taxize (version 0.6.0)

col_downstream: Use Catalogue of Life to get downstream taxa to a given taxonomic level.

Description

Use Catalogue of Life to get downstream taxa to a given taxonomic level.

Usage

col_downstream(name = NULL, id = NULL, downto, format = NULL,
  start = NULL, checklist = NULL, verbose = TRUE, intermediate = FALSE,
  ...)

Arguments

name

The string to search for. Only exact matches found the name given will be returned, unless one or wildcards are included in the search string. An * (asterisk) character denotes a wildcard; acharacter may also be used. The name must be at least 3 chara

id

The record ID of the specific record to return (only for scientific names of species or infraspecific taxa)

downto

The taxonomic level you want to go down to. See examples below. The taxonomic level IS case sensitive, and you do have to spell it correctly. See data(rank_ref) for spelling.

format

The returned format (default = NULL). If NULL xml is used. Currently only xml is supported.

start

The first record to return (default = NULL). If NULL, the results are returned from the first record (start=0). This is useful if the total number of results is larger than the maximum number of results returned by a single Web service query (currently th

checklist

The year of the checklist to query, if you want a specific year's checklist instead of the lastest as default (numeric).

verbose

Print or suppress messages.

intermediate

(logical) If TRUE, return a list of length two with target taxon rank names, with additional list of data.frame's of intermediate taxonomic groups. Default: FALSE

...

Curl options passed on to GET

Value

• A list of data.frame's.

Details

Provide only names instead of id's

Examples

# Some basic examples
col_downstream(name="Apis", downto="Species")
col_downstream(name="Bryophyta", downto="Family")

# get classes down from the kingdom Animalia
col_downstream(name="Animalia", downto="Class")
col_downstream(name="Animalia", downto="Class", intermediate=TRUE)

# An example that takes a bit longer
col_downstream(name=c("Plantae","Animalia"), downto="Class")

# Using a checklist from a specific year
col_downstream(name="Bryophyta", downto="Family", checklist=2009)

# By id
col_downstream(id=2346405, downto="Genus", checklist=2012)