Confidence, provenance and data limits
ClimaFlora keeps source and confidence visible so a score remains interpretable. A direct observation and a geographic proxy should not be presented as equivalent evidence.
The idea at a glance
Provenance
Each useful layer should be traceable to a provider, method or reference: climate, soil, distribution, media or horticultural information.
Confidence
Confidence describes the strength of available evidence. It does not rate the plant itself or its horticultural quality.
When data quality changes the decision
Inherited data
When a subspecific record inherits species-level information, that origin should stay visible. Generalising from an entire genus would be a much broader claim.
Near a threshold
A value close to a boundary, especially with uncertain source data, should trigger a warning rather than an automatic hard exclusion.
Responsible use
Results should be read together with provenance and field context. The more costly or irreversible the decision, the stronger the local validation should be.