GBIF biodiversity API boundary

Evidence-backed facts

1. GBIF exposes REST services at https://api.gbif.org/; most queries return JSON. Its sections distinguish Registry, Species, Occurrence and Maps. Most APIs use v1, while Maps uses v2. informative
2. Most API use is anonymous, but POST, PUT, DELETE and some GET requests require HTTP Basic authentication. Creating an occurrence download requires a registered account's username, not its email, and password. informative
3. Paged requests use limit and offset, with a service-specific page maximum. Repeated parameter values match any value; supported ranges use comma-separated bounds. Search throttling returns HTTP 429, and no fixed query rate is guaranteed. informative
4. Occurrence downloads are asynchronous; a download key leads to the file link and DOI once ready. Without checklistKey the documented default is the obsolete GBIF Backbone Taxonomy; specify it for output and taxonomic filters. Verbatim extension tables are as-published, not processed by GBIF. informative

Primary sources