building

ENVO:00000073 ·resolve ·ENGINEERED ·EXACT REVIEWED

A permanent walled and roofed construction. — ENVO

Source attestations

Each upstream vocabulary's own account of this habitat. Assertion counts are per-source units and are not comparable across sources — GOLD counts organisms, BacDive strains, PREGO taxa.

What each upstream vocabulary says about this habitat
Source	Label / path	Assertions	Unit
ENVIRONMENTS_TABLE	built_environment_surfaces Physicochemical parameter bands from kg-microbe's environment table.	—
GOLD	Engineered > Built environment > Building 3 GOLD ecosystem node ids share this path; first shown. See data/raw/gold_ecosystem_paths.tsv.	17	ORGANISM
MADIN	building	162	TAXON
PREGO	building	1	TAXON

Broader habitats

human construction ENVO:00000070
Built Environment mesh:D000076624

Environmental parameters

Physicochemical parameters
Parameter	Value	Source
GRADIENTS	high	kg-microbe environments.csv (built_environment_surfaces)
NUTRIENTS	low	kg-microbe environments.csv (built_environment_surfaces)
ORGANIC_MATTER	low	kg-microbe environments.csv (built_environment_surfaces)
PRESSURE	low	kg-microbe environments.csv (built_environment_surfaces)
SALINITY	low	kg-microbe environments.csv (built_environment_surfaces)
SALINITY_VARIABILITY	small	kg-microbe environments.csv (built_environment_surfaces)
STRUCTURAL_COMPLEXITY	medium	kg-microbe environments.csv (built_environment_surfaces)
WATER_AVAILABILITY	low	kg-microbe environments.csv (built_environment_surfaces)
WATER_VARIABILITY	occasionally wet	kg-microbe environments.csv (built_environment_surfaces)

Causal graphs

Building surface human-air assembly

Buildings create dry, low-resource indoor surfaces that are repeatedly inoculated by human occupants and by outdoor air entering through ventilation. Occupancy, ventilation strategy, room connectivity, surface material, and cleaning disturbances jointly filter deposited microbes and assemble spatially distinct indoor surface microbiomes.

Directed graph · arrows run from subject to object. Focus or hover over a node or arrow for details; the evidence table follows.

Show at full size (scroll to explore)

building_surface_human_air_assembly edges
Edge	Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
`building_contains_indoor_surfaces`	building	contains Buildings provide room-delimited indoor surfaces that collect dust, cells, and surface-associated microbial communities.	indoor surfaces	`PMID:22278670` Kembel and colleagues surveyed bacterial assemblages from building surfaces across mechanically and naturally ventilated rooms.
`indoor_surfaces_have_low_water`	indoor surfaces	has characteristic Indoor exposed surfaces are often dry between short wetting events, imposing low water availability on deposited cells.	low water availability	`PMID:26459172` Adams and colleagues synthesized indoor microbiome studies across air, dust, and surfaces where dry deposited biomass dominates sampling.
`indoor_surfaces_have_low_organic_matter`	indoor surfaces	has characteristic Building surfaces provide sparse organic resources except where dust, skin cells, or wet deposits accumulate.	low organic matter	`PMID:25398865` Gibbons and colleagues followed restroom recolonization after cleaning, where growth was limited by the resource-poor surface setting.
`indoor_surfaces_include_surface_materials`	indoor surfaces	includes Indoor surfaces are composed of distinct materials that expose deposited cells to different physicochemical niches.	surface materials	`PMID:26459172` Adams and colleagues compared microbiota across indoor sample and surface types in the built environment.
`low_water_imposes_desiccation_stress`	low water availability	imposes Low moisture on indoor surfaces stresses microbial cells deposited from humans, dust, and air.	desiccation stress	`PMID:25398865` The restroom-surface study combined 16S profiles with viability assays to track which deposited human-associated taxa persisted.
`low_organic_matter_filters_surface_reservoir`	low organic matter	filters Sparse surface nutrients limit growth after deposition, helping determine which cells persist as a viable reservoir.	viable surface reservoir	`PMID:25398865` Gibbons and colleagues tracked viable restroom-surface bacteria through a post-cleaning succession in a resource-limited built habitat.
`building_hosts_human_occupancy`	building	hosts Buildings concentrate human occupants that repeatedly shed microbes into indoor air, dust, and surfaces.	human occupancy	`PMID:25170151` Lax and colleagues quantified microbial exchange between household occupants and their built environment.
`human_occupancy_deposits_human_bacteria`	human occupancy	deposits Occupants shed skin, oral, and other human-associated bacteria into occupied rooms and onto nearby building surfaces.	human-associated bacteria	`PMID:25170151` Lax and colleagues longitudinally tracked exchange between occupants and household surfaces. `PMID:23717552` Dunn and colleagues showed that household bacterial communities reflect occupancy and occupant traits.
`human_bacteria_drive_occupant_deposition`	human-associated bacteria	seeds Human-associated taxa shed from occupants provide repeated inocula for surface recolonization.	occupant microbial deposition	`PMID:25398865` Gibbons and colleagues showed rapid restroom-surface recolonization after cleaning by communities dominated by human-associated bacteria.
`occupant_deposition_seeds_surface_microbiome`	occupant microbial deposition	seeds Repeated microbial deposition by occupants is a major source of the bacteria detected on occupied building surfaces.	indoor surface microbiome	`PMID:25170151` The household time series connected occupant microbiota with temporal changes on indoor surfaces. `PMID:26459172` The indoor-environment meta-analysis identified humans as an important bacterial source across built-environment sample types.
`building_controls_ventilation_strategy`	building	controls Building design and operation determine the balance of mechanical and natural ventilation that delivers airborne microbes.	ventilation strategy	`PMID:23621155` Meadow and colleagues compared ventilation regimes in a hybrid building and linked them to indoor airborne bacterial dynamics.
`ventilation_introduces_outdoor_air`	ventilation strategy	modulates Ventilation modulates how outdoor bacterial bioaerosols enter and persist in indoor air before settling onto surfaces.	outdoor air inoculation	`PMID:23621155` The indoor-air study showed that indoor airborne communities tracked outdoor-air community changes with ventilation-dependent lags.
`building_defines_room_connectivity`	building	defines Building layouts connect rooms through doors and circulation paths that constrain indoor microbial dispersal.	room connectivity	`PMID:24489843` Kembel and colleagues related the spatial network of rooms and doors to bacterial biogeography in indoor dust.
`outdoor_air_seeds_surface_microbiome`	outdoor air inoculation	seeds Outdoor air supplies airborne bacteria that can deposit onto dust and surfaces inside buildings.	indoor surface microbiome	`PMID:23621155` Meadow and colleagues identified outdoor air as a source shaping indoor airborne communities. `PMID:26459172` Adams and colleagues synthesized evidence that outdoor air and humans both contribute microbes to indoor samples.
`room_connectivity_controls_dispersal`	room connectivity	controls Door networks and spatial connectivity constrain microbial dispersal between rooms and help define indoor biogeography.	indoor surface microbiome	`PMID:24489843` Kembel and colleagues related room connectivity, space type, occupancy, and ventilation to indoor dust bacterial communities.
`surface_materials_filter_deposited_cells`	surface materials	filters Differences among surface types and materials filter deposited bacteria into distinct indoor assemblages.	indoor surface microbiome	`PMID:26459172` Adams and colleagues found that indoor microbiota varied with sample type and built-environment characteristics across studies.
`indoor_surfaces_undergo_cleaning_disturbance`	indoor surfaces	undergoes Occupied building surfaces are periodically cleaned, disturbing biomass and the viable surface reservoir.	cleaning disturbance	`PMID:25398865` Gibbons and colleagues sterilized restroom surfaces and followed the resulting microbial recolonization.
`cleaning_disturbance_prunes_surface_reservoir`	cleaning disturbance	prunes Cleaning removes biomass and disturbs viability on building surfaces, after which surviving and newly deposited taxa recolonize.	viable surface reservoir	`PMID:25398865` Gibbons and colleagues sampled public restroom surfaces before and after sterilization to track viable recolonization dynamics.
`desiccation_filters_surface_reservoir`	desiccation stress	filters Dry building surfaces filter the viable subset of organisms shed into the indoor environment.	viable surface reservoir	`PMID:25398865` The restroom-surface viability assays showed that only part of the detected surface community remained viable after deposition.
`viable_reservoir_reseeds_surface_microbiome`	viable surface reservoir	reseeds Viable cells persisting on surfaces provide a reservoir that contributes to post-disturbance recolonization.	indoor surface microbiome	`PMID:25398865` The restroom recolonization time series linked persistence and renewed deposition to post-cleaning surface community assembly.

Associated taxa

Taxa reported from this habitat, which is weaker than being characteristic of it. rank is out of pool: a high rank in a pool of thousands of near-tied scores is a weak claim. Entries corroborated by a second, independent source are listed first.

Taxa reported from this habitat
Taxon	Source	Rank	Pool
Legionella geestiana DSM 21217 `NCBITaxon:1122161`	PREGO	1	1
Gluconacetobacter tumulicola `NCBITaxon:1017177`	MADIN	—	162
Gluconacetobacter asukensis `NCBITaxon:1017181`	MADIN	—	162
microbacterium_foliorum `NCBITaxon:104336`	MADIN	—	162
Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis IO-1 `NCBITaxon:1046624`	MADIN	—	162
Leptospira santarosai HAI134 `NCBITaxon:1049980`	MADIN	—	162
Leptospira santarosai HAI1349 `NCBITaxon:1049981`	MADIN	—	162
Leptospira santarosai HAI1380 `NCBITaxon:1049982`	MADIN	—	162
Leptospira santarosai HAI821 `NCBITaxon:1049983`	MADIN	—	162
ornithinimicrobium_murale `NCBITaxon:1050153`	MADIN	—	162
Bacillus cereus MSX-A1 `NCBITaxon:1053220`	MADIN	—	162
Bacillus cereus MSX-A12 `NCBITaxon:1053221`	MADIN	—	162
Bacillus cereus MSX-D12 `NCBITaxon:1053222`	MADIN	—	162
Amycolatopsis nigrescens CSC17Ta-90, DSM 44992 `NCBITaxon:1068980`	MADIN	—	162
domibacillus_robiginosus `NCBITaxon:1071054`	MADIN	—	162
microbacterium_murale `NCBITaxon:1081040`	MADIN	—	162
Leptospira interrogans sv. Bataviae HAI135 `NCBITaxon:1085538`	MADIN	—	162
Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCGM2.S1 `NCBITaxon:1089456`	MADIN	—	162
Pseudomonas psychrotolerans L19 `NCBITaxon:1112217`	MADIN	—	162
Paenibacillus pasadenensis DSM 19293 `NCBITaxon:1122923`	MADIN	—	162
Staphylococcus haemolyticus R1P1 `NCBITaxon:1134914`	MADIN	—	162
bacillus_nealsonii `NCBITaxon:115979`	MADIN	—	162
Bacillus safensis FO-36b `NCBITaxon:1178541`	MADIN	—	162
Leptospira interrogans HAI1536 `NCBITaxon:1193041`	MADIN	—	162
Leptospira santarosai HAI1594 `NCBITaxon:1193060`	MADIN	—	162

Showing 25 of 26 kept associations.

Also called

buildings — PREGO
houses — PREGO
houseses — PREGO

Curation

What a curator decided about this record, and why. A record built from several source concepts can carry one decision per concept.

REVIEW 2026-08-13 · claude-opus-5
Reviewed and endorsed the seeder's own resolution. Multi-source review pass: this record is attested by more than one independent vocabulary, and this source's label or path was read against the record's ontology term to check the merge is right. It agrees. Source concepts in the same pass whose labels did not agree were re-decided rather than endorsed; see the pass's other decisions of the same date. (source concept habitatmech:GOLD.93887bd791)
REVIEW 2026-08-13 · claude-opus-5
Reviewed and endorsed the seeder's own resolution. Multi-source review pass: this record is attested by more than one independent vocabulary, and this source's label or path was read against the record's ontology term to check the merge is right. It agrees. Source concepts in the same pass whose labels did not agree were re-decided rather than endorsed; see the pass's other decisions of the same date. (source concept habitatmech:PREGO.c2f45fa68b)
REVIEW 2026-08-16 · claude-opus-5
Reviewed and endorsed the seeder's own resolution. Risky-grounding review (#12), co-attestor pass: this source concept feeds a record whose grounding was flagged and reviewed, and the record could not reach REVIEWED until every source feeding it was decided. This one is a self-grounding: the source vocabulary names the concept with the ontology term's own label, so there is nothing to adjudicate between the two — checked that the term is the one the label denotes, and that the record it merges into is the same concept rather than a homonym. (source concept habitatmech:MADIN.2b0f480418)
ADD_CAUSAL_GRAPH 2026-09-04 · codex
Added a building-surface human-air assembly graph backed by PMID:22278670, PMID:26459172, PMID:25398865, PMID:25170151, PMID:23717552, PMID:23621155, and PMID:24489843.

Provenance

Generated by scripts/seed_from_sources.py from the committed inventories in data/raw/. View the record.