Help for package TaxResolveR

Title:

Taxonomic Name Resolution and Validation Tools

Version:

0.1.0

Description:

Provides reproducible tools for cleaning, parsing, classifying, standardising, validating and resolving scientific names in ecological and biodiversity datasets. Taxonomic matches can be assessed for match quality and taxonomic status, records requiring manual review can be identified, and resolution results can be summarised, reported and exported. Taxonomic name resolution can use the 'GBIF' species matching service and the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy described by GBIF Secretariat (2023) <doi:10.15468/39omei>.

URL:

https://github.com/prdelosriosescalante/TaxResolveR

BugReports:

https://github.com/prdelosriosescalante/TaxResolveR/issues

License:

GPL-3

Encoding:

UTF-8

Language:

en-GB

RoxygenNote:

8.0.0

Suggests:

knitr, rmarkdown, spelling, testthat (≥ 3.0.0)

Config/testthat/edition:

Config/spelling/language:

en-GB

VignetteBuilder:

knitr

Imports:

httr2

NeedsCompilation:

Packaged:

2026-09-11 05:40:53 UTC; tarea

Author:

Patricio R. De los Ríos-Escalante

[aut, cre]

Maintainer:

Patricio R. De los Ríos-Escalante <patricio.delosrios.e@mail.pucv.cl>

Repository:

CRAN

Date/Publication:

2026-09-21 18:10:02 UTC

Assess taxonomic match quality

Description

Classifies taxonomic resolutions returned by resolve_taxonomy() according to resolution status, match quality, and taxonomic acceptance status.

Usage

assess_taxonomic_match(x)

Arguments

x

A data frame containing taxonomic resolution results, typically returned by resolve_taxonomy(). It must contain the columns query_name, taxonomic_status, match_type, and resolution_success.

Details

Resolution status distinguishes names that were successfully resolved, names that were queried but could not be resolved, and inputs that were not suitable for an external taxonomic query.

Match quality is assessed independently. Exact successful matches are classified as "high", successful non-exact matches as "moderate", successful matches lacking match-type information as "low", and queried but unresolved names as "unresolved".

Taxonomic acceptance status is assessed separately from match quality. Resolved names with taxonomic status "ACCEPTED" are classified as "accepted", synonyms as "not_accepted", and other non-missing taxonomic statuses as "uncertain". Queried but unresolved names are classified as "unresolved".

Inputs that were not queryable receive "not_queryable" as their resolution status and NA for match quality and taxonomic acceptance status.

Value

The input data frame with three additional character columns: resolution_status, match_quality, and accepted_status.

Examples

x <- data.frame(
  query_name = c(
    "Homo sapiens",
    "Homo sapens",
    "Unknown species",
    NA_character_
  ),
  taxonomic_status = c(
    "ACCEPTED",
    "ACCEPTED",
    NA_character_,
    NA_character_
  ),
  match_type = c(
    "EXACT",
    "VARIANT",
    NA_character_,
    NA_character_
  ),
  resolution_success = c(
    TRUE,
    TRUE,
    FALSE,
    FALSE
  ),
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)

assess_taxonomic_match(x)

Classify scientific names

Description

Classifies scientific names according to their structural status after cleaning, parsing, and standardization.

Usage

classify_scientific_names(x)

Arguments

x

Character vector containing scientific names.

Details

The function uses the existing TaxResolveR workflow to distinguish successfully parsed taxonomic names, genus-level placeholders, genus-only names, missing values, empty strings, and names that could not be parsed.

Structural classification does not constitute taxonomic validation. In particular, the status valid_structure indicates that the name has a syntactic structure recognised by TaxResolveR. It does not indicate that the taxon exists, that the name is currently accepted, or that it has been verified against an external taxonomic authority.

Value

A data.frame with one row per input name and the following columns:

original_name: Original input supplied by the user.
clean_name: Name after internal cleaning and formatting.
genus: Parsed genus name.
specific_epithet: Parsed specific epithet.
infraspecific_rank: Explicit infraspecific rank, when present.
infraspecific_epithet: Parsed infraspecific epithet.
rank_detected: Taxonomic structure detected by the parser.
canonical_name: Canonical name reconstructed from parsed components.
parse_success: Logical value indicating successful syntactic parsing.
name_status: Structural classification assigned to the input name.

Possible values of name_status are:

valid_structure: A species or supported infraspecific name was successfully parsed.
placeholder: A genus-level placeholder using sp. was detected.
genus_only: A genus name without a specific epithet was detected.
missing: The original input was a missing value.
empty: The input was empty or contained only whitespace after cleaning.
unparsed: A non-empty input could not be interpreted by the parser.

Examples

classify_scientific_names(c(
  "Homo sapiens",
  "Chilina sp.",
  "Chilina",
  "Parastacus brasiliensis subsp. promatensis",
  NA_character_,
  "",
  "12345"
))

Clean scientific names

Description

Standardises the format of scientific names before taxonomic validation or external database queries.

Usage

clean_scientific_names(x)

Arguments

x

Character vector containing scientific names.

Details

Missing values are preserved as missing values.

Value

A cleaned character vector.

Examples

clean_scientific_names(c(
  "  homo   sapiens ",
  "Panthera\tleo",
  "Chilina  sp .",
  NA_character_
))

Export Taxonomic Resolution Results

Description

Exports the results of a TaxResolveR taxonomic resolution workflow to a set of standardised CSV files.

Usage

export_taxonomic_results(x, path, overwrite = FALSE)

Arguments

x

A data frame containing taxonomic resolution results. Typically, this is the object returned by taxresolve(). The data frame must contain the columns resolution_status, match_quality, accepted_status, review_required, and review_reason.

path

A single non-empty character string specifying the directory where the CSV files will be written. If the directory does not exist, it is created recursively.

overwrite

A single non-missing logical value indicating whether existing TaxResolveR output files should be replaced. The default is FALSE.

Details

The function writes the complete input data frame together with summary tables describing overall taxonomic resolution, resolution status, match quality, and reasons for manual taxonomic review.

Existing output files are not overwritten unless overwrite = TRUE. Files unrelated to TaxResolveR are never removed or modified.

Value

Invisibly returns a named character vector containing the normalised paths of the five exported CSV files:

taxonomic_results: Complete taxonomic resolution results.
taxonomic_summary: Overall taxonomic resolution summary.
resolution_status: Counts and proportions by resolution status.
match_quality: Counts and proportions by match quality.
review_reasons: Counts and proportions by manual review reason.

Examples

x <- data.frame(
  resolution_status = c(
    "resolved",
    "resolved",
    "not_queryable"
  ),
  match_quality = c(
    "high",
    "moderate",
    NA
  ),
  accepted_status = c(
    "accepted",
    "accepted",
    NA
  ),
  review_required = c(
    FALSE,
    TRUE,
    TRUE
  ),
  review_reason = c(
    NA,
    "non_exact_match",
    "not_queryable"
  ),
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)

output_dir <- tempfile(
  "TaxResolveR_example_"
)

paths <- export_taxonomic_results(
  x,
  path = output_dir
)

names(paths)

unlink(
  output_dir,
  recursive = TRUE,
  force = TRUE
)

Flag taxonomic records for manual review

Description

Identifies taxonomic resolution records that should be reviewed manually based on resolution status, match quality, and taxonomic acceptance status.

Usage

flag_taxonomic_review(x)

Arguments

x

A data frame containing taxonomic assessment results, typically returned by assess_taxonomic_match().

Details

Records representing resolved, high-quality, accepted taxonomic matches are not flagged. Non-exact matches, low-information matches, unresolved names, non-queryable inputs, synonyms, uncertain taxonomic statuses, and records with insufficient assessment information are flagged for review.

Value

The input data frame with two additional columns: review_required, a logical vector indicating whether manual review is recommended, and review_reason, a character vector describing the primary reason for review.

Examples

x <- data.frame(
  resolution_status = c(
    "resolved",
    "resolved",
    "resolved",
    "unresolved"
  ),
  match_quality = c(
    "high",
    "moderate",
    "high",
    "unresolved"
  ),
  accepted_status = c(
    "accepted",
    "accepted",
    "not_accepted",
    "unresolved"
  ),
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)

flag_taxonomic_review(x)

Parse scientific names

Description

Parses scientific names into their main taxonomic components.

Usage

parse_scientific_names(x)

Arguments

x

Character vector containing scientific names.

Details

The function recognises genus names, binomial species names, simple infraspecific names, explicit subspecies names, genus-level placeholders using "sp.", and missing values.

Value

A data.frame containing the original name, genus, specific epithet, infraspecific rank, infraspecific epithet, and detected rank.

Examples

parse_scientific_names(c(
  "Homo sapiens",
  "Chilina sp.",
  "Chilina",
  "Parastacus brasiliensis promatensis",
  "Parastacus brasiliensis subsp. promatensis",
  NA
))

Prepare taxonomic queries

Description

Prepares scientific names for subsequent queries to external taxonomic authorities.

Usage

prepare_taxonomic_queries(x)

Arguments

x

Character vector containing scientific names.

Details

The function uses the structural classification generated by classify_scientific_names() to determine the appropriate name to submit to an external taxonomic authority.

Species and supported infraspecific names are queried using their canonical names. Genus-only names are queried using the genus. Genus-level placeholders such as "Chilina sp." are reduced to the corresponding genus name.

Missing, empty, and unparsed inputs are not considered suitable for external taxonomic queries and therefore receive NA as their query value.

This function prepares taxonomic queries only. It does not communicate with GBIF, WoRMS, Catalogue of Life, or any other external taxonomic authority.

The function distinguishes between the name originally supplied by the user and the name prepared for an external query. For example, "Chilina sp." is preserved as the original name, while its query is prepared as "Chilina". This avoids treating an identification at genus level as if it represented a species-level scientific name.

A value of TRUE in query_ready means only that TaxResolveR was able to construct a syntactically suitable query. It does not imply that the taxon exists, that the name is taxonomically accepted, or that an external authority will return a match.

Value

A data.frame with one row per input name. The output contains all columns generated by classify_scientific_names(), together with:

query_name: Character value containing the scientific name that should be submitted to an external taxonomic authority. Unsuitable inputs receive NA.
query_ready: Logical value indicating whether a suitable taxonomic query could be generated.

Examples

prepare_taxonomic_queries(c(
  "Homo sapiens",
  "Chilina sp.",
  "Chilina",
  "Parastacus brasiliensis subsp. promatensis",
  NA_character_,
  "",
  "12345"
))

Resolve scientific names against a taxonomic source

Description

Resolves scientific names against a supported external taxonomic source and returns the results using the standard TaxResolveR taxonomic result structure.

Usage

resolve_taxonomy(x, source = "gbif")

Arguments

x

Character vector containing scientific names.

source

Character string specifying the taxonomic source. Currently, "gbif" is supported.

Details

Names are first prepared using the TaxResolveR scientific-name workflow. Only names considered suitable for external taxonomic queries are submitted to the selected backend.

Duplicate query names are resolved only once by the corresponding backend and are subsequently restored to their original positions.

Value

A data frame containing one taxonomic resolution result for each input value.

Examples


resolve_taxonomy(
  c(
    "Homo sapiens",
    "Chilina",
    "Parastacus brasiliensis"
  )
)

resolve_taxonomy(
  c(
    "  homo   sapiens ",
    " chilina ",
    NA_character_
  ),
  source = "gbif"
)

Standardize scientific names

Description

Cleans and parses scientific names into a standardized taxonomic representation suitable for subsequent taxonomic resolution.

Usage

standardize_scientific_names(x)

Arguments

x

Character vector containing scientific names.

Details

The function preserves the original input, generates a cleaned version of each name, extracts supported taxonomic components, reconstructs a canonical scientific name, and reports whether the name was successfully parsed.

Supported structures currently include genus names, genus-level placeholders using sp., binomial species names, simple trinomial names, and explicit infraspecific ranks using subsp., var., and f..

The parse_success field indicates whether TaxResolveR successfully interpreted the syntactic structure of the name. It does not indicate whether the taxon exists, whether the name is currently accepted, or whether it has been verified against an external taxonomic authority.

Value

A data.frame with one row per input name and the following columns:

original_name: Original input supplied by the user.
clean_name: Name after internal cleaning and formatting.
genus: Parsed genus name.
specific_epithet: Parsed specific epithet.
infraspecific_rank: Explicit infraspecific rank, when present.
infraspecific_epithet: Parsed infraspecific epithet.
rank_detected: Taxonomic structure detected by the parser.
canonical_name: Canonical name reconstructed from parsed components.
parse_success: Logical value indicating successful syntactic parsing.

Examples

standardize_scientific_names(c(
  "  homo   sapiens ",
  "Chilina sp.",
  "Parastacus brasiliensis subsp. promatensis",
  "Brassica oleracea var. capitata",
  NA_character_
))

Summarize Taxonomic Resolution Results

Description

Produces a compact one-row summary of taxonomic resolution results.

The function counts the total number of names and the number of records assigned to the main resolution, match-quality, acceptance, and review categories.

Character category values are standardised internally by removing leading and trailing whitespace and converting text to lower case. Empty character values are treated as missing values.

Usage

summarize_taxonomic_resolution(x)

Arguments

x

A data frame containing taxonomic resolution results. The object must contain the columns resolution_status, match_quality, accepted_status, and review_required.

Value

A one-row data frame with the following columns:

total_names: total number of input records.
resolved: number of resolved records.
unresolved: number of unresolved records.
not_queryable: number of non-queryable records.
high_quality: number of high-quality matches.
moderate_quality: number of moderate-quality matches.
low_quality: number of low-quality matches.
accepted: number of accepted taxonomic matches.
not_accepted: number of non-accepted taxonomic matches.
review_required: number of records requiring manual review.

Examples

x <- data.frame(
  resolution_status = c(
    "resolved",
    "unresolved",
    "not_queryable"
  ),
  match_quality = c(
    "high",
    "unresolved",
    NA_character_
  ),
  accepted_status = c(
    "accepted",
    "unresolved",
    NA_character_
  ),
  review_required = c(
    FALSE,
    TRUE,
    TRUE
  ),
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)

summarize_taxonomic_resolution(x)

Create a Taxonomic Resolution Report

Description

Creates a structured diagnostic report from the results of the TaxResolveR taxonomic resolution workflow.

Usage

taxonomic_resolution_report(x)

Arguments

x

Details

The report summarises overall taxonomic resolution, resolution status, match quality, and reasons for manual taxonomic review. Counts and proportions are calculated using the total number of input records as the denominator.

Value

A named list containing four data frames:

total_summary: Overall taxonomic resolution summary produced by summarize_taxonomic_resolution().
resolution_status: Counts and proportions for resolved, unresolved, and non-queryable records.
match_quality: Counts and proportions for taxonomic match-quality categories.
review_reasons: Counts and proportions for reasons requiring manual taxonomic review.

Examples

x <- data.frame(
  resolution_status = c(
    "resolved",
    "resolved",
    "not_queryable"
  ),
  match_quality = c(
    "high",
    "moderate",
    NA
  ),
  accepted_status = c(
    "accepted",
    "accepted",
    NA
  ),
  review_required = c(
    FALSE,
    TRUE,
    TRUE
  ),
  review_reason = c(
    NA,
    "non_exact_match",
    "not_queryable"
  ),
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)

taxonomic_resolution_report(x)

Resolve and assess scientific names

Description

Provides a high-level interface for taxonomic name resolution in TaxResolveR. Scientific names are resolved against a supported taxonomic source, assessed for resolution and match quality, and flagged when manual taxonomic review is recommended.

Usage

taxresolve(x, source = "gbif")

Arguments

x

A character vector containing scientific names.

source

Character string specifying the taxonomic source. Currently, "gbif" is supported.

Details

This function combines resolve_taxonomy(), assess_taxonomic_match(), and flag_taxonomic_review() into a single workflow.

Value

A data frame containing the taxonomic resolution returned by resolve_taxonomy() together with the assessment columns produced by assess_taxonomic_match() and the review columns produced by flag_taxonomic_review().

Examples


taxresolve(
  c(
    "Homo sapiens",
    "Homo sapens",
    "Chilina sp."
  )
)

Validate Species Names

Description

Performs basic syntactic validation of species names, including missing values, empty names, repeated whitespace, and binomial structure.

Usage

validate_species_names(x)

Arguments

x

Character vector containing scientific names.

Value

A data.frame with the original names and logical indicators for missing names, empty names, repeated whitespace, and valid binomial structure.

Examples

validate_species_names(c(
  "Homo sapiens",
  "Chilina sp.",
  NA,
  ""
))

Package {TaxResolveR}

Assess taxonomic match quality

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Examples

Classify scientific names

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Examples

Clean scientific names

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Examples

Export Taxonomic Resolution Results

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Examples

Flag taxonomic records for manual review

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Examples

Parse scientific names

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Examples

Prepare taxonomic queries

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Examples

Resolve scientific names against a taxonomic source

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Examples

Standardize scientific names

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Examples

Summarize Taxonomic Resolution Results

Description

Usage

Arguments

Value

Examples

Create a Taxonomic Resolution Report

Description

Usage

Arguments

Details

Value

Examples

Resolve and assess scientific names

Description

Usage