Where the data comes from
Every result is built from openly licensed records and public reference data. Each source was reviewed before use.
Release November 13, 2026
Species records
| Source | What we use | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| iNaturalist observations (opens in a new tab) | Research Grade observations, loaded once through GBIF and kept current through the iNaturalist API | CC0-1.0, CC-BY-4.0 or CC-BY-NC-4.0, per observation (opens in a new tab) |
| GBIF occurrence downloads (opens in a new tab) | Records from reviewed datasets, compared monthly | CC0-1.0, CC-BY-4.0 or CC-BY-NC-4.0, per record and dataset (opens in a new tab) |
Names, ranges and status
| Source | What we use | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Catalogue of Life eXtended Release and iNaturalist Taxonomy (opens in a new tab) | Scientific names, synonyms, classification and English names | CC-BY-4.0 (opens in a new tab) |
| iNaturalist species photos (opens in a new tab) | One photo per species, cut to the Brand Guide's sizes, with its photographer's credit and licence | CC0-1.0, public domain, CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC or CC BY-NC-SA, per photo |
| USGS Gap Analysis Project Species Range Maps CONUS_2001 (opens in a new tab) | Which counties and states fall within each vertebrate species' mapped range | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
| NOAA nClimGrid-Daily (opens in a new tab) | The daily high, low and midpoint temperature of the grid cell and day of each counted record, for each result's medians in the lower 48 states; and each state's and county's typical weekly temperatures and precipitation, which describe the place only | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
| US Register of Introduced and Invasive Species, ver. 2.0, lower 48 states (opens in a new tab) | Whether a species is introduced, or introduced and assessed as invasive, in the lower 48 states | CC0-1.0 (opens in a new tab) |
| Ohio Department of Agriculture, invasive plant species (OAC 901:5-30-01) (opens in a new tab) | Which plants are invasive in Ohio | Ohio law, not under copyright |
| Ohio Department of Natural Resources, injurious aquatic invasive species (OAC 1501:31-19-01) (opens in a new tab) | Which aquatic animals are invasive in Ohio | Ohio law, not under copyright |
| iNaturalist's Ohio checklist (opens in a new tab) | Which species iNaturalist lists as introduced in Ohio; nothing else is used | facts attributed to iNaturalist, under its API terms |
| Federal and Ohio lists of endangered and threatened species (opens in a new tab) | Which species are listed, where and with which status, to protect their locations and show their status | public domain (U.S. Government work) and facts from Ohio law |
| RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (opens in a new tab) | Which ecoregions each state and county lies in, with the share of its land in each, which label the place only; and each ecoregion's part in the covered states, as a place records are counted in and results are published for (ODR-2026-044) | CC-BY-4.0 (opens in a new tab) |
| USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD), HUC8 subbasins (opens in a new tab) | Each HUC8 subbasin's part in the covered states, as a place records are counted in and results are published for (ODR-2026-044) | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
| U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas (opens in a new tab) | Each 2020 urban area with 50,000 people or more in a covered state, its part in the covered states, as a city and its suburbs: a place records are counted in and results are published for (ODR-2026-073) | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
| Natural Earth, Admin 0 – Countries, 1:10m, version 5.1.1 (opens in a new tab) | Which countries other than the United States a watershed or ecoregion continues into; never to place a record or draw a map | public domain |
| USGS Annual NLCD Collection 1.2, Land Cover 2025 (opens in a new tab) | The share of each state's and county's land in each land cover class and group, and its open water; they describe the place only | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
| USGS 3D Elevation Program, 1 arc-second (opens in a new tab) | The lowest, median and highest elevation of each state's and county's land; they describe the place only | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
| USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) 4.1 (opens in a new tab) | The outlines of the national park and metro park systems in data/parks.md, as places records are counted in; not legal boundaries | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
| Ohio Department of Natural Resources, ODNR Lands (opens in a new tab) | The outlines of the state parks in data/parks.md, as places records are counted in; never published, and not legal boundaries | no licence stated; ODNR provides it "as is" and asks to be referenced (source-reviews/odnr-lands.md) |
| U.S. Census Bureau 2020 place codes and Gazetteer (opens in a new tab) | Which counties each city, village and census-designated place falls in, for lookup on the device | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
Places
| Source | What we use | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line Shapefiles 2026 (opens in a new tab) | The legal state and county boundaries that place records | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
| U.S. Census Bureau Cartographic Boundary Files 2025 (opens in a new tab) | County outlines for maps, at 1:500,000, for display only | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
| U.S. Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA to County Relationship File (opens in a new tab) | Which counties each ZIP code falls in, for lookup on the device | public domain (U.S. Government work) |
Credit
Every record links back to its original page with its licence. GBIF records also name their publisher and dataset, and results cite each GBIF download by its DOI. Public-domain sources are credited all the same:
- Each result's attribution file links the observations behind it.
- Each result's attribution file lists its datasets and GBIF download DOIs.
- Names: Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, https://doi.org/10.48580/dgyy9, and iNaturalist Taxonomy, iNaturalist contributors, https://doi.org/10.48580/d7r9s
- Photos: iNaturalist contributors, each credited with its licence
- Range: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Species Range Maps CONUS_2001 (2018), https://doi.org/10.5066/F7Q81B3R
- Temperatures and precipitation: Durre, I., M. F. Squires, R. S. Vose, A. Arguez, W. S. Gross, J. R. Rennie, and C. J. Schreck, 2022: NOAA nClimGrid-Daily Version 1 – Daily gridded temperature and precipitation for the Contiguous United States since 1951. Daily tmax, tmin, tavg and prcp, lower 48 states. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.25921/c4gt-r169. Accessed 2026-11-13.
- Status: Simpson A, Sellers E, Pagad S (2023). United States Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (US-RIIS), ver. 2.0. U.S. Geological Survey, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9KFFTOD
- Invasive in Ohio: Ohio Department of Agriculture
- Invasive in Ohio: Ohio Department of Natural Resources
- Introduced in Ohio: iNaturalist
- Listed species: US Fish & Wildlife Service (ECOS) and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources
- Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, TIGER/Line Shapefiles 2026
- Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Cartographic Boundary Files, 1:500,000
- Ecoregions: Dinerstein, E., Olson, D., Joshi, A., et al. 2017. An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm. BioScience 67(6): 534–545. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix014
- U.S. Geological Survey, Watershed Boundary Dataset for 2-digit Hydrologic Units 04 (published 2026-09-02) and 05 (published 2025-01-08), FileGDB
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 TIGER/Line Shapefiles: Urban Areas, and 2020 Census Urban Areas by State
- Natural Earth, Admin 0 – Countries, 1:10m, version 5.1.1, public domain
- Land cover: U.S. Geological Survey, 2026, Annual NLCD Collection 1 Science Products (ver. 1.2, June 2026): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P94UXNTS
- Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program
- Park boundaries: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gap Analysis Project (GAP), 2024, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) 4.1: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P96WBCHS
- State park boundaries: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, ODNR Lands, 16 October 2026 (SHA-256 8f5985bbd476494289c456e14c9865df6b3257ebd9d31790e608aa3545f30702)
- ZIP Code areas: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 ZCTA to County Relationship File
- Places: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 place codes and Gazetteer