Terms and Conditions
These terms govern your use of the Cave Biology Data Portal at cavebiology.org, operated by Niemiller Nature LLC. By using the site you accept them.
Using the content
Text and data on this site, including species accounts, distribution records, and conservation information, are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). You may copy, adapt, and redistribute them for any purpose, including commercially, provided you give credit and say whether you changed anything. See the Citation and Licensing page.
Photographs and illustrations are excluded from that license. Copyright in each image belongs to the person or organization named in its credit line, and images are used here by permission. Unless an image states otherwise, it is All Rights Reserved and may not be reproduced, redistributed, or adapted without written permission from the copyright holder.
To request permission for an image, write to info@cavebiology.org. Educational and non-profit use is usually granted at no cost; commercial licensing is handled through Niemiller Nature LLC.
Some content is drawn from NatureServe, the IUCN Red List, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other databases, and remains subject to their terms.
Accuracy, and the limits of it
We compile this portal carefully and correct errors when we find them. But taxonomy changes, conservation ranks are reassessed, distributions are revised as new surveys are done, and some accounts are more complete than others.
This site is a scientific reference, not a regulatory determination. It must not be relied on as the sole basis for permitting, compliance, environmental review, land management, or any decision with legal or financial consequence. For those purposes, consult the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, your state natural heritage program, or the relevant regulatory authority.
The absence of a species from this portal does not mean it is absent from a place. Most caves have never been surveyed, and cave fauna is consistently under-recorded.
Locality data
Exact localities are withheld as a matter of policy, described on the Data Sensitivity Policy page. If you obtain locality data from us on request, you agree to use it only for the purpose stated, to keep it confidential, and not to redistribute it without our agreement.
Do not attempt to derive exact locations from generalized data on this site, or to combine it with other sources for that purpose.
Contributions
If you contribute an account, a record, a photograph, or a correction, you confirm that it is yours to give or that you have permission, and you grant us the right to publish it on this site. You keep authorship of what you write and are credited for it. We may edit contributions for accuracy, length, and consistency, and may decline to publish.
Acceptable use
- Do not use automated tools to harvest the site at a rate that affects other users. If you want the data in bulk, ask.
- Do not attempt to gain access to parts of the site that are not public.
- Do not misrepresent content from this site, or present it as endorsed by us or by any agency.
Links to other sites
We link to external databases and resources for your convenience. We do not control them and are not responsible for their content or their availability.
Liability
The site is provided as it is, without warranty of any kind. To the fullest extent the law allows, Niemiller Nature LLC is not liable for any loss or damage arising from use of this site or reliance on its content.
Changes
We may change these terms. Continued use of the site after a change means you accept the revised terms.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Alabama, United States.
Contact
Niemiller Nature LLC
info@cavebiology.org
Madison, Alabama, USA
Last updated: These Terms and Conditions were last updated on 15 August 2026.