Following discussions initiated at TDWG 2013 in Florence, the Biological Descriptions Interest Group will hold a working session on describing traits in RDF (Resource Description Framework, a W3C standard). Traits here are defined as any measurable characteristic, phenotype, property, or attribute of individuals or groups of the same taxon. The draft charter for the Task Group proposes work on the following: 1. a specification of an abstract model that supports semantic descriptions of organismal characteristics (e.g. traits, phenotypes, measurements); 2. a list of related standards, ontologies and knowledge bases; 3. recommendations (best practices) for producing RDF descriptions that are compatible with SDD (Structured Descriptive Data, a TDWG standard) to facilitate Linked Open Data (LOD).  Anyone with an interest in these subjects is invited to attend; experience is not necessary. Participants in this session will confirm or modify the proposed charter (draft available at http://bit.ly/1purmaP, to be formally submitted to the TDWG Executive) and then begin work towards the report that will be produced.