented by a value. Extent describes total coverage. A scene bounding box cannot supply every pixel's true support. Scale and support.

Timestamp ≠ temporal resolution ≠ temporal support ≠ temporal extent

Acquisition time, reporting cadence, averaging interval and a dataset's overall period answer different questions. Instantaneous observations can have equal start/end times; no duration is invented. Definitions.

Same unit ≠ same variable

Unit 1 can describe many unrelated dimensionless quantities. Length in metres does not establish that plant height, leaf length and water depth are the same variable. Quantitative semantics.

Standardized ≠ harmonized

A standard can make field names or formats consistent while methods, meanings and supports remain different. Joint scientific interpretation needs evidence. Definitions.

Ontology ≠ knowledge graph

An ontology describes categories, relations and constraints. A knowledge graph can contain instance assertions using that ontology. A graph assertion is not automatically a valid scientific conclusion. Definitions.

Ontology ≠ vocabulary ≠ standard

A managed term list, an axiomatized domain model and an exchange specification provide different capabilities. The landscape deliberately includes all these kinds of resource.

Scale is not one dimension

Structural, taxonomic, ecological, spatial, temporal and observational organization intersect. Their links have different meanings. Biological organization.

Relations also need their own meanings

subclass, part-of, member-of and SKOS broader are not synonyms. A leaf can be part of an organism; an organism can be a member of a population; a species can occupy a rank within a taxonomic classification. These are different assertions. Relation glossary.