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Adjuvant/ontology_hierarchy.json

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Ontotology
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ontology_hierarchy.json
{
"name": "Entity",
"id": "Entity",
"description": "base structure",
"level": 0,
"children": [
{
"name": "is_",
"id": "is_",
"description": "a state (of being), classification or type",
"level": 1,
"children": [
{
"name": "exposed_to_systemic_risk",
"id": "exposed_to_systemic_risk",
"description": "the entity is situated within conditions where multiple interacting pressures operate across space and time, such that harms may propagate, combine, or escalate through cascading, compound, or catastrophic dynamics, even if no single isolated threat is sufficient on its own to cause failure or injury",
"level": 2,
"children": [
{
"name": "catastrophic_risk",
"id": "catastrophic_risk",
"description": "chronic and serve harm or death of 10% or more of the current populationEvidence: (adapted) Arnscheidt, C. W., Beard, S. J., Hobson, T., Ingram, P., Kemp, L., Mani, L., … Wunderling, N. (2025). Systemic contributions to global catastrophic risk. Global Sustainability, 8, e19. doi:10.1017/sus.2025.20 (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-sustainability/article/systemic-contributions-to-global-catastrophic-risk/C9DCBFE8C24F8CA1505F61DC61E9822B)",
"level": 3,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "compound_risk",
"id": "compound_risk",
"description": "multiple risks, of different types, effecting a vulnerability at a speed and scale that compromises the systems ability to recover. Evidence: Pritchard, M., Tovey, P., Tickell, P. et al. (2025) Catalysing transformational change through compound nature connectedness interventions. Ambio (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-025-02328-0)",
"level": 3,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "cascade_risk",
"id": "cascade_risk",
"description": "risk that increases in magnitude, in other parts of the system, following on from an initial event (A → B+ → C++)Evidence: Pescaroli, G., & Alexander, D. (2015). A definition of cascading disasters and cascading effects: Going beyond the “toppling dominos” metaphor. Planet@ risk, 3(1), 58-67. (https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1465510/)",
"level": 3,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "at_risk_of",
"id": "at_risk_of",
"description": "can be harmed in some way, via some mechanism",
"level": 2,
"children": [
{
"name": "diel_rhythm_disruption",
"id": "diel_rhythm_disruption",
"description": "alteration or destabilisation of an organism’s normal 24-hour activity pattern due to environmental or anthropogenic factors",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "fragmentation",
"id": "fragmentation",
"description": "breaking of a coherent activity pattern into irregular or shortened bouts across the day–night cycle",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "shift",
"id": "shift",
"description": "a sustained change in the timing of activity within the 24-hour cycle without complete loss of rhythmicity.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "mental_injury",
"id": "mental_injury",
"description": "harm affecting cognitive, emotional, or behavioural functioning",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "acute_stress_state",
"id": "acute_stress_state",
"description": "temporary elevation of stress responses altering normal behavioural and physiological functioning",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "chronic_stress_state",
"id": "chronic_stress_state",
"description": "sustained elevation of stress responses altering normal behavioural and physiological functioning",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "physical_injury",
"id": "physical_injury",
"description": "harm involving damage to bodily structures or physiological function",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "predation",
"id": "predation",
"description": "loss of life due to being hunted, killed, and eaten by another organism",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "trauma",
"id": "trauma",
"description": "damage caused by acute physical force or impact",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "toxicological",
"id": "toxicological",
"description": "physiological harm caused by chemical or biological toxins",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "epigenetic",
"id": "epigenetic",
"description": "environmental stressors induce stable, heritable changes in gene regulation without altering DNA sequence, resulting in altered physiological function, development, or stress responseEvidence: Van Cauwenbergh, O., Di Serafino, A., Tytgat, J. et al. (2020) Transgenerational epigenetic effects from male exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds: a systematic review on research in mammals. Clin Epigenet 12, 65 (https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-020-00845-1)",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "restriction",
"id": "restriction",
"description": "harm arising from channelling or otherwise negativity constraining, freedoms.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "suitable_habitat",
"id": "suitable_habitat",
"description": "loss of access to required spaces or environments",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "behavioural",
"id": "behavioural",
"description": "forced alteration or narrowing of behavioural options and expression",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "movement",
"id": "movement",
"description": "limitation of normal mobility or dispersal",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "sensory_disruption",
"id": "sensory_disruption",
"description": "susceptible to interference with its sensory perception or processingEvidence: Dominoni et al (2020) Why conservation biology can benefit from sensory ecology. Nat Ecol Evol 4, 502–51 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1135-4)",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "misdirection",
"id": "misdirection",
"description": "a sensory pollutant mimics, resembles, or substitutes for a natural sensory cue, causing the organism to orient toward, respond to, or act upon a false or misleading signal",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "distraction",
"id": "distraction",
"description": "a salient sensory pollutant captures or diverts attention away from a biologically relevant cue, even without direct overlap in sensory properties, thereby impairing perception, decision-making, or behavioural response",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "masking",
"id": "masking",
"description": "sensory pollutant overlaps with the target sensory cue in physical properties reducing or preventing the organism’s ability to detect or discriminate the original cue",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "has_",
"id": "has_",
"description": "possesses, exhibits, or contains an attribute, property, or component",
"level": 1,
"children": [
{
"name": "dreams",
"id": "dreams",
"description": "Endogenous stimulation of memory and physical systems during sleep.Evidence: Peña-Guzmán, D. M. (2022). When animals dream: the hidden world of animal consciousness.",
"level": 2,
"children": [
{
"name": "memory_consolidation",
"id": "memory_consolidation",
"description": "Process where newly formed memories are stabilised and strengthened in the brain, so they become long‑term memories rather than fading away.",
"level": 3,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "mental_replay",
"id": "mental_replay",
"description": "Reactivation during rest or sleep of neural activity patterns that occurred during waking experience, effectively “playing back” past events in the brain.",
"level": 3,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "oneiric_behaviours",
"id": "oneiric_behaviours",
"description": "Observable bodily movements or actions during sleep that are caused by dreaming and used as evidence that a dream is occurring.",
"level": 3,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "mobility",
"id": "mobility",
"description": "the capacity of an organism to move through its environment, including the mode, range, frequency, and energetic cost of movement, as shaped by anatomy, physiology, behaviour, and environmental conditions",
"level": 2,
"children": [
{
"name": "drivers_internal_state",
"id": "drivers_internal_state",
"description": "Ecological drivers shaping when and why movement occurs, described without human-centric assumptions.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "exploration_driver",
"id": "exploration_driver",
"description": "Movement linked to habitat sampling or route discovery",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "avoidance_driver",
"id": "avoidance_driver",
"description": "Movement driven by reducing exposure to threats such as predators, disturbance, or harmful conditions.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "thermoregulation_driver",
"id": "thermoregulation_driver",
"description": "Movement driven by seeking suitable temperature, moisture, or shelter conditions.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "breeding_driver",
"id": "breeding_driver",
"description": "Movement driven by mating, nesting, spawning, or other reproductive requirements.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "foraging_driver",
"id": "foraging_driver",
"description": "Movement driven by searching for food or tracking resource distribution.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "navigation_and_orientation",
"id": "navigation_and_orientation",
"description": "Cues used to orient movement and sensitivity to cue disruption, included where evidence supports it",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "cue_dependence",
"id": "cue_dependence",
"description": "How strongly movement depends on particular cues, where there is evidence of reliance.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "disruption_sensitivity",
"id": "disruption_sensitivity",
"description": "Sensitivity to disruption of cues (for example turbidity, light pollution, noise, flow alteration), grounded in evidence.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "cue_types",
"id": "cue_types",
"description": "Main cue types used for orientation (for example chemical gradients, flow cues, geomagnetic cues, visual landmarks, memory).",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "motion_capacity",
"id": "motion_capacity",
"description": "Biophysical limits, performance, and energetic costs that constrain movement",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "movement_mode_mix",
"id": "movement_mode_mix",
"description": "Proportion of time spent in different movement modes, where mixed modes occur.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "energetic_cost_sensitivity",
"id": "energetic_cost_sensitivity",
"description": "Sensitivity of movement to energetic cost and resource availability, using qualitative proxies if needed.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "max_movement_capacity",
"id": "max_movement_capacity",
"description": "Maximum known or estimated movement capability under demanding conditions",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "typical_daily_distance",
"id": "typical_daily_distance",
"description": "Typical distance moved per day or per activity cycle, if measured or reliably estimated.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "avg_speed",
"id": "avg_speed",
"description": "Typical locomotion speed in the relevant medium, with context (foraging, cruising, escape) where available.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "migration_and_dispersal",
"id": "migration_and_dispersal",
"description": "Directional movements or relocations across seasons or life stages, including dispersal events.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "site_fidelity",
"id": "site_fidelity",
"description": "Tendency to return to the same breeding, feeding, or resting sites, where documented.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "seasonal_movements",
"id": "seasonal_movements",
"description": "Recurring seasonal shifts in location or habitat use, distinct from migration.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "dispersal_stage",
"id": "dispersal_stage",
"description": "The life stage when dispersal tends to occur (for example juvenile dispersal), if evidenced.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "migration_pattern",
"id": "migration_pattern",
"description": "The dominant migration type and timing (for example anadromous migration), if applicable.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "space_use_patterns",
"id": "space_use_patterns",
"description": "How space is used, including range patterns, site use, and any stable spatial structure.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "vertical_use",
"id": "vertical_use",
"description": "ase of vertical space such as soil depth, water column, or canopy height, measured in km.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "habitual areas",
"id": "habitual areas",
"description": "areas used disproportionately for key activities (for example feeding, resting, breeding), if known.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "territory",
"id": "territory",
"description": "a spatial area actively defended or socially regulated by an organism against others, measured in km²",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "territorial_range",
"id": "territorial_range",
"description": "typical min to max area or linear extent of territory, measured in km²",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "intra_specific_overlap",
"id": "intra_specific_overlap",
"description": "degree to which territories or home ranges overlap among conspecifics, category none, low, medium, high",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "defence_mechanism",
"id": "defence_mechanism",
"description": "the set of behavioural, sensory, physical, or social actions by which an organism establishes, maintains, or enforces control over a territory by deterring, excluding, or regulating access by others",
"level": 5,
"children": [
{
"name": "infanticide",
"id": "infanticide",
"description": "killing dependent offspring (typically of conspecifics) in order to eliminate future rivals, disrupt competing lineages, or induce reproductive resetting, thereby securing territorial, mating, or resource advantage",
"level": 6,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "occupation",
"id": "occupation",
"description": "passively holding ground or space through presence",
"level": 6,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "patrolling",
"id": "patrolling",
"description": "regular movement along territorial boundaries to reinforce presence and detect intrusions",
"level": 6,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "physical_confrontation",
"id": "physical_confrontation",
"description": "direct bodily engagement or aggression used to expel or repel intruders",
"level": 6,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "chemical_marking",
"id": "chemical_marking",
"description": "deposition of scent marks or pheromones to delineate territorial boundaries or convey occupancy",
"level": 6,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "acoustic_signalling",
"id": "acoustic_signalling",
"description": "use of vocalisations or sounds to advertise territorial presence or deter intruders",
"level": 6,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "visual_signally",
"id": "visual_signally",
"description": "use of body posture, movement, coloration, or antler/horn presentation to signal territorial ownership or dominance",
"level": 6,
"children": []
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "home_range_maximal",
"id": "home_range_maximal",
"description": "the maximal area used without the life cycle, measured in km²",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "movement_mode",
"id": "movement_mode",
"description": "The primary and secondary locomotion modes and the medium used for movement.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "vagile",
"id": "vagile",
"description": "can be moved by other agents, like wind or water, but cannot move themselves",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "sessile",
"id": "sessile",
"description": "permanently attached to a substrate and cannot move independently",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "motile",
"id": "motile",
"description": "can move independently using their own metabolic energy",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "secondary_modes",
"id": "secondary_modes",
"description": "Additional movement modes used in specific contexts or stages, if applicable.",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "primary_mode",
"id": "primary_mode",
"description": "The dominant movement mode (for example flying, swimming, walking, burrowing) used most of the time.",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "social_life_and_learned_traditions",
"id": "social_life_and_learned_traditions",
"description": "Patterns of association, communication, and socially influenced behaviour, defined operationally and without human-centric assumptions.Evidence. Glover, M. J., & Mitchell, L. (Eds.). (2024). Animals as Experiencing Entities: Theories and Historical Narratives (pp. 13-14). London, UK: palgrave macmillan. (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-46456-0)",
"level": 2,
"children": [
{
"name": "anthropogenic_entanglements",
"id": "anthropogenic_entanglements",
"description": "Interactions with human infrastructures and practices described as ecological relations, not moral judgements.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "persecution_or_conflict_risk",
"id": "persecution_or_conflict_risk",
"description": "Risks arising from conflict, persecution, or control practices, where evidenced.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "disturbance_and_habituation",
"id": "disturbance_and_habituation",
"description": "Effects of repeated disturbance and any evidence of habituation described behaviourally.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "resource_subsidies",
"id": "resource_subsidies",
"description": "Reliance on or exposure to human-derived resources (for example waste, stocked prey), if applicable.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "infrastructure_interaction",
"id": "infrastructure_interaction",
"description": "How built structures (roads, weirs, lighting, drainage) shape behaviour, access, or risk.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "traditions",
"id": "traditions",
"description": "Shared behavioural patterns maintained through repeated social transmission and persistence over time, defined operationally.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "persistence_timescale",
"id": "persistence_timescale",
"description": "Timescale of persistence (within-generation or across generations), if known.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "ecological_traditions",
"id": "ecological_traditions",
"description": "Persistent learned use of routes, sites, or timing that is socially maintained, if documented.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "behavioural_traditions",
"id": "behavioural_traditions",
"description": "Persistent learned behavioural variants shared within a group or population, if documented.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "social_learning_mechanisms",
"id": "social_learning_mechanisms",
"description": "Evidence-based ways behaviour is acquired via others, included only when supported by studies.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "learning_contexts",
"id": "learning_contexts",
"description": "Behavioural domains where social learning is evidenced (for example foraging, predator avoidance, navigation, breeding).",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "mechanisms_evidenced",
"id": "mechanisms_evidenced",
"description": "Documented mechanisms (for example imitation, emulation, stimulus enhancement, teaching), if supported by evidence.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "social_information_use",
"id": "social_information_use",
"description": "Use of information generated by other organisms to guide decisions, without requiring strong claims about culture.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "alarm_information",
"id": "alarm_information",
"description": "Responding to warning signals or cues produced by others that indicate danger or risk.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "local_enhancement",
"id": "local_enhancement",
"description": "Increased likelihood of using a place or resource because others are present or have been there.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "public_information",
"id": "public_information",
"description": "Using others' outcomes or success (for example feeding success) as information to guide behaviour.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "communication_modalities",
"id": "communication_modalities",
"description": "Signalling channels used to influence others or coordinate behaviour, aligned with the species' sensory ecology.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "signal_range_context",
"id": "signal_range_context",
"description": "Typical signalling range and context (short-range, long-range, aquatic, nocturnal), if known.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "primary_modalities",
"id": "primary_modalities",
"description": "Dominant signalling channels (chemical, vocal, visual, tactile, vibrational), where documented.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "signal_types",
"id": "signal_types",
"description": "Main signal forms (for example alarm calls, scent marks, displays), if evidenced.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "social_organisation",
"id": "social_organisation",
"description": "Patterns of association describing how individuals coordinate in space and time, recognising flexibility across contexts.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "dominance_or_hierarchy",
"id": "dominance_or_hierarchy",
"description": "Evidence for structured rank, dominance, or role differentiation, only if supported by observations.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "association_stability",
"id": "association_stability",
"description": "How stable associations are through time (stable, seasonal, fission-fusion, or transient aggregations).",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "group_size_typical",
"id": "group_size_typical",
"description": "Typical group size when groups form, including seasonal or situational variation if known.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "grouping_pattern",
"id": "grouping_pattern",
"description": "The typical association pattern (solitary, paired, family-based, group-living), with context dependence where relevant.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "life_history",
"id": "life_history",
"description": "The sequence of events and strategies shaping an organism’s survival, development, reproduction, and lifespan",
"level": 2,
"children": [
{
"name": "reproductive_cycle",
"id": "reproductive_cycle",
"description": "When reproduction happens, how many offspring are produced, and whether any care supports early survival.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "parental care",
"id": "parental care",
"description": "Level of care or protection after birth or hatching.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "offspring per event",
"id": "offspring per event",
"description": "Typical number of offspring per reproductive event (litter, clutch, eggs, cocoons).",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "reproductive_strategy",
"id": "reproductive_strategy",
"description": "Whether the organism reproduces across multiple events/seasons (iteroparous) or typically in a single major event (semelparous).",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "timing",
"id": "timing",
"description": "Typical breeding season or triggers (e.g., temperature, flow, photoperiod).",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "bottleneck_stage_refinement",
"id": "bottleneck_stage_refinement",
"description": "Detail to make bottlenecks actionable for risk-linking.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "linked_risks",
"id": "linked_risks",
"description": "Pointers to relevant risk or hazard nodes elsewhere in the master mind map.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "bottleneck_description",
"id": "bottleneck_description",
"description": "A short explanation of why this stage is a bottleneck, grounded in ecology and evidence.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "life_history_strategy_summary",
"id": "life_history_strategy_summary",
"description": "A cautious summary of dominant trade-offs, only if supported by evidence.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "key_tradeoffs",
"id": "key_tradeoffs",
"description": "The main documented trade-offs shaping growth, reproduction, and survival.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "strategy_summary",
"id": "strategy_summary",
"description": "One sentence summarising the dominant life-history pattern, if well established.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "survival_and_longevity",
"id": "survival_and_longevity",
"description": "Survival patterns across stages and the typical lifespan under natural conditions.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "lifespan_typical",
"id": "lifespan_typical",
"description": "Typical lifespan under natural conditions, acknowledging variation across context and pressure.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "senescence_pattern",
"id": "senescence_pattern",
"description": "Any documented age-related functional decline that affects survival or reproduction.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "mortality_sources",
"id": "mortality_sources",
"description": "Main ecological sources of mortality (for example predation, disease, starvation, exposure).",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "stage_specific_survival",
"id": "stage_specific_survival",
"description": "Variation in survival likelihood across life stages (quantitative where available, otherwise qualitative), for example higher in adults and lower in juveniles.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "reproduction_refinement",
"id": "reproduction_refinement",
"description": "Additional reproductive descriptors that complement timing and offspring number.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "sex_system",
"id": "sex_system",
"description": "How sexes are organised biologically (for example separate sexes, hermaphroditic), only if evidenced.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "mating_system",
"id": "mating_system",
"description": "The mating pattern (for example monogamous, polygynous), only if evidenced.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "offspring_size_or_investment",
"id": "offspring_size_or_investment",
"description": "Size or energetic investment per offspring, capturing trade-offs between number and investment.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "reproductive_frequency",
"id": "reproductive_frequency",
"description": "How often reproductive events occur, including intervals between events where relevant.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "maturation",
"id": "maturation",
"description": "The transition to reproductive capability described by age and or size thresholds.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "size_at_maturity",
"id": "size_at_maturity",
"description": "Typical size when reproduction becomes possible, where size is more informative than age.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "age_at_maturity",
"id": "age_at_maturity",
"description": "Typical age when reproduction becomes possible, acknowledging ecological variation.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "growth_and_size",
"id": "growth_and_size",
"description": "Growth patterns and size ranges that affect survival, mobility, and reproduction.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "size_at_stage",
"id": "size_at_stage",
"description": "Size at key life stages or transitions when stage size matters ecologically.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "body_size_range",
"id": "body_size_range",
"description": "Typical size range for individuals, usually as adults, used to contextualise capability and risk.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "growth_rate",
"id": "growth_rate",
"description": "A measurable or described rate of growth, if available, noting context and variation.",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "growth_pattern",
"id": "growth_pattern",
"description": "The overall shape of growth through time (for example continuous, seasonal, or metamorphic).",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "activity_patterns",
"id": "activity_patterns",
"description": "day night and seasonal patterns of activity that shape when an organism moves, feeds, rests, and reproduces",
"level": 2,
"children": [
{
"name": "timing_sensitivity",
"id": "timing_sensitivity",
"description": "Sensitivity of activity timing to disturbances or environmental change (for example artificial light at night, noise, temperature, flow), where evidenced.",
"level": 3,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "seasonal_rhythm",
"id": "seasonal_rhythm",
"description": "seasonal shifts in activity and behaviour that change when and how the organism uses its habitat.",
"level": 3,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "diel_rhythm",
"id": "diel_rhythm",
"description": "biologically driven pattern of activity, behaviour, or physiological process that follows a roughly 24-hour cycle",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "arrhythmic",
"id": "arrhythmic",
"description": "no consistent pattern",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "cathemeral",
"id": "cathemeral",
"description": "irregular intervals during the day or night",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "crepuscular",
"id": "crepuscular",
"description": "active at twilight; typically 1 hr before sunrise or after sunset",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "nocturnal",
"id": "nocturnal",
"description": "active during the night",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "diurnal",
"id": "diurnal",
"description": "active during the night",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "sensory_perception",
"id": "sensory_perception",
"description": "modalities through which to sense the environmentEvidence: Hollins, M. (2024). Sensory Systems of Animals: Biology and Behavior. CRC Press. (https://www.routledge.com/Sensory-Systems-of-Animals-Biology-and-Behavior/Hollins/p/book/9781032423289)",
"level": 2,
"children": [
{
"name": "sensory_integration",
"id": "sensory_integration",
"description": "how channels combine, signal vs noise",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "signal-noise_filtering",
"id": "signal-noise_filtering",
"description": "what gets prioritised, ignored, treated as background",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "trade-offs",
"id": "trade-offs",
"description": "functional compromises between modalities",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "dominant_channels",
"id": "dominant_channels",
"description": "modalities that most strongly guide behaviour in typical contexts",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "baroreception",
"id": "baroreception",
"description": "sensing pressure changes, often linked to depth",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "pressure-linked_behavioural_cueing",
"id": "pressure-linked_behavioural_cueing",
"description": "use pressure changes to adjust movement, feeding, habitat choice",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "hydrostatic_pressure_detection",
"id": "hydrostatic_pressure_detection",
"description": "detect depth-related pressure changes in water",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "magnetoreception",
"id": "magnetoreception",
"description": "sensing Earth's magnetic field for orientation and navigation)",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "magnetic_map",
"id": "magnetic_map",
"description": "use intensity/inclination as position-like information where applicable",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "magnetic_compass",
"id": "magnetic_compass",
"description": "detect direction relative to magnetic field",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "hygroreception",
"id": "hygroreception",
"description": "sensing humidity or moisture shaping survival and habitat choice",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "desiccation_risk_cueing",
"id": "desiccation_risk_cueing",
"description": "use dryness/moisture as risk signal triggering sheltering/movement",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "humidity_detection",
"id": "humidity_detection",
"description": "detect moisture in air or substrate",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "thermoception",
"id": "thermoception",
"description": "sensing temperature and thermal gradients",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "thermal_cueing_for_behaviour",
"id": "thermal_cueing_for_behaviour",
"description": "use temperature to choose activity patterns, refuges, routes",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "thermal_gradient_detection",
"id": "thermal_gradient_detection",
"description": "detect differences in temperature across microhabitats",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "proprioception_&_vestibular_sensing",
"id": "proprioception_&_vestibular_sensing",
"description": "somatic sensory systems that sense body position, movement, acceleration, balance",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "kinesthetic_control",
"id": "kinesthetic_control",
"description": "sensing and regulating ongoing movement",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "movement_dynamics",
"id": "movement_dynamics",
"description": "sensitivity to speed, direction changes, and rhythm of self‑movement (e.g. stride pattern, tail or fin strokes)",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "load_sensing",
"id": "load_sensing",
"description": "the body can sense weight, tension, or muscular effort (useful for climbers, burrowers, animals moving in fast flow) links to force, strain, and fatigue",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "body_schema_flexibility",
"id": "body_schema_flexibility",
"description": "the entity can update its sense of body configuration (e.g. animals that squeeze through gaps, change posture in burrows, extend limbs or antennae)",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "vestibular_sensing",
"id": "vestibular_sensing",
"description": "detect head orientation, rotation, acceleration to maintain stability",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "stability_under_disturbance",
"id": "stability_under_disturbance",
"description": "how proprioceptive control is degraded by fatigue, toxins, or substrate change (e.g. slippery banks, sudden flow shifts)",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "proprioception",
"id": "proprioception",
"description": "internal sensing of limb/body position for coordination",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "mechanoreception",
"id": "mechanoreception",
"description": "sensing physical forces: touch, pressure, texture, flow, vibration",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "nociceptors",
"id": "nociceptors",
"description": "respond to “noxious” stimuli, or essentially anything that causes tissue damage; nociceptors detect tissue damage, not detect pain – our brain interprets perceived tissue damage as painful",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "specialised mechanosensors",
"id": "specialised mechanosensors",
"description": "structures that sharpen mechanoreception",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "lateral_line",
"id": "lateral_line",
"description": "detect water movement and pressure changes around the body, e.g. fish",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "vibrissae",
"id": "vibrissae",
"description": "whiskers or sensitive hairs for touch and water movement",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "vibration_sensing",
"id": "vibration_sensing",
"description": "detect vibrations through substrate-borne cues (soil, vegetation, water surface, built structures)",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "flow_and_current_detection",
"id": "flow_and_current_detection",
"description": "detect moving air or water as a tactile field of forces",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "texture_discrimination",
"id": "texture_discrimination",
"description": "distinguish surface qualities: roughness, granularity, biofilm, substrate",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "touch/pressure_and_contact",
"id": "touch/pressure_and_contact",
"description": "detect direct contact, pressure, tissue deformation",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "chemoreception",
"id": "chemoreception",
"description": "sensing chemical cues at a distance or via contact",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "olfaction",
"id": "olfaction",
"description": "detect chemicals in the gaseous state",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "waterborne",
"id": "waterborne",
"description": "detect dissolved chemical cues carried in water",
"level": 5,
"children": [
{
"name": "water_chemistry_discrimination",
"id": "water_chemistry_discrimination",
"description": "detect salinity, pH, dissolved compounds, pollutants as signals",
"level": 6,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "imprinting_and_homing_cues",
"id": "imprinting_and_homing_cues",
"description": "recognise natal or familiar waters where applicable",
"level": 6,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "airborne",
"id": "airborne",
"description": "detect chemical cues carried in air",
"level": 5,
"children": [
{
"name": "plume/gradient_tracking",
"id": "plume/gradient_tracking",
"description": "follow concentration changes to locate source",
"level": 6,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "chemical_specificity",
"id": "chemical_specificity",
"description": "discriminate compounds relevant to food, predators, mates, territory",
"level": 6,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "sensitivity",
"id": "sensitivity",
"description": "detect very low concentrations",
"level": 4,
"children": []
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "palpation/antennation",
"id": "palpation/antennation",
"description": "Rapid touching/vibrating of mouthparts or antennae to sample surfaces for chemicals",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "receptor",
"id": "receptor",
"description": "organ used for chemoreception",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "specialised_contact_structures",
"id": "specialised_contact_structures",
"description": "e.g. tentacles, palps, proboscis, mouthparts",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "taste_bud_distribution",
"id": "taste_bud_distribution",
"description": "mouth-only vs. extraoral (skin, barbels, fins, legs, antennae)[1] (https://www.britannica.com/science/chemoreception/Specialized-chemosensory-structures)",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "external_olfactory_openings",
"id": "external_olfactory_openings",
"description": "placement and exposure to flow (downstream, upstream, buried, etc.) [1] (https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/210/10/1776/9484/Chemosensory-reception-behavioral-expression-and)",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "olfactory_rosettes_or_laminae",
"id": "olfactory_rosettes_or_laminae",
"description": "morphology (e.g. lamellae number) as a proxy for sensitivity",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "olfactory_receptor_repertoire_size",
"id": "olfactory_receptor_repertoire_size",
"description": "coarse category: low / moderate / high diversity of receptor gene families [1] (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6084603/)",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "vomeronasal_organ",
"id": "vomeronasal_organ",
"description": "detects specific chemical signals, especially pheromones, influencing social, sexual, and predatory behaviours",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "olfactory_epithelium_and_turbinates",
"id": "olfactory_epithelium_and_turbinates",
"description": "surface area, complexity, airflow patterning",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "gustation",
"id": "gustation",
"description": "detect chemical cues through direct contact, general sense of taste",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "foraging_cueing",
"id": "foraging_cueing",
"description": "use contact cues to accept/reject/prioritise food",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "distributed_taste_receptors",
"id": "distributed_taste_receptors",
"description": "taste-like sensing beyond the mouth where applicable",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "vision",
"id": "vision",
"description": "the faculty or state of being able to see",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "compensatory_cyclovergence",
"id": "compensatory_cyclovergence",
"description": "the simultaneous torsional movement of both eyes, serves as this orientation mechanismEvidence: Banks, M. S., Sprague, W. W., Schmoll, J., Parnell, J. A., & Love, G. D. (2015). Why do animal eyes have pupils of different shapes?. Science advances, 1(7), e1500391. (https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.1500391)",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "contrast_sensitivity",
"id": "contrast_sensitivity",
"description": "The ability to detect differences in luminance or colour between an object and its background. Often quantified by the Contrast Sensitivity Function (CSF)Evidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "motion_detection",
"id": "motion_detection",
"description": "The capacity to detect and interpret movement within the visual fieldEvidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "depth_perception",
"id": "depth_perception",
"description": "The ability to judge distance and three-dimensional spatial relationshipsEvidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "monocular_depth_cues",
"id": "monocular_depth_cues",
"description": "use cues available to a single eye to interpret 3D layouts, allowing for a wider field of view such as Motion Parallax (depth is inferred by moving the head; closer objects appear to move faster across the retina than distant ones), or Photoreceptor Microsaccades (mechanism where individual light receptors in the eye undergo fast counter-motions to generate depth information from light changes)",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "binocular_stereopsis",
"id": "binocular_stereopsis",
"description": "horizontal separation of eyes to create binocular disparity—slightly different images on each retina that the brain merges to infer distanceEvidence: Nityananda, V., & Read, J. C. A. (2017). Stereopsis in animals: evolution, function and mechanisms. The Journal of experimental biology, 220(Pt 14), 2502–2512. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.143883 (https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.143883)",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "field_of_view",
"id": "field_of_view",
"description": "The spatial extent of the visual environment perceivable at a given momentEvidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "binocular_overlap",
"id": "binocular_overlap",
"description": "e.g. ~55°–65°, ~140°",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "horizontal_FOV",
"id": "horizontal_FOV",
"description": "e.g. ~180°",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "orbital_convergence",
"id": "orbital_convergence",
"description": "Positioning category for eyes: frontal, lateral, posterior",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "acuity",
"id": "acuity",
"description": "The ability of the eye to perceive static spatial detailEvidence: Caves, E. M., Brandley, N. C., & Johnsen, S. (2018). Visual acuity and the evolution of signals. Trends in ecology & evolution, 33(5), 358-372. (https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347%2818%2930052-1?wpmobileexternal=true#fig0005)",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "photo_receptivity",
"id": "photo_receptivity",
"description": "The capacity of retinal cells to detect photons within a wavelength rangeEvidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "polarisation",
"id": "polarisation",
"description": "The ability to detect the orientation of light waves, aiding navigation and contrast detectionEvidence:",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "monochromatic",
"id": "monochromatic",
"description": "Possessing a single functional photoreceptor class, enabling light–dark discrimination without colour differentiationEvidence:",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "infrared",
"id": "infrared",
"description": "The ability of photoreceptors to detect wavelengths in the infrared spectrum (typically 780 nm (380 THz) to 1 mm (300 GHz)), only cases of near IR (750-1500nm) have link to photoreception, otherwise alternate organ does thermoception.Evidence: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanometre, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertz, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimetre, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertz)",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "dichromatic",
"id": "dichromatic",
"description": "Possessing two types of cone cells, enabling colour discrimination across two primary spectral channelsEvidence: Author (date+link) Title. Jorunal. [;] seperater",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "trichromatic",
"id": "trichromatic",
"description": "Possessing three cone types enabling finer colour distinctions across three channelsEvidence:",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "ultraviolet",
"id": "ultraviolet",
"description": "The ability of photoreceptors to detect wavelengths in the ultraviolet spectrum (typically 300–400 nm)Evidence:",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
}
]
},
{
"name": "hearing",
"id": "hearing",
"description": "the ability to perceive sound through detection of vibrations (pressure waves) in the environment.",
"level": 3,
"children": [
{
"name": "temporal_resolution",
"id": "temporal_resolution",
"description": "The ability to resolve changes in visual stimuli over time, including motion and flickerEvidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "bone_conduction",
"id": "bone_conduction",
"description": "A pathway where vibrations bypass the outer ear and travel through the skull to the inner ear.Evidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "echolocation",
"id": "echolocation",
"description": "Active Sonar ability to emit sounds and analyse the returning echoes to navigateEvidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "medium",
"id": "medium",
"description": "how detection changes in air, water, or through substratesEvidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "biotremology",
"id": "biotremology",
"description": "substrate‑borne vibration (e.g. insects)",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "threshold_curves",
"id": "threshold_curves",
"description": "different threshold curves (e.g. air vs underwater)",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "directionality",
"id": "directionality",
"description": "ability to infer sound source location (localisation)Evidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "spectral_cues",
"id": "spectral_cues",
"description": "detect changes in frequency content via changes to specrum e.g. pinna effect",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "binaural_cues",
"id": "binaural_cues",
"description": "Determining horizontal and vertical direction of a source often via interaural level difference or interaural time difference.",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "distance_perception",
"id": "distance_perception",
"description": "Cues used to infer the distance or depth of a source, such as the direct-to-reverberant energy ratio (ratio of original sound to echoes) and the initial time delay gap.Evidence:",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
},
{
"name": "pinnae_mobility",
"id": "pinnae_mobility",
"description": "Ability to rotate external ears to enhance directional detection/disambiguation via muscle control. Features: rotational range (degrees) Evidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "frequency_range",
"id": "frequency_range",
"description": "Span of frequencies detectableEvidence:",
"level": 4,
"children": [
{
"name": "human_audible_spectrum",
"id": "human_audible_spectrum",
"description": "20Hz - 20kHzEvidence:",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "infrasound",
"id": "infrasound",
"description": "The ability to detect sounds below 20 Hz. Long-distance communication, sensing environmental phenomena like thunderstorms.Evidence:",
"level": 5,
"children": []
},
{
"name": "ultrasound",
"id": "ultrasound",
"description": "Ability to detect sounds above 20 kHz.Evidence:",
"level": 5,
"children": []
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
Raw
ontology_nodes_tidy.json
[
{
"id": "Entity",
"parent": null,
"label": "Entity",
"description": "base structure",
"level": 0
},
{
"id": "is_",
"parent": "Entity",
"label": "is_",
"description": "a state (of being), classification or type",
"level": 1
},
{
"id": "exposed_to_systemic_risk",
"parent": "is_",
"label": "exposed_to_systemic_risk",
"description": "the entity is situated within conditions where multiple interacting pressures operate across space and time, such that harms may propagate, combine, or escalate through cascading, compound, or catastrophic dynamics, even if no single isolated threat is sufficient on its own to cause failure or injury",
"level": 2
},
{
"id": "catastrophic_risk",
"parent": "exposed_to_systemic_risk",
"label": "catastrophic_risk",
"description": "chronic and serve harm or death of 10% or more of the current populationEvidence: (adapted) Arnscheidt, C. W., Beard, S. J., Hobson, T., Ingram, P., Kemp, L., Mani, L., … Wunderling, N. (2025). Systemic contributions to global catastrophic risk. Global Sustainability, 8, e19. doi:10.1017/sus.2025.20 (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-sustainability/article/systemic-contributions-to-global-catastrophic-risk/C9DCBFE8C24F8CA1505F61DC61E9822B)",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "compound_risk",
"parent": "exposed_to_systemic_risk",
"label": "compound_risk",
"description": "multiple risks, of different types, effecting a vulnerability at a speed and scale that compromises the systems ability to recover. Evidence: Pritchard, M., Tovey, P., Tickell, P. et al. (2025) Catalysing transformational change through compound nature connectedness interventions. Ambio (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-025-02328-0)",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "cascade_risk",
"parent": "exposed_to_systemic_risk",
"label": "cascade_risk",
"description": "risk that increases in magnitude, in other parts of the system, following on from an initial event (A → B+ → C++)Evidence: Pescaroli, G., & Alexander, D. (2015). A definition of cascading disasters and cascading effects: Going beyond the “toppling dominos” metaphor. Planet@ risk, 3(1), 58-67. (https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1465510/)",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "at_risk_of",
"parent": "is_",
"label": "at_risk_of",
"description": "can be harmed in some way, via some mechanism",
"level": 2
},
{
"id": "diel_rhythm_disruption",
"parent": "at_risk_of",
"label": "diel_rhythm_disruption",
"description": "alteration or destabilisation of an organism’s normal 24-hour activity pattern due to environmental or anthropogenic factors",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "fragmentation",
"parent": "diel_rhythm_disruption",
"label": "fragmentation",
"description": "breaking of a coherent activity pattern into irregular or shortened bouts across the day–night cycle",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "shift",
"parent": "diel_rhythm_disruption",
"label": "shift",
"description": "a sustained change in the timing of activity within the 24-hour cycle without complete loss of rhythmicity.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "mental_injury",
"parent": "at_risk_of",
"label": "mental_injury",
"description": "harm affecting cognitive, emotional, or behavioural functioning",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "acute_stress_state",
"parent": "mental_injury",
"label": "acute_stress_state",
"description": "temporary elevation of stress responses altering normal behavioural and physiological functioning",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "chronic_stress_state",
"parent": "mental_injury",
"label": "chronic_stress_state",
"description": "sustained elevation of stress responses altering normal behavioural and physiological functioning",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "physical_injury",
"parent": "at_risk_of",
"label": "physical_injury",
"description": "harm involving damage to bodily structures or physiological function",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "predation",
"parent": "physical_injury",
"label": "predation",
"description": "loss of life due to being hunted, killed, and eaten by another organism",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "trauma",
"parent": "physical_injury",
"label": "trauma",
"description": "damage caused by acute physical force or impact",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "toxicological",
"parent": "physical_injury",
"label": "toxicological",
"description": "physiological harm caused by chemical or biological toxins",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "epigenetic",
"parent": "physical_injury",
"label": "epigenetic",
"description": "environmental stressors induce stable, heritable changes in gene regulation without altering DNA sequence, resulting in altered physiological function, development, or stress responseEvidence: Van Cauwenbergh, O., Di Serafino, A., Tytgat, J. et al. (2020) Transgenerational epigenetic effects from male exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds: a systematic review on research in mammals. Clin Epigenet 12, 65 (https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-020-00845-1)",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "restriction",
"parent": "at_risk_of",
"label": "restriction",
"description": "harm arising from channelling or otherwise negativity constraining, freedoms.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "suitable_habitat",
"parent": "restriction",
"label": "suitable_habitat",
"description": "loss of access to required spaces or environments",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "behavioural",
"parent": "restriction",
"label": "behavioural",
"description": "forced alteration or narrowing of behavioural options and expression",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "movement",
"parent": "restriction",
"label": "movement",
"description": "limitation of normal mobility or dispersal",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "sensory_disruption",
"parent": "at_risk_of",
"label": "sensory_disruption",
"description": "susceptible to interference with its sensory perception or processingEvidence: Dominoni et al (2020) Why conservation biology can benefit from sensory ecology. Nat Ecol Evol 4, 502–51 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1135-4)",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "misdirection",
"parent": "sensory_disruption",
"label": "misdirection",
"description": "a sensory pollutant mimics, resembles, or substitutes for a natural sensory cue, causing the organism to orient toward, respond to, or act upon a false or misleading signal",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "distraction",
"parent": "sensory_disruption",
"label": "distraction",
"description": "a salient sensory pollutant captures or diverts attention away from a biologically relevant cue, even without direct overlap in sensory properties, thereby impairing perception, decision-making, or behavioural response",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "masking",
"parent": "sensory_disruption",
"label": "masking",
"description": "sensory pollutant overlaps with the target sensory cue in physical properties reducing or preventing the organism’s ability to detect or discriminate the original cue",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "has_",
"parent": "Entity",
"label": "has_",
"description": "possesses, exhibits, or contains an attribute, property, or component",
"level": 1
},
{
"id": "dreams",
"parent": "has_",
"label": "dreams",
"description": "Endogenous stimulation of memory and physical systems during sleep.Evidence: Peña-Guzmán, D. M. (2022). When animals dream: the hidden world of animal consciousness.",
"level": 2
},
{
"id": "memory_consolidation",
"parent": "dreams",
"label": "memory_consolidation",
"description": "Process where newly formed memories are stabilised and strengthened in the brain, so they become long‑term memories rather than fading away.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "mental_replay",
"parent": "dreams",
"label": "mental_replay",
"description": "Reactivation during rest or sleep of neural activity patterns that occurred during waking experience, effectively “playing back” past events in the brain.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "oneiric_behaviours",
"parent": "dreams",
"label": "oneiric_behaviours",
"description": "Observable bodily movements or actions during sleep that are caused by dreaming and used as evidence that a dream is occurring.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "mobility",
"parent": "has_",
"label": "mobility",
"description": "the capacity of an organism to move through its environment, including the mode, range, frequency, and energetic cost of movement, as shaped by anatomy, physiology, behaviour, and environmental conditions",
"level": 2
},
{
"id": "drivers_internal_state",
"parent": "mobility",
"label": "drivers_internal_state",
"description": "Ecological drivers shaping when and why movement occurs, described without human-centric assumptions.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "exploration_driver",
"parent": "drivers_internal_state",
"label": "exploration_driver",
"description": "Movement linked to habitat sampling or route discovery",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "avoidance_driver",
"parent": "drivers_internal_state",
"label": "avoidance_driver",
"description": "Movement driven by reducing exposure to threats such as predators, disturbance, or harmful conditions.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "thermoregulation_driver",
"parent": "drivers_internal_state",
"label": "thermoregulation_driver",
"description": "Movement driven by seeking suitable temperature, moisture, or shelter conditions.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "breeding_driver",
"parent": "drivers_internal_state",
"label": "breeding_driver",
"description": "Movement driven by mating, nesting, spawning, or other reproductive requirements.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "foraging_driver",
"parent": "drivers_internal_state",
"label": "foraging_driver",
"description": "Movement driven by searching for food or tracking resource distribution.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "navigation_and_orientation",
"parent": "mobility",
"label": "navigation_and_orientation",
"description": "Cues used to orient movement and sensitivity to cue disruption, included where evidence supports it",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "cue_dependence",
"parent": "navigation_and_orientation",
"label": "cue_dependence",
"description": "How strongly movement depends on particular cues, where there is evidence of reliance.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "disruption_sensitivity",
"parent": "navigation_and_orientation",
"label": "disruption_sensitivity",
"description": "Sensitivity to disruption of cues (for example turbidity, light pollution, noise, flow alteration), grounded in evidence.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "cue_types",
"parent": "navigation_and_orientation",
"label": "cue_types",
"description": "Main cue types used for orientation (for example chemical gradients, flow cues, geomagnetic cues, visual landmarks, memory).",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "motion_capacity",
"parent": "mobility",
"label": "motion_capacity",
"description": "Biophysical limits, performance, and energetic costs that constrain movement",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "movement_mode_mix",
"parent": "motion_capacity",
"label": "movement_mode_mix",
"description": "Proportion of time spent in different movement modes, where mixed modes occur.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "energetic_cost_sensitivity",
"parent": "motion_capacity",
"label": "energetic_cost_sensitivity",
"description": "Sensitivity of movement to energetic cost and resource availability, using qualitative proxies if needed.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "max_movement_capacity",
"parent": "motion_capacity",
"label": "max_movement_capacity",
"description": "Maximum known or estimated movement capability under demanding conditions",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "typical_daily_distance",
"parent": "motion_capacity",
"label": "typical_daily_distance",
"description": "Typical distance moved per day or per activity cycle, if measured or reliably estimated.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "avg_speed",
"parent": "motion_capacity",
"label": "avg_speed",
"description": "Typical locomotion speed in the relevant medium, with context (foraging, cruising, escape) where available.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "migration_and_dispersal",
"parent": "mobility",
"label": "migration_and_dispersal",
"description": "Directional movements or relocations across seasons or life stages, including dispersal events.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "site_fidelity",
"parent": "migration_and_dispersal",
"label": "site_fidelity",
"description": "Tendency to return to the same breeding, feeding, or resting sites, where documented.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "seasonal_movements",
"parent": "migration_and_dispersal",
"label": "seasonal_movements",
"description": "Recurring seasonal shifts in location or habitat use, distinct from migration.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "dispersal_stage",
"parent": "migration_and_dispersal",
"label": "dispersal_stage",
"description": "The life stage when dispersal tends to occur (for example juvenile dispersal), if evidenced.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "migration_pattern",
"parent": "migration_and_dispersal",
"label": "migration_pattern",
"description": "The dominant migration type and timing (for example anadromous migration), if applicable.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "space_use_patterns",
"parent": "mobility",
"label": "space_use_patterns",
"description": "How space is used, including range patterns, site use, and any stable spatial structure.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "barriers_corridors_connectivity",
"parent": "barriers_corridors_connectivity",
"label": "barriers_corridors_connectivity",
"description": "How barriers, corridors, and connectivity enable or restrict movement and access to resources.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "connectivity_requirements",
"parent": "barriers_corridors_connectivity",
"label": "connectivity_requirements",
"description": "Minimal connectivity conditions needed to maintain life-cycle movements and population viability.",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "barrier_types",
"parent": "barriers_corridors_connectivity",
"label": "barrier_types",
"description": "The main obstacle types that alter movement (for example fences, roads, weirs, fast-flow reaches, dry gaps)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "crossing_points",
"parent": "barriers_corridors_connectivity",
"label": "crossing_points",
"description": "Points where movement concentrates (for example underpasses, fords, fish passes), if applicable.",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "crossing_thresholds",
"parent": "barriers_corridors_connectivity",
"label": "crossing_thresholds",
"description": "The maximum gap, height, depth, or flow velocity tolerated when crossing obstacles",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "corridor_dependence",
"parent": "barriers_corridors_connectivity",
"label": "corridor_dependence",
"description": "Reliance on specific corridors or connected habitat features to move safely or efficiently.",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "vertical_use",
"parent": "space_use_patterns",
"label": "vertical_use",
"description": "ase of vertical space such as soil depth, water column, or canopy height, measured in km.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "habitual areas",
"parent": "space_use_patterns",
"label": "habitual areas",
"description": "areas used disproportionately for key activities (for example feeding, resting, breeding), if known.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "territory",
"parent": "space_use_patterns",
"label": "territory",
"description": "a spatial area actively defended or socially regulated by an organism against others, measured in km²",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "territorial_range",
"parent": "territory",
"label": "territorial_range",
"description": "typical min to max area or linear extent of territory, measured in km²",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "intra_specific_overlap",
"parent": "territory",
"label": "intra_specific_overlap",
"description": "degree to which territories or home ranges overlap among conspecifics, category none, low, medium, high",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "defence_mechanism",
"parent": "territory",
"label": "defence_mechanism",
"description": "the set of behavioural, sensory, physical, or social actions by which an organism establishes, maintains, or enforces control over a territory by deterring, excluding, or regulating access by others",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "infanticide",
"parent": "defence_mechanism",
"label": "infanticide",
"description": "killing dependent offspring (typically of conspecifics) in order to eliminate future rivals, disrupt competing lineages, or induce reproductive resetting, thereby securing territorial, mating, or resource advantage",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "occupation",
"parent": "defence_mechanism",
"label": "occupation",
"description": "passively holding ground or space through presence",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "patrolling",
"parent": "defence_mechanism",
"label": "patrolling",
"description": "regular movement along territorial boundaries to reinforce presence and detect intrusions",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "physical_confrontation",
"parent": "defence_mechanism",
"label": "physical_confrontation",
"description": "direct bodily engagement or aggression used to expel or repel intruders",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "chemical_marking",
"parent": "defence_mechanism",
"label": "chemical_marking",
"description": "deposition of scent marks or pheromones to delineate territorial boundaries or convey occupancy",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "acoustic_signalling",
"parent": "defence_mechanism",
"label": "acoustic_signalling",
"description": "use of vocalisations or sounds to advertise territorial presence or deter intruders",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "visual_signally",
"parent": "defence_mechanism",
"label": "visual_signally",
"description": "use of body posture, movement, coloration, or antler/horn presentation to signal territorial ownership or dominance",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "home_range_maximal",
"parent": "space_use_patterns",
"label": "home_range_maximal",
"description": "the maximal area used without the life cycle, measured in km²",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "movement_mode",
"parent": "mobility",
"label": "movement_mode",
"description": "The primary and secondary locomotion modes and the medium used for movement.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "vagile",
"parent": "movement_mode",
"label": "vagile",
"description": "can be moved by other agents, like wind or water, but cannot move themselves",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "sessile",
"parent": "movement_mode",
"label": "sessile",
"description": "permanently attached to a substrate and cannot move independently",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "motile",
"parent": "movement_mode",
"label": "motile",
"description": "can move independently using their own metabolic energy",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "secondary_modes",
"parent": "motile",
"label": "secondary_modes",
"description": "Additional movement modes used in specific contexts or stages, if applicable.",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "primary_mode",
"parent": "motile",
"label": "primary_mode",
"description": "The dominant movement mode (for example flying, swimming, walking, burrowing) used most of the time.",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "social_life_and_learned_traditions",
"parent": "has_",
"label": "social_life_and_learned_traditions",
"description": "Patterns of association, communication, and socially influenced behaviour, defined operationally and without human-centric assumptions.Evidence. Glover, M. J., & Mitchell, L. (Eds.). (2024). Animals as Experiencing Entities: Theories and Historical Narratives (pp. 13-14). London, UK: palgrave macmillan. (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-46456-0)",
"level": 2
},
{
"id": "anthropogenic_entanglements",
"parent": "social_life_and_learned_traditions",
"label": "anthropogenic_entanglements",
"description": "Interactions with human infrastructures and practices described as ecological relations, not moral judgements.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "persecution_or_conflict_risk",
"parent": "anthropogenic_entanglements",
"label": "persecution_or_conflict_risk",
"description": "Risks arising from conflict, persecution, or control practices, where evidenced.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "disturbance_and_habituation",
"parent": "anthropogenic_entanglements",
"label": "disturbance_and_habituation",
"description": "Effects of repeated disturbance and any evidence of habituation described behaviourally.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "resource_subsidies",
"parent": "anthropogenic_entanglements",
"label": "resource_subsidies",
"description": "Reliance on or exposure to human-derived resources (for example waste, stocked prey), if applicable.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "infrastructure_interaction",
"parent": "anthropogenic_entanglements",
"label": "infrastructure_interaction",
"description": "How built structures (roads, weirs, lighting, drainage) shape behaviour, access, or risk.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "traditions",
"parent": "social_life_and_learned_traditions",
"label": "traditions",
"description": "Shared behavioural patterns maintained through repeated social transmission and persistence over time, defined operationally.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "persistence_timescale",
"parent": "traditions",
"label": "persistence_timescale",
"description": "Timescale of persistence (within-generation or across generations), if known.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "ecological_traditions",
"parent": "traditions",
"label": "ecological_traditions",
"description": "Persistent learned use of routes, sites, or timing that is socially maintained, if documented.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "behavioural_traditions",
"parent": "traditions",
"label": "behavioural_traditions",
"description": "Persistent learned behavioural variants shared within a group or population, if documented.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "social_learning_mechanisms",
"parent": "social_life_and_learned_traditions",
"label": "social_learning_mechanisms",
"description": "Evidence-based ways behaviour is acquired via others, included only when supported by studies.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "learning_contexts",
"parent": "social_learning_mechanisms",
"label": "learning_contexts",
"description": "Behavioural domains where social learning is evidenced (for example foraging, predator avoidance, navigation, breeding).",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "mechanisms_evidenced",
"parent": "social_learning_mechanisms",
"label": "mechanisms_evidenced",
"description": "Documented mechanisms (for example imitation, emulation, stimulus enhancement, teaching), if supported by evidence.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "social_information_use",
"parent": "social_life_and_learned_traditions",
"label": "social_information_use",
"description": "Use of information generated by other organisms to guide decisions, without requiring strong claims about culture.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "alarm_information",
"parent": "social_information_use",
"label": "alarm_information",
"description": "Responding to warning signals or cues produced by others that indicate danger or risk.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "local_enhancement",
"parent": "social_information_use",
"label": "local_enhancement",
"description": "Increased likelihood of using a place or resource because others are present or have been there.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "public_information",
"parent": "social_information_use",
"label": "public_information",
"description": "Using others' outcomes or success (for example feeding success) as information to guide behaviour.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "communication_modalities",
"parent": "social_life_and_learned_traditions",
"label": "communication_modalities",
"description": "Signalling channels used to influence others or coordinate behaviour, aligned with the species' sensory ecology.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "signal_range_context",
"parent": "communication_modalities",
"label": "signal_range_context",
"description": "Typical signalling range and context (short-range, long-range, aquatic, nocturnal), if known.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "primary_modalities",
"parent": "communication_modalities",
"label": "primary_modalities",
"description": "Dominant signalling channels (chemical, vocal, visual, tactile, vibrational), where documented.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "signal_types",
"parent": "communication_modalities",
"label": "signal_types",
"description": "Main signal forms (for example alarm calls, scent marks, displays), if evidenced.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "social_organisation",
"parent": "social_life_and_learned_traditions",
"label": "social_organisation",
"description": "Patterns of association describing how individuals coordinate in space and time, recognising flexibility across contexts.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "dominance_or_hierarchy",
"parent": "social_organisation",
"label": "dominance_or_hierarchy",
"description": "Evidence for structured rank, dominance, or role differentiation, only if supported by observations.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "association_stability",
"parent": "social_organisation",
"label": "association_stability",
"description": "How stable associations are through time (stable, seasonal, fission-fusion, or transient aggregations).",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "group_size_typical",
"parent": "social_organisation",
"label": "group_size_typical",
"description": "Typical group size when groups form, including seasonal or situational variation if known.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "grouping_pattern",
"parent": "social_organisation",
"label": "grouping_pattern",
"description": "The typical association pattern (solitary, paired, family-based, group-living), with context dependence where relevant.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "life_history",
"parent": "has_",
"label": "life_history",
"description": "The sequence of events and strategies shaping an organism’s survival, development, reproduction, and lifespan",
"level": 2
},
{
"id": "reproductive_cycle",
"parent": "life_history",
"label": "reproductive_cycle",
"description": "When reproduction happens, how many offspring are produced, and whether any care supports early survival.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "parental care",
"parent": "reproductive_cycle",
"label": "parental care",
"description": "Level of care or protection after birth or hatching.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "offspring per event",
"parent": "reproductive_cycle",
"label": "offspring per event",
"description": "Typical number of offspring per reproductive event (litter, clutch, eggs, cocoons).",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "reproductive_strategy",
"parent": "reproductive_cycle",
"label": "reproductive_strategy",
"description": "Whether the organism reproduces across multiple events/seasons (iteroparous) or typically in a single major event (semelparous).",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "timing",
"parent": "reproductive_cycle",
"label": "timing",
"description": "Typical breeding season or triggers (e.g., temperature, flow, photoperiod).",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "bottleneck_stage_refinement",
"parent": "life_history",
"label": "bottleneck_stage_refinement",
"description": "Detail to make bottlenecks actionable for risk-linking.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "linked_risks",
"parent": "bottleneck_stage_refinement",
"label": "linked_risks",
"description": "Pointers to relevant risk or hazard nodes elsewhere in the master mind map.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "bottleneck_description",
"parent": "bottleneck_stage_refinement",
"label": "bottleneck_description",
"description": "A short explanation of why this stage is a bottleneck, grounded in ecology and evidence.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "life_history_strategy_summary",
"parent": "life_history",
"label": "life_history_strategy_summary",
"description": "A cautious summary of dominant trade-offs, only if supported by evidence.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "key_tradeoffs",
"parent": "life_history_strategy_summary",
"label": "key_tradeoffs",
"description": "The main documented trade-offs shaping growth, reproduction, and survival.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "strategy_summary",
"parent": "life_history_strategy_summary",
"label": "strategy_summary",
"description": "One sentence summarising the dominant life-history pattern, if well established.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "survival_and_longevity",
"parent": "life_history",
"label": "survival_and_longevity",
"description": "Survival patterns across stages and the typical lifespan under natural conditions.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "lifespan_typical",
"parent": "survival_and_longevity",
"label": "lifespan_typical",
"description": "Typical lifespan under natural conditions, acknowledging variation across context and pressure.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "senescence_pattern",
"parent": "survival_and_longevity",
"label": "senescence_pattern",
"description": "Any documented age-related functional decline that affects survival or reproduction.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "mortality_sources",
"parent": "survival_and_longevity",
"label": "mortality_sources",
"description": "Main ecological sources of mortality (for example predation, disease, starvation, exposure).",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "stage_specific_survival",
"parent": "survival_and_longevity",
"label": "stage_specific_survival",
"description": "Variation in survival likelihood across life stages (quantitative where available, otherwise qualitative), for example higher in adults and lower in juveniles.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "reproduction_refinement",
"parent": "life_history",
"label": "reproduction_refinement",
"description": "Additional reproductive descriptors that complement timing and offspring number.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "sex_system",
"parent": "reproduction_refinement",
"label": "sex_system",
"description": "How sexes are organised biologically (for example separate sexes, hermaphroditic), only if evidenced.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "mating_system",
"parent": "reproduction_refinement",
"label": "mating_system",
"description": "The mating pattern (for example monogamous, polygynous), only if evidenced.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "offspring_size_or_investment",
"parent": "reproduction_refinement",
"label": "offspring_size_or_investment",
"description": "Size or energetic investment per offspring, capturing trade-offs between number and investment.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "reproductive_frequency",
"parent": "reproduction_refinement",
"label": "reproductive_frequency",
"description": "How often reproductive events occur, including intervals between events where relevant.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "maturation",
"parent": "life_history",
"label": "maturation",
"description": "The transition to reproductive capability described by age and or size thresholds.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "size_at_maturity",
"parent": "maturation",
"label": "size_at_maturity",
"description": "Typical size when reproduction becomes possible, where size is more informative than age.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "age_at_maturity",
"parent": "maturation",
"label": "age_at_maturity",
"description": "Typical age when reproduction becomes possible, acknowledging ecological variation.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "growth_and_size",
"parent": "life_history",
"label": "growth_and_size",
"description": "Growth patterns and size ranges that affect survival, mobility, and reproduction.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "size_at_stage",
"parent": "growth_and_size",
"label": "size_at_stage",
"description": "Size at key life stages or transitions when stage size matters ecologically.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "body_size_range",
"parent": "growth_and_size",
"label": "body_size_range",
"description": "Typical size range for individuals, usually as adults, used to contextualise capability and risk.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "growth_rate",
"parent": "growth_and_size",
"label": "growth_rate",
"description": "A measurable or described rate of growth, if available, noting context and variation.",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "growth_pattern",
"parent": "growth_and_size",
"label": "growth_pattern",
"description": "The overall shape of growth through time (for example continuous, seasonal, or metamorphic).",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "activity_patterns",
"parent": "has_",
"label": "activity_patterns",
"description": "day night and seasonal patterns of activity that shape when an organism moves, feeds, rests, and reproduces",
"level": 2
},
{
"id": "timing_sensitivity",
"parent": "activity_patterns",
"label": "timing_sensitivity",
"description": "Sensitivity of activity timing to disturbances or environmental change (for example artificial light at night, noise, temperature, flow), where evidenced.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "seasonal_rhythm",
"parent": "activity_patterns",
"label": "seasonal_rhythm",
"description": "seasonal shifts in activity and behaviour that change when and how the organism uses its habitat.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "diel_rhythm",
"parent": "activity_patterns",
"label": "diel_rhythm",
"description": "biologically driven pattern of activity, behaviour, or physiological process that follows a roughly 24-hour cycle",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "arrhythmic",
"parent": "diel_rhythm",
"label": "arrhythmic",
"description": "no consistent pattern",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "cathemeral",
"parent": "diel_rhythm",
"label": "cathemeral",
"description": "irregular intervals during the day or night",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "crepuscular",
"parent": "diel_rhythm",
"label": "crepuscular",
"description": "active at twilight; typically 1 hr before sunrise or after sunset",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "nocturnal",
"parent": "diel_rhythm",
"label": "nocturnal",
"description": "active during the night",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "diurnal",
"parent": "diel_rhythm",
"label": "diurnal",
"description": "active during the night",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "sensory_perception",
"parent": "has_",
"label": "sensory_perception",
"description": "modalities through which to sense the environmentEvidence: Hollins, M. (2024). Sensory Systems of Animals: Biology and Behavior. CRC Press. (https://www.routledge.com/Sensory-Systems-of-Animals-Biology-and-Behavior/Hollins/p/book/9781032423289)",
"level": 2
},
{
"id": "sensory_integration",
"parent": "sensory_perception",
"label": "sensory_integration",
"description": "how channels combine, signal vs noise",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "signal-noise_filtering",
"parent": "sensory_integration",
"label": "signal-noise_filtering",
"description": "what gets prioritised, ignored, treated as background",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "trade-offs",
"parent": "sensory_integration",
"label": "trade-offs",
"description": "functional compromises between modalities",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "dominant_channels",
"parent": "sensory_integration",
"label": "dominant_channels",
"description": "modalities that most strongly guide behaviour in typical contexts",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "baroreception",
"parent": "sensory_perception",
"label": "baroreception",
"description": "sensing pressure changes, often linked to depth",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "pressure-linked_behavioural_cueing",
"parent": "baroreception",
"label": "pressure-linked_behavioural_cueing",
"description": "use pressure changes to adjust movement, feeding, habitat choice",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "hydrostatic_pressure_detection",
"parent": "baroreception",
"label": "hydrostatic_pressure_detection",
"description": "detect depth-related pressure changes in water",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "magnetoreception",
"parent": "sensory_perception",
"label": "magnetoreception",
"description": "sensing Earth's magnetic field for orientation and navigation)",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "magnetic_map",
"parent": "magnetoreception",
"label": "magnetic_map",
"description": "use intensity/inclination as position-like information where applicable",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "magnetic_compass",
"parent": "magnetoreception",
"label": "magnetic_compass",
"description": "detect direction relative to magnetic field",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "hygroreception",
"parent": "sensory_perception",
"label": "hygroreception",
"description": "sensing humidity or moisture shaping survival and habitat choice",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "desiccation_risk_cueing",
"parent": "hygroreception",
"label": "desiccation_risk_cueing",
"description": "use dryness/moisture as risk signal triggering sheltering/movement",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "humidity_detection",
"parent": "hygroreception",
"label": "humidity_detection",
"description": "detect moisture in air or substrate",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "thermoception",
"parent": "sensory_perception",
"label": "thermoception",
"description": "sensing temperature and thermal gradients",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "thermal_cueing_for_behaviour",
"parent": "thermoception",
"label": "thermal_cueing_for_behaviour",
"description": "use temperature to choose activity patterns, refuges, routes",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "thermal_gradient_detection",
"parent": "thermoception",
"label": "thermal_gradient_detection",
"description": "detect differences in temperature across microhabitats",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "proprioception_&_vestibular_sensing",
"parent": "sensory_perception",
"label": "proprioception_&_vestibular_sensing",
"description": "somatic sensory systems that sense body position, movement, acceleration, balance",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "kinesthetic_control",
"parent": "proprioception_&_vestibular_sensing",
"label": "kinesthetic_control",
"description": "sensing and regulating ongoing movement",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "movement_dynamics",
"parent": "kinesthetic_control",
"label": "movement_dynamics",
"description": "sensitivity to speed, direction changes, and rhythm of self‑movement (e.g. stride pattern, tail or fin strokes)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "load_sensing",
"parent": "kinesthetic_control",
"label": "load_sensing",
"description": "the body can sense weight, tension, or muscular effort (useful for climbers, burrowers, animals moving in fast flow) links to force, strain, and fatigue",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "body_schema_flexibility",
"parent": "proprioception_&_vestibular_sensing",
"label": "body_schema_flexibility",
"description": "the entity can update its sense of body configuration (e.g. animals that squeeze through gaps, change posture in burrows, extend limbs or antennae)",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "vestibular_sensing",
"parent": "proprioception_&_vestibular_sensing",
"label": "vestibular_sensing",
"description": "detect head orientation, rotation, acceleration to maintain stability",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "stability_under_disturbance",
"parent": "vestibular_sensing",
"label": "stability_under_disturbance",
"description": "how proprioceptive control is degraded by fatigue, toxins, or substrate change (e.g. slippery banks, sudden flow shifts)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "proprioception",
"parent": "proprioception_&_vestibular_sensing",
"label": "proprioception",
"description": "internal sensing of limb/body position for coordination",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "mechanoreception",
"parent": "sensory_perception",
"label": "mechanoreception",
"description": "sensing physical forces: touch, pressure, texture, flow, vibration",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "nociceptors",
"parent": "mechanoreception",
"label": "nociceptors",
"description": "respond to “noxious” stimuli, or essentially anything that causes tissue damage; nociceptors detect tissue damage, not detect pain – our brain interprets perceived tissue damage as painful",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "specialised mechanosensors",
"parent": "mechanoreception",
"label": "specialised mechanosensors",
"description": "structures that sharpen mechanoreception",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "lateral_line",
"parent": "specialised mechanosensors",
"label": "lateral_line",
"description": "detect water movement and pressure changes around the body, e.g. fish",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "vibrissae",
"parent": "specialised mechanosensors",
"label": "vibrissae",
"description": "whiskers or sensitive hairs for touch and water movement",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "vibration_sensing",
"parent": "mechanoreception",
"label": "vibration_sensing",
"description": "detect vibrations through substrate-borne cues (soil, vegetation, water surface, built structures)",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "flow_and_current_detection",
"parent": "mechanoreception",
"label": "flow_and_current_detection",
"description": "detect moving air or water as a tactile field of forces",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "texture_discrimination",
"parent": "mechanoreception",
"label": "texture_discrimination",
"description": "distinguish surface qualities: roughness, granularity, biofilm, substrate",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "touch/pressure_and_contact",
"parent": "mechanoreception",
"label": "touch/pressure_and_contact",
"description": "detect direct contact, pressure, tissue deformation",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "chemoreception",
"parent": "sensory_perception",
"label": "chemoreception",
"description": "sensing chemical cues at a distance or via contact",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "olfaction",
"parent": "chemoreception",
"label": "olfaction",
"description": "detect chemicals in the gaseous state",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "waterborne",
"parent": "olfaction",
"label": "waterborne",
"description": "detect dissolved chemical cues carried in water",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "water_chemistry_discrimination",
"parent": "waterborne",
"label": "water_chemistry_discrimination",
"description": "detect salinity, pH, dissolved compounds, pollutants as signals",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "imprinting_and_homing_cues",
"parent": "waterborne",
"label": "imprinting_and_homing_cues",
"description": "recognise natal or familiar waters where applicable",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "airborne",
"parent": "olfaction",
"label": "airborne",
"description": "detect chemical cues carried in air",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "plume/gradient_tracking",
"parent": "airborne",
"label": "plume/gradient_tracking",
"description": "follow concentration changes to locate source",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "chemical_specificity",
"parent": "airborne",
"label": "chemical_specificity",
"description": "discriminate compounds relevant to food, predators, mates, territory",
"level": 6
},
{
"id": "sensitivity",
"parent": "airborne",
"label": "sensitivity",
"description": "detect very low concentrations",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "palpation/antennation",
"parent": "chemoreception",
"label": "palpation/antennation",
"description": "Rapid touching/vibrating of mouthparts or antennae to sample surfaces for chemicals",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "receptor",
"parent": "chemoreception",
"label": "receptor",
"description": "organ used for chemoreception",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "specialised_contact_structures",
"parent": "receptor",
"label": "specialised_contact_structures",
"description": "e.g. tentacles, palps, proboscis, mouthparts",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "taste_bud_distribution",
"parent": "receptor",
"label": "taste_bud_distribution",
"description": "mouth-only vs. extraoral (skin, barbels, fins, legs, antennae)[1] (https://www.britannica.com/science/chemoreception/Specialized-chemosensory-structures)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "external_olfactory_openings",
"parent": "receptor",
"label": "external_olfactory_openings",
"description": "placement and exposure to flow (downstream, upstream, buried, etc.) [1] (https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/210/10/1776/9484/Chemosensory-reception-behavioral-expression-and)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "olfactory_rosettes_or_laminae",
"parent": "receptor",
"label": "olfactory_rosettes_or_laminae",
"description": "morphology (e.g. lamellae number) as a proxy for sensitivity",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "olfactory_receptor_repertoire_size",
"parent": "receptor",
"label": "olfactory_receptor_repertoire_size",
"description": "coarse category: low / moderate / high diversity of receptor gene families [1] (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6084603/)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "vomeronasal_organ",
"parent": "receptor",
"label": "vomeronasal_organ",
"description": "detects specific chemical signals, especially pheromones, influencing social, sexual, and predatory behaviours",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "olfactory_epithelium_and_turbinates",
"parent": "receptor",
"label": "olfactory_epithelium_and_turbinates",
"description": "surface area, complexity, airflow patterning",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "gustation",
"parent": "chemoreception",
"label": "gustation",
"description": "detect chemical cues through direct contact, general sense of taste",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "foraging_cueing",
"parent": "gustation",
"label": "foraging_cueing",
"description": "use contact cues to accept/reject/prioritise food",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "distributed_taste_receptors",
"parent": "gustation",
"label": "distributed_taste_receptors",
"description": "taste-like sensing beyond the mouth where applicable",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "vision",
"parent": "sensory_perception",
"label": "vision",
"description": "the faculty or state of being able to see",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "compensatory_cyclovergence",
"parent": "vision",
"label": "compensatory_cyclovergence",
"description": "the simultaneous torsional movement of both eyes, serves as this orientation mechanismEvidence: Banks, M. S., Sprague, W. W., Schmoll, J., Parnell, J. A., & Love, G. D. (2015). Why do animal eyes have pupils of different shapes?. Science advances, 1(7), e1500391. (https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.1500391)",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "contrast_sensitivity",
"parent": "vision",
"label": "contrast_sensitivity",
"description": "The ability to detect differences in luminance or colour between an object and its background. Often quantified by the Contrast Sensitivity Function (CSF)Evidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "motion_detection",
"parent": "vision",
"label": "motion_detection",
"description": "The capacity to detect and interpret movement within the visual fieldEvidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "depth_perception",
"parent": "vision",
"label": "depth_perception",
"description": "The ability to judge distance and three-dimensional spatial relationshipsEvidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "monocular_depth_cues",
"parent": "depth_perception",
"label": "monocular_depth_cues",
"description": "use cues available to a single eye to interpret 3D layouts, allowing for a wider field of view such as Motion Parallax (depth is inferred by moving the head; closer objects appear to move faster across the retina than distant ones), or Photoreceptor Microsaccades (mechanism where individual light receptors in the eye undergo fast counter-motions to generate depth information from light changes)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "binocular_stereopsis",
"parent": "depth_perception",
"label": "binocular_stereopsis",
"description": "horizontal separation of eyes to create binocular disparity—slightly different images on each retina that the brain merges to infer distanceEvidence: Nityananda, V., & Read, J. C. A. (2017). Stereopsis in animals: evolution, function and mechanisms. The Journal of experimental biology, 220(Pt 14), 2502–2512. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.143883 (https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.143883)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "field_of_view",
"parent": "vision",
"label": "field_of_view",
"description": "The spatial extent of the visual environment perceivable at a given momentEvidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "binocular_overlap",
"parent": "field_of_view",
"label": "binocular_overlap",
"description": "e.g. ~55°–65°, ~140°",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "horizontal_FOV",
"parent": "field_of_view",
"label": "horizontal_FOV",
"description": "e.g. ~180°",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "orbital_convergence",
"parent": "field_of_view",
"label": "orbital_convergence",
"description": "Positioning category for eyes: frontal, lateral, posterior",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "temporal_resolution",
"parent": "hearing",
"label": "temporal_resolution",
"description": "The ability to resolve changes in visual stimuli over time, including motion and flickerEvidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "acuity",
"parent": "vision",
"label": "acuity",
"description": "The ability of the eye to perceive static spatial detailEvidence: Caves, E. M., Brandley, N. C., & Johnsen, S. (2018). Visual acuity and the evolution of signals. Trends in ecology & evolution, 33(5), 358-372. (https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347%2818%2930052-1?wpmobileexternal=true#fig0005)",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "photo_receptivity",
"parent": "vision",
"label": "photo_receptivity",
"description": "The capacity of retinal cells to detect photons within a wavelength rangeEvidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "polarisation",
"parent": "photo_receptivity",
"label": "polarisation",
"description": "The ability to detect the orientation of light waves, aiding navigation and contrast detectionEvidence:",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "monochromatic",
"parent": "photo_receptivity",
"label": "monochromatic",
"description": "Possessing a single functional photoreceptor class, enabling light–dark discrimination without colour differentiationEvidence:",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "infrared",
"parent": "photo_receptivity",
"label": "infrared",
"description": "The ability of photoreceptors to detect wavelengths in the infrared spectrum (typically 780 nm (380 THz) to 1 mm (300 GHz)), only cases of near IR (750-1500nm) have link to photoreception, otherwise alternate organ does thermoception.Evidence: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanometre, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertz, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimetre, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertz)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "dichromatic",
"parent": "photo_receptivity",
"label": "dichromatic",
"description": "Possessing two types of cone cells, enabling colour discrimination across two primary spectral channelsEvidence: Author (date+link) Title. Jorunal. [;] seperater",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "trichromatic",
"parent": "photo_receptivity",
"label": "trichromatic",
"description": "Possessing three cone types enabling finer colour distinctions across three channelsEvidence:",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "ultraviolet",
"parent": "photo_receptivity",
"label": "ultraviolet",
"description": "The ability of photoreceptors to detect wavelengths in the ultraviolet spectrum (typically 300–400 nm)Evidence:",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "hearing",
"parent": "sensory_perception",
"label": "hearing",
"description": "the ability to perceive sound through detection of vibrations (pressure waves) in the environment.",
"level": 3
},
{
"id": "bone_conduction",
"parent": "hearing",
"label": "bone_conduction",
"description": "A pathway where vibrations bypass the outer ear and travel through the skull to the inner ear.Evidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "echolocation",
"parent": "hearing",
"label": "echolocation",
"description": "Active Sonar ability to emit sounds and analyse the returning echoes to navigateEvidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "medium",
"parent": "hearing",
"label": "medium",
"description": "how detection changes in air, water, or through substratesEvidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "biotremology",
"parent": "medium",
"label": "biotremology",
"description": "substrate‑borne vibration (e.g. insects)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "threshold_curves",
"parent": "medium",
"label": "threshold_curves",
"description": "different threshold curves (e.g. air vs underwater)",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "directionality",
"parent": "hearing",
"label": "directionality",
"description": "ability to infer sound source location (localisation)Evidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "spectral_cues",
"parent": "directionality",
"label": "spectral_cues",
"description": "detect changes in frequency content via changes to specrum e.g. pinna effect",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "binaural_cues",
"parent": "directionality",
"label": "binaural_cues",
"description": "Determining horizontal and vertical direction of a source often via interaural level difference or interaural time difference.",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "distance_perception",
"parent": "directionality",
"label": "distance_perception",
"description": "Cues used to infer the distance or depth of a source, such as the direct-to-reverberant energy ratio (ratio of original sound to echoes) and the initial time delay gap.Evidence:",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "pinnae_mobility",
"parent": "hearing",
"label": "pinnae_mobility",
"description": "Ability to rotate external ears to enhance directional detection/disambiguation via muscle control. Features: rotational range (degrees) Evidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "frequency_range",
"parent": "hearing",
"label": "frequency_range",
"description": "Span of frequencies detectableEvidence:",
"level": 4
},
{
"id": "human_audible_spectrum",
"parent": "frequency_range",
"label": "human_audible_spectrum",
"description": "20Hz - 20kHzEvidence:",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "infrasound",
"parent": "frequency_range",
"label": "infrasound",
"description": "The ability to detect sounds below 20 Hz. Long-distance communication, sensing environmental phenomena like thunderstorms.Evidence:",
"level": 5
},
{
"id": "ultrasound",
"parent": "frequency_range",
"label": "ultrasound",
"description": "Ability to detect sounds above 20 kHz.Evidence:",
"level": 5
}
]
Raw
test.json
{
"nodes": [
{ "id": "Entity", "label": "Entity", "description": "Root" },
{ "id": "has_", "label": "has_", "description": "Attribute root" }
],
"links": [
{ "source": "Entity", "target": "has_" }
]
}
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