Terms of Use

Acceptance of these terms

These terms explain the rules and conditions for using Biosphere: the website, explorer accounts, BioQuest, the educational content and the Biosphere Store.

By using Biosphere, you agree to these terms. When you create an explorer account, you’re asked to confirm that you agree to these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy before the account is created.

If you don’t agree with these terms, please don’t use Biosphere.

Accounts and your responsibilities

You can explore Biosphere and buy from the Store without an account. An explorer account lets you save BioQuest progress, discoveries and achievements, and see your orders.

When you have an account, you agree to:

Provide accurate information and keep it up to date in Settings.
Keep your password confidential and use your account only yourself.
Not create an account in someone else’s name, or impersonate another person or organization.
Tell us through Contact if you think someone else has accessed your account.

You can change your password, review where you’re signed in and sign out other sessions in Settings → Security. If you forget your password, use Forgot password.

Acceptable use

Use Biosphere in line with applicable law, these terms, the Community Guidelines and the way the platform is meant to work. In particular, don’t:

Try to access accounts, data or parts of Biosphere you’re not authorized to access.
Interfere with or disrupt Biosphere, or try to get around its security measures or usage limits.
Upload or send malicious code or files.
Use Biosphere for fraud, including false orders or payment confirmations.
Send spam or automated submissions through Biosphere’s forms.
Manipulate BioQuest progress, for example by exploiting bugs or automating answers.
Use Biosphere for any illegal purpose.

If you find a security problem or a bug, please report it instead of exploiting it.

Community participation

Biosphere doesn’t currently have comments, posts or discussions. Today, other logged-in explorers can see your display name (or username) and XP on the BioQuest leaderboard while your profile is public, which is the default. Biosphere doesn’t have public profile pages. You can make your profile private in Settings → Privacy.

Your participation, including what you send us through Contact, Feedback and Report an Issue, is also subject to the Community Guidelines.

Content you provide

You may provide content to Biosphere, such as your display name, username and profile image, and messages, species suggestions, corrections, feedback, issue reports and screenshots.

You’re responsible for the content you provide.
Only provide content that you have the right to share, and that doesn’t include other people’s private information.
Your content must follow these terms and the Community Guidelines.

Messages, feedback and issue reports are private between you and Biosphere and aren’t published. Biosphere uses them to respond to you and to improve the platform, as described in the Privacy Policy.

Biosphere content and intellectual property

Biosphere content: The Biosphere name, logos and visual identity, the interface and software, and Biosphere’s original texts, guides, graphics and editorial content may be protected by intellectual-property rights. You may use them to explore and learn on Biosphere, but not copy, republish or use them commercially without permission.
Third-party content: Some content belongs to others and is used under its own license, such as species photographs from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licenses or in the public domain. These are credited with their author, source and license, and Biosphere doesn’t claim ownership of them. Your use of them is subject to their licenses.
External sources: Biodiversity Resources and other pages link to external scientific sources and databases, which belong to their owners.
Your content: You keep any rights you have in the content you provide.

Educational and scientific content

Biosphere is intended to support learning and exploration. Species, habitat, glossary, Journal and resource content is written for educational purposes.

Biosphere works to keep content accurate, but it may be incomplete, become outdated, or differ from other sources. Scientific knowledge, classifications and conservation statuses change over time.
Species and habitat pages are educational resources, not a complete record of every species or of current observations.
For important decisions, check authoritative sources, such as those linked in Biodiversity Resources.
The Identify a Species section of BioQuest is a preview: its results are examples, not real identifications.

If you find an error, please report it.

BioQuest

BioQuest is an educational exploration game. With an account, it records your quest answers, discovered and documented species, XP, levels and achievements, and shows a leaderboard to logged-in explorers.

XP, levels, achievements and leaderboard positions are for learning and fun. They have no monetary value and can’t be exchanged for money, products or discounts.
Play honestly, as described in Acceptable use.
BioQuest progress is tied to your account and is deleted if you delete your account.

BPE token rewards

BPE (Biosphere) is a token that Biosphere may issue as a reward for eligible, verified activities. How it works is described in the BPE Whitepaper.

BPE is currently issued on a test network. Testnet BPE has no intended real-world value and can’t be exchanged for money, and testnet balances don’t automatically carry over to a future Mainnet token.
To receive BPE you need a verified account and a wallet you control, linked by signing a free message. You’re responsible for your wallet and its recovery phrase; Biosphere can’t recover lost wallets or tokens.
Biosphere decides which activities are eligible, the amounts and the limits, and may reject, delay or cancel rewards that don’t meet the rules, including suspected fraud. Rewards that were never sent are cancelled if you delete your account.
Transactions on a blockchain are public and permanent. Biosphere doesn’t provide an exchange, set a price for BPE or promise that it will have any value.

Store and purchases

The Biosphere Store sells products. Store products are separate from the species and habitats in Biosphere’s educational content, which are not for sale.

Demo store: While the Store shows a Demo store notice, its products, prices and shipping rates are sample data and no purchase is completed.
Product information: Biosphere aims to describe products, images and prices accurately, but errors can happen.
Prices: Prices are shown in Argentine pesos (ARS) and already include applicable taxes. Shipping costs are shown separately before you place an order.
Availability: Products and options can go out of stock. Prices and availability are confirmed when you check out; if something changed, your cart is updated and you’re told before you continue.
Quantities: You can order up to 20 units of each product option per order, subject to available stock.

Orders

Adding products to your cart doesn’t create an order or reserve stock.
An order is created when you complete the final checkout step (Payment). The products are then reserved for your order, and the confirmation page shows your order number, details and payment status.
An order isn’t paid until the payment is confirmed. Until then, it shows as payment pending or under review.
If a card payment fails or is reversed, or a transfer payment is rejected after review, the order is cancelled and the products are released.
Orders can’t be cancelled or changed from your account. For help with an order, contact Biosphere with your order number.

Logged-in customers can see their orders in My orders.

Payments

Bank transfer, wallets and QR: You pay from your own bank or wallet app using the details shown at checkout, with your order number as the reference, and then confirm that you’ve paid. Biosphere reviews and confirms these payments manually, so the order shows Payment under review until then.
Cards: When card payments are available, they’re processed by Mercado Pago, and Mercado Pago’s own terms also apply.

Only the payment methods shown at checkout are available.

Shipping

The delivery options available, and their prices, depend on the destination country and are shown at checkout before you place your order. For international shipping, delivery times and any import duties depend on the destination country.

Biosphere uses the delivery address you provide, so please check it carefully before placing your order.

Third-party services and links

Some features rely on third-party services, such as Mercado Pago for card payments (when available), Google, Facebook or LinkedIn for social sign-in (when available and only if you choose it), and Google for email delivery and web fonts. These services are operated by their providers and may have their own terms.

Biosphere links to external websites, such as scientific sources and Biosphere’s social media profiles. Biosphere doesn’t control those websites and isn’t responsible for their content, availability or privacy practices. A link isn’t an endorsement.

Platform availability and changes

Biosphere may sometimes be unavailable, interrupted or slower, for example during maintenance or updates. Continuous availability isn’t guaranteed.

Biosphere is evolving: features, navigation, educational content and the Store may be added, changed or removed over time.

Deleting your account

You can stop using Biosphere at any time. You can delete your explorer account yourself in Settings → Danger Zone. Deletion is permanent: your profile, BioQuest progress and saved cart are removed.

Orders you placed are kept as records of the purchase. The Privacy Policy explains what happens to your information.

Disclaimers

Biosphere is provided as it is available. Educational content may contain errors or become outdated, and third-party services are outside Biosphere’s control.

Nothing in these terms limits any rights you have under applicable consumer protection law that can’t be limited by agreement.

How these terms relate to other policies

Terms of Use: Use of Biosphere and your responsibilities (this page).
Privacy Policy: How your personal information is handled. Read the Privacy Policy.
Community Guidelines: How we participate together. Read the Community Guidelines.

Changes to these terms

Biosphere may update these terms when the platform, the business or legal requirements change. The current version is always available on this page.

Contact about these terms

If you have a question about these terms, contact Biosphere through the Contact page. For help using Biosphere, see the Help Center.