Tree of Life Web Services
The Tree of Life offers the following web services for developers:
ToL
Group ID Service- This service returns information about taxon names and ToL identifiers. You will need ToL ids in order to specify the branches of the tree for which you want to download data.
ToL Tree Structure Services- This service returns the tree structure for a given branch of the tree, along with group names and properties of groups.
ToL Page Content Services- This service returns the content (text) of ToL branch and leaf pages.
ToL Media Services- This service returns media files from the ToL collection.
In order to use the ToL web services, you will need a User Key. Please also see the Terms of Use.
Please
note that the Tree of Life web services are still very much
under construction. The current implementation is preliminary,
and you should not rely on the services being available in
perpetuity in their current form. We expect to add new features
and to modify the format of the response documents over the
next few months. If you have ideas on how the services could
be improved, please send
us your feedback!
Terms of Use
By using the Tree of Life Web Services, you agree to the following Terms of Use. The Tree of Life reserves the right to update and change these Terms of Use without notice. You are responsible for regularly reviewing the Terms of Use, and your continued use of the Tree of Life Web Services constitutes your agreement to all terms and conditions.
The Tree of Life may change, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Tree of Life Web Services at any time. The Tree of Life may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Tree of Life Web Services or the Tree of Life web site at any time for any reason without notice or liability. Your rights to use the Tree of Life Web Services terminate automatically if you violate any of these terms or if the Tree of Life disables your access to the Tree of Life Web Services.
Scope of Permitted Use
Subject to these Terms of Use, you may access the Tree of Life Web Services and use/distribute Tree of Life data and content without charge. This license is subject to the following restrictions:
- All calls to the Tree of Life Web Services must reference the Tree of Life Web Services User Key issued to you as an approved licensee.
- You must provide attribution on your web site or client application to Tree of Life content authors (Page Services: contributor), copyright owners (Page Services: copyright-owners, other-copyright, Media Services: copyright-owner), the Tree of Life Web Project and other source collections (Page Services: section-source, Media Services: media-source), but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work.
- You must comply with any requirements or restrictions imposed on usage and distribution of materials by their respective copyright owners. The Tree of Life is a collaborative project, and resources are provided by many different content contributors who retain the copyright for their contributions. Although the Tree of Life Web Services provide you with access to these materials, neither the Tree of Life's provision of the Web Services to you nor your use of the Tree of Life Web Services override the copyright owners' requirements and restrictions, which may include Creative Commons licenses or other terms and conditions. In all cases, you are solely responsible for selecting the Tree of Life Web Services that are compatible with your intended use and for making use of Tree of Life materials in compliance with copyright owners' requirements or restrictions as specified in license attributes of response documents.
- You must provide on your web site or client application information about the license terms of all ToL content and data.
- Tree of Life content or data may be used for commercial purposes or for the creation of derivative works only (1) if the material is in the public domain, (2) if the material is released under a license that allows for the intended use, or (3) if your use of the material constitutes fair use under United States copyright law.
- You must agree to remove from your site/collection any Tree of Life content or data that a copyright owner asks you to remove.
Unlawful or Prohibited Use
As a condition of your permitted use of the Tree of Life Web Services, you will not use the Tree of Life Web Services for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms of Use. You may not use the Tree of Life Web Services in any manner or for any purpose that violates any right of any person, including but not limited to intellectual property rights, rights of privacy, or rights of personality. You may not use the Tree of Life Web Services in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Tree of Life Web Services (or the network(s) connected to the Tree of Life Web Services) or interfere with any other party's use of the Tree of Life Web Services. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Tree of Life Web Services, other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Tree of Life Web Services, through hacking, password mining or any other means. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through the Tree of Life Web Services.
Privacy Policy
The Tree of Life's collection and use of personal information is governed by the Tree of Life Privacy Policy, available at http://tolweb.org/tree/home.pages/ToLPrivacyPolicy.html.
Disclaimer of Any Warranty
The Tree of Life does not represent or warrant that any Tree of Life Web Services are free of inaccuracies, errors, bugs, or interruptions, or are reliable, accurate, complete, or otherwise valid. Tree of Life Web Services are provided "as is" with no warranty, express or implied, of any kind, and the Tree of Life expressly disclaims any and all warranties and conditions, including but not limited to, any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, availability, security, title, and/or non-infringement. Your use of the Tree of Life Web Services is at your own discretion and risk, and you will be solely responsible for any damage that results from the use of any Tree of Life Web Services including, but not limited to, any damage to your computer system or loss of data.
Limitation of Liability
The Tree of Life shall not, under any circumstances, be liable to you for any indirect, incidental, consquential, special, or exemplary damages arising out of or in connection with use of the Tree of Life Web Services, whether based on breach of contract, breach of warrantly, tort (including negligence, product liability, or otherwise), or any other pecuniary loss, whether or not the Tree of Life has beem advised of the possibility of such damages. Under no circumstances shall the Tree of Life be liable to you for any amount.
Release and Waiver
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you hereby release and waive all claims against the Tree of Life, and its affiliates, officers, agents, contributors, licensors, or other partners, and employees from any and all liability for claims, damages (actual and/or consequential), costs and expenses (including litigation costs and attorneys' fees) of every kind and nature, arising from or in any way related to your use of the Tree of Life Web Services.