Site terms

What these terms cover

These terms apply to everything OpenPhenology publishes: this site at openphenology.com, the data site at data.openphenology.com, the published files at api.openphenology.com, the server for AI assistants at mcp.openphenology.com, and the @openphenology/api package. Our development and testing environments are not the public site: their data may be partial, wrong or unfinished, and may change at any time.

Using the site

OpenPhenology is free to use, with no account. It shows when people have reported plants and animals across the year, for the places it covers, from records that people and institutions share through iNaturalist and GBIF.

A result shows when species were recorded, not when or where they occur. A species with few records, or none, may still be present. Don't rely on the site alone to identify a plant or animal, or to decide whether something is safe to touch or eat. It is not made for farming, pest-control, hunting or fishing decisions, or for showing that you follow a law or rule.

Where the site says a species is introduced, invasive or of concern, it repeats a named government or community list as it stood on the date shown. Lists change, and “not listed” never means native. Before you move, sell, plant or release a species, check the agency's own rules.

Sensitive species

For sensitive species, such as endangered and threatened ones, the site and its data never give precise locations or links to individual records. You may not use the site or its data to locate a sensitive species, to work out a location we have withheld, or to re-identify a record we have withheld, including by combining our data with other data.

Automated access and AI assistants

For anything automated, and to use the data in bulk, read the published files from data.openphenology.com rather than the pages. The files have no fixed rate limit. The pages allow 100 requests per IP address in any 10 seconds; over that, they answer HTTP 429 for 10 seconds. Only reading is allowed: requests that try to send or change something are refused.

Our server for AI assistants, and the published files, are covered by these terms. An answer an assistant gives from our data carries the same licence, credit and limits as the pages, and the same cautions about identification and safety.

Data and licences

OpenPhenology's results are licensed Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0) (opens in a new tab). You may use them for noncommercial work, as long as you credit OpenPhenology and its sources. Creative Commons explains what noncommercial means; if you are unsure whether your use qualifies, ask at data@openphenology.com.

CC BY-NC 4.0 covers OpenPhenology's own contribution: its results, and its selection and arrangement of the data. It does not change the terms of what they are built from: source records keep their own licences, and public-domain material, such as the U.S. Census Bureau county outlines and ZIP code files and USGS data, stays in the public domain. The county outlines are for display at small scales only.

Each species photo keeps its own licence and credit, shown with the photo, and is not covered by OpenPhenology's licence. A photographer, or anyone with a rights concern, can ask for a photo to be taken down at hello@openphenology.com; it is taken down within 7 days.

The site's own text is also licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. Its design, code, name and logo are not covered by that licence: they remain Shackelford Creative, LLC's. The @openphenology/api package, which reads the published files, is licensed separately under the MIT licence.

How to cite a release, credit its sources and use the file schemas, which are also available under the MIT licence, is on the Cite and licence page. Every source and its licence is on the Sources page.

Withdrawn releases and removed records

Records are removed from our data when they are removed or hidden at their source, within 30 days. We can withdraw a whole release to protect a species, at a source's request or to correct an error. If we withdraw a release you hold a copy of, delete your copy and use the current release. The data site's Releases page lists every release and any withdrawal.

Our name

Credit OpenPhenology by name, as the licence asks, but the name and logo themselves are not licensed for your use. Don't suggest that OpenPhenology endorses your work, or that you are part of it. OpenPhenology is independent: it is not affiliated with or endorsed by iNaturalist, GBIF or the other sources it credits.

Other sites

The site links to other sites, such as iNaturalist, GBIF and government agencies. They have their own terms and privacy notices, and we don't control them.

No guarantees

The site and its data are provided as is, without warranty of any kind. Results show when people recorded a species, not when or where it occurs. They can change from one release to the next as records are added, corrected or removed, and the site may change or be unavailable at times.

Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, Shackelford Creative, LLC is not liable for any loss or damage arising from use of the site, its data or its API, including indirect or consequential loss.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Ohio. Disputes are heard in the state or federal courts located in Ohio.

Changes

When these terms change, the date at the top changes with them, and the change is listed here.

• 25 October 2026: added a limitation of liability and the governing law.
• 24 October 2026: said which sites and tools the terms cover; made the sensitive-species request a rule; set out automated access, AI assistants, withdrawn releases, our name and other sites; noted that status lists are repeated, not legal advice; said that the site's text is CC BY-NC 4.0 and its design, code, name and logo are not licensed, and that the package is MIT.
• 16 October 2026: first draft.

Contact

Questions about these terms, corrections and photo requests: hello@openphenology.com. Questions about the published data: data@openphenology.com. Every way to reach us is on the Contact page.