Standards crosswalk
Free foreverIn short: the crosswalk maps our fields and terms to the standards and formats people already use, so a conforming record can move into them.
An environmental DNA result has to travel. It is produced by a laboratory, reported to a client, published to a repository, and submitted to a database a regulator consults, and each of those steps expects a different vocabulary. This page maps the Common Measure assurance record to the standards and schemas at each step.
- VERSION
- 0.1
- STATUS
- Draft, partially verified
- UPDATED
- September 2026
- FORMAT
- Available as CSV and JSON
COVERAGE
Standards and formats the crosswalk covers
Common Measure does not replace existing standards. The crosswalk maps our fields and terms to the standards and formats people already use, so a conforming record can move into them and existing data can be mapped in. The crosswalk is being built against the following:
- ISO 17805:2026, for water sampling and preservation for eDNA analysis.
- CSA W214:21, Environmental DNA (eDNA) reporting requirements and terminology, a National Standard of Canada.
- CSA W219:23, performance criteria for targeted qPCR analysis of eDNA. Relevant as targeted assays enter scope.
- Darwin Core, including GBIF's guidance for publishing DNA-derived data, used by GBIF, OBIS and many national biodiversity databases.
- MIxS (Minimum Information about any (x) Sequence), the Genomic Standards Consortium's checklists for sequence metadata.
- FAIRe, a metadata checklist for FAIR eDNA data.
- INSDC submission metadata (NCBI, ENA and DDBJ), for depositing raw sequence data in public archives.
01 · PURPOSE
A detection that cannot reach a database does not change a decision
Regulatory relevance in the United States is not conferred by a single approval. It is conferred by the data reaching the systems that decision-makers already consult: the national invasive species database, the state natural heritage programs, the biodiversity aggregators that feed habitat and occurrence models.
Each of those has its own submission requirements. So does every journal, every repository, and every agency reporting template. A result that satisfies one and not the others is a result that stops somewhere.
The assurance record is designed to carry enough to satisfy all of them. This page shows the mapping, and shows where it does not yet reach.
02 · TARGETS
The standards, schemas and databases covered
| Target | Maintained by | What it governs | Mapping status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darwin Core | TDWG (Biodiversity Information Standards) | Biodiversity occurrence records. The language GBIF and OBIS speak | Partial |
| Darwin Core DNA-derived data extension | TDWG | Sequence-based occurrence data within Darwin Core | Partial |
| MIxS / MIMARKS | Genomic Standards Consortium | Minimum metadata for sequence data deposited in public archives | Partial |
| FAIRe | FAIR eDNA community initiative | A checklist for FAIR reporting of eDNA studies | To be mapped |
| MIQE | Community guideline, Bustin et al. | Minimum reporting for quantitative PCR experiments | Partial |
| ISO 17805:2026 | ISO / CEN | Sampling, capture and preservation of eDNA from water | Adopted by reference |
| BeBOP | Better Biomolecular Ocean Practices | Machine-readable protocol documentation | To be mapped |
| INSDC — ENA and NCBI SRA | International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration | Raw sequence deposition | Partial |
| GBIF-US | USGS Science Analytics and Synthesis | US node for biodiversity occurrence publication | To be mapped |
| OBIS | IOC-UNESCO | Marine biodiversity occurrence publication | To be mapped |
| NAS | USGS | US nonindigenous aquatic species occurrence database | To be mapped |
| State natural heritage programs | Individual states, NatureServe network | Species occurrence records used in project screening | Not yet started |
Where a target is marked "to be mapped" we have identified it as necessary and have not yet completed the work. Where it is marked "not yet started", the target is heterogeneous (fifty state programs do not share a schema), and we would welcome direction on where to begin.
03 · DARWIN CORE
Assurance record to Darwin Core
Darwin Core is the schema GBIF, OBIS and most biodiversity aggregators consume. A Common Measure record should be publishable as a Darwin Core occurrence with its DNA-derived data extension without manual re-keying.
| Common Measure | Darwin Core term | Extension | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| sampleId | materialSampleID | Core | |
| siteId | locationID | Core | |
| decimalLatitude | decimalLatitude | Core | Identical term and meaning |
| decimalLongitude | decimalLongitude | Core | Identical term and meaning |
| coordinateUncertaintyMeters | coordinateUncertaintyInMeters | Core | Identical meaning, different capitalization |
| collectionDateTime | eventDate | Core | Darwin Core accepts ISO 8601; our precision to the minute is compatible |
| collectionMethod | samplingProtocol | Core | Darwin Core expects free text or a protocol reference |
| sampleVolumeLiters | sampleSizeValue and sampleSizeUnit | Core | Splits across two terms |
| substrateType | to be verified | Core | Likely habitat or a materialSample term |
| markerLocus | target_gene | DNA-derived data | |
| primerSet | pcr_primer_name_forward and pcr_primer_name_reverse | DNA-derived data | Splits across two terms |
| referenceDatabase | to be verified | DNA-derived data | |
| referenceDatabaseVersion | to be verified | DNA-derived data | This may be the single most important gap. Darwin Core may not currently carry a reference database version, and without it a published occurrence cannot be reinterpreted when the database changes |
| identityThresholdPercent | to be verified | DNA-derived data | |
| accessConstraint | accessRights | Core | |
| coordinatePrecisionReduced | informationWithheld | Core | Darwin Core convention is to describe what was withheld in free text |
| laboratoryId | to be verified | Core | May map to institutionCode or identifiedBy |
04 · MIxS
Assurance record to MIxS / MIMARKS
MIxS specifies the minimum metadata accompanying sequence data deposited in public archives. A laboratory depositing raw reads to ENA or SRA is working to this.
| Common Measure field | MIxS term | Note |
|---|---|---|
| collectionDateTime | collection_date | |
| decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude | lat_lon | MIxS combines them into one field |
| substrateType | env_medium | MIxS uses ENVO ontology terms; ours are an enumerated list and will need a mapping table |
| sampleVolumeLiters | samp_size | |
| filterPoreSizeMicrons | to be verified | |
| markerLocus | target_gene | |
| primerSet | pcr_primers | |
| sequencingPlatform | seq_meth | |
| depthMeters | depth |
MIxS uses controlled ontology terms where we use enumerated lists. Publishing a full mapping table between our enumerations and ENVO terms is outstanding work and we would welcome help with it.
05 · MIQE
Assurance record to MIQE, for targeted assays
MIQE is the community reporting standard for quantitative PCR. Where an assurance record describes a qPCR or dPCR result, it should carry what MIQE expects.
| MIQE requirement | Common Measure field | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Sample processing and extraction detail | extractionKit, elutionVolumeMicroliters | Partial — MIQE expects more detail than we currently require |
| Primer and probe sequences | primerSet | Partial — we record a named set, MIQE expects sequences |
| Reaction conditions | Not captured | Gap |
| Standard curve parameters, including efficiency and R² | Not captured | Gap. This is a real omission for quantitative work |
| Limit of detection and quantitation | limitOfDetection, limitOfQuantitation | Complete |
| Number of technical replicates | technicalReplicateCount | Complete |
| Control results | noTemplateControlResult, positiveControlResult | Complete |
| Inhibition assessment | inhibitionTested, inhibitionResult | Complete |
06 · GAPS
What does not currently map, in either direction
Fields we carry that no target accepts
standardVersion— the version of this specification a record was produced underrecordHash— tamper-evidence for the record itselfminutesToPreservation— elapsed time between collection and preservationreplicateTypeandreplicateGroupId— the distinction between technical, field and temporal replicatespipelineVersion— to be verified whether any target carries thisdetectionThreshold— the rule applied, expressed reproducibly
Fields targets require that we do not carry
- Taxonomic identification fields at occurrence level. Darwin Core expects
scientificNameandtaxonRankper occurrence; our record describes the method, and identity is carried separately by the identifier - ENVO ontology terms. MIxS expects controlled vocabulary where we use enumerations
- qPCR reaction conditions and standard curve parameters. MIQE expects these and we do not capture them
- Dataset-level licensing and citation: to be verified against Darwin Core dataset metadata
Both lists are useful. The left column is what the assurance record adds to existing practice. The right column is where our specification is currently incomplete, and every item on it is a candidate for version 0.2.
07 · MACHINE READABLE
Take the mapping
The crosswalk is published as machine-readable files under CC BY 4.0. Use them, fork them, correct them.
crosswalk-v0.1.csv
One row per field, one column per target standard. For anyone building a transformation.
Downloadcrosswalk-v0.1.json
Structured mapping with notes and verification status per cell.
Downloadassurance-record-v0.1.schema.json
JSON Schema for the assurance record itself, for validating a record programmatically.
DownloadTell us where this is wrong
This page maps our specification onto other people's work, and the people who maintain that work know it far better than we do. If a term is wrong, deprecated, or has a better equivalent we have missed, we want to hear it.
Corrections are published in the change record with attribution, unless you would rather they were not.
