DARE Template Fields

Fields in the template builder

Every field in DARE Template Builder is listed below. Participants can use it to gather their details before starting on the template. Optional fields can be left blank, and conditional fields only appear when they apply.

Study and contact

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Contact person	Yes	Text
Contact email	Yes	Email address
Institution	Yes	Text
Country	Yes	Country list (saved as two-letter ISO code)
Data origin	Yes	New DARE experiment; Existing dataset that fits the DARE framework
Level of organization	Yes	Population (bacteria, phytoplankton, other microorganisms); Individual (zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, fish, macrophytes, corals)
Organism source	Yes	Isolated from the field for this experiment; Already in culture
Related submissions	Optional	Text	Other species or populations submitted alongside this one; taxon and site of each, separated by semicolons.
Notes for the core team	Optional	Text

Organism and field site

Organism

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Taxon name	Yes	Text
Taxonomic ID	Recommended	Text	GBIF, WoRMS, AlgaeBase or NCBI, with the prefix.
Functional group	Yes	Bacteria; Phytoplankton; Heterotrophic protist; Zooplankton; Macroinvertebrate; Fish; Macrophyte; Coral; Other
Photosynthetic?	Yes	Yes; No
Ecosystem	Yes	Freshwater; Brackish; Marine	Sets whether the salinity treatment increases or decreases.
Habitat	Yes	Lake; Pond; River; Stream; Wetland; Estuary; Coastal marine; Open ocean; Other

Collection site

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Site name	Yes	Text
Latitude	Yes	Decimal degrees
Longitude	Yes	Decimal degrees
Collection date	Yes	Date (YYYY-MM-DD)	Guideline: no more than 1–2 years before the experiment.

Field conditions at collection

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Time collected	Optional	24-hour HH:MM	Local time.
Water temperature	Yes	°C
Air temperature	Optional	°C
Salinity	Yes	Number	As conductivity or as salinity.
Salinity unit	Yes	µS/cm (conductivity); mS/cm (conductivity); PSU (practical salinity); ppt or g/kg (absolute salinity)
Conductivity compensated to 25 °C?	If salinity is given as conductivity	Yes (specific conductance); No (raw conductivity); Unknown

Further water chemistry at the time of collection (if available)

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Dissolved oxygen	Optional	Number
Oxygen unit	Required if dissolved oxygen is given	mg/L; % saturation
Total nitrogen	Optional	µg/L
Total phosphorus	Optional	µg/L
Total carbon	Optional	mg/L
Chloride	Optional	mg/L
Particulate carbon	Optional	mg/L
Particulate nitrogen	Optional	µg/L
Particulate phosphorus	Optional	µg/L
Pollution history	Optional	Text	e.g. road salt runoff, agricultural inputs, wastewater.

Genetic structure

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Clones or genotypes	Yes	Single clone/genotype; Mixed clones/genotypes; Wild population/genotypes not tracked; Unknown
Number of clones or genotypes	Yes, if mixed clones/genotypes	Whole number

Culture history (only for organisms already in culture)

Field	Required	Unit or options
Approximate generations in the lab	Yes	Whole number
Culture temperature	Yes	°C
Food or nutrient regime	Yes	Text
Feeding or transfer frequency	Yes	Text
Light:dark cycle	Yes	Hours light:hours dark, e.g. 16:8
Light intensity	Yes, photosynthetic organisms only	µmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹
Thermal optimum, if known	Optional	°C
Trait and method behind the thermal optimum	Yes, if a thermal optimum is given	Text

Experimental medium

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Medium type	Yes	Natural lake, river, estuarine or seawater; Filtered natural water; Standard culture medium; Other
Medium name	Required for standard culture media	Text
Source water	Optional	Text
Filter pore size	Yes, filtered natural water only	µm
pH	Recommended	Number
Salinity	Recommended	Number	As conductivity or as salinity.
Salinity unit	Required if salinity is given	µS/cm (conductivity); mS/cm (conductivity); PSU (practical salinity); ppt or g/kg (absolute salinity)
Total nitrogen	Optional	µg/L
Total phosphorus	Optional	µg/L
Modifications	Optional	Text	Nutrient additions, buffering, supplements or salinity adjustments, with amounts.

Design and treatments

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Design	Yes	Temperature only (single stressor); Salinity only (single stressor); Full factorial: temperature × salinity; Custom temperature × salinity combinations

Temperature (designs that manipulate temperature)

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Ambient temperature	Yes	°C	Average temperature during the growing season, e.g. 20 °C for a temperate lake.
Elevated temperature	Yes	Ambient + 4 °C (DARE standard); A different increase agreed with the core team	Contact the core team before using a different increase.
Agreed elevated temperature	Yes, if a different increase was agreed	°C
Reason and who agreed it	Yes, if a different increase was agreed	Text
Extra levels below ambient	Optional	Whole number	Spaced by the same step as ambient to elevated.
Extra levels above elevated	Optional	Whole number	Spaced by the same step as ambient to elevated.
Temperature control	Yes	Climate-controlled chamber; Incubator; Water bath; Heating plates or system; Other	Treatments must stay stable for the whole experiment; record the temperatures organisms actually experience.

Temperature held constant (salinity-only designs)

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Experimental temperature	Yes	°C

Salinity (designs that manipulate salinity)

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Salinity stress	Yes, brackish organisms only	Increase (2× ambient by default); Decrease (5 PSU below ambient by default)	Freshwater organisms always get an increase and marine organisms a decrease. For brackish organisms, the direction and size are up to the participant.
Salinity increase (multiple of ambient)	Yes, brackish organisms with an increase	Number, default 2	The size of the increase is up to the participant.
Unit	Yes	µS/cm (conductivity); mS/cm (conductivity); PSU (practical salinity); ppt or g/kg (absolute salinity)	Decreases are set in PSU (or ppt).
Ambient salinity or conductivity	Yes	Number
Ambient defined from	Yes	Measured at the collection site; Standard culture medium	Collection site for natural or filtered water; the culture medium for artificial media.
Salinity decrease	Yes, for salinity decreases	PSU, default 5	The size of the decrease is up to each lab.
Extra levels below the stress level	Optional, for salinity decreases	Whole number	Spaced by the same decrease, e.g. ambient − 10 and − 15 PSU.
Extra levels (multiples of ambient)	Optional, for salinity increases	Numbers, comma-separated	The stress level (2× ambient, or the brackish increase chosen) is always included; add e.g. 4.
Salt added	Yes, for salinity increases	NaCl; Other salt or mixture
Salt used and core-team approval	Yes, if a salt other than NaCl is used	Text	Other salts need approval from the core team before the experiment.
Diluted with	Yes, for salinity decreases	Deionized or distilled water; Lower-salinity medium; Other
Describe the diluent	Yes, if not deionized or distilled water	Text
Measurement method	Yes	Text	Measure at the start and end of the experiment, preferably throughout.
Salt or water added, per treatment	Recommended	g/L of salt, or % of final volume as water	Entered in the treatment list.

Feeding during the experiment

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Feeding during the experiment	Yes	Text	Food type, amount and how often, and any medium renewal. For organisms that aren’t fed, write “not fed” and describe the nutrient regime.

Replication

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Experimental replicates	Yes	Whole number, default 1	How many times the whole experiment is run.
Vessels per treatment (technical replicates)	Yes	Whole number	Minimum 3; 4–5 preferred.
Individuals per vessel	Yes, individual-level experiments	Whole number
Individuals measured per vessel	Yes, individual-level experiments	Whole number	At each time point.
Run each genotype in every treatment?	Yes, if mixed clones/genotypes	Yes; No
Genotype IDs	Yes, if each genotype runs in every treatment	Text, comma-separated

Measurements and sampling

Each measurement type (one per thing you record)

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
What you record	Yes	Text	The raw quantity, e.g. body length or chlorophyll fluorescence, not a calculated rate.
Response it informs	Yes	Population growth rate; Somatic growth rate; Body size or size distribution; Development time; Reproductive output or fecundity; Survival or survival time; Activity level; Other performance measure (agree with core team); Metabolic rate; Heat shock proteins; Osmoregulatory compounds; Lipid content or composition; Other physiological indicator	At least one must be a performance response (the first eight).
Method description	Yes	Text
Unit	Yes	Text without spaces, e.g. mm, RFU, cells_mL
Measurements per individual (or per vessel)	Yes	Whole number, default 1	Repeated readings at each time point. Survival is recorded per vessel.
Does a higher value mean better performance?	Yes	Yes; No, lower is better; Depends or not applicable
Initial measurements made	Yes	Before treatments were applied; Right after treatments started; No initial measurement needed

Sampling

Field	Required	Unit or options	Notes
Proposed start date	Yes	Date (YYYY-MM-DD)	For planning; actual dates go in the data file.
Acclimation before T0	Yes	Days	Typically 0.
Planned sampling days	Yes	Days, comma-separated	Days since the start of the treatments. Start with 0 (T0) if any measurement type has an initial measurement. The last day is Te.
Why this duration?	Yes	Text	Based on the organism’s generation time and the traits measured.
Record realized temperature and salinity per	Yes	Treatment (one incubator or bath per treatment); Vessel (each vessel measured)