Abstract Detail

Systematics

Dellinger-Johnston, Rebecca [1], Kirchoff, Bruce K [2].

Controlled Experiments Demonstrate that a Visual Identification Key is Superior to an Illustrated Key.

Taxonomic keys are essential tools for species identification, yet most are difficult to use for both novices and experts alike. This difficulty is in sharp contrast to an expert’s ability to recognize even very similar species at a glance. Students can rapidly acquire these basic recognition skills, but often still have difficulty using standard, and even illustrated keys. In order to advance the science and practice of plant identification we created and tested a completely visual key to the 43 species of the genus Quercus in the southeastern United States. Sets of standardized photographs of the 43 species were taken, and used in human subject trials to create pairwise similarity matrices based on both novice and expert assessments of the photographs. For each assessment, a user was shown a pair of standardized photographs of leaves and asked to rate their similarity on a 7 point scale. Ten novice, and 10 expert ratings were collected for each pair of leaves (903 pairs). These similarity ratings were averaged and used to a construct novice and expert dendrograms, which served as models for the visual key. The key was created in html and deployed on the webspace of the Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Testing was carried out against an existing illustrated key, the Forest Service’s Field Guide to Native Species of Oaks of Eastern North America, which was converted to html for this purpose. Both keys were tested by both UNCG undergraduate students and members of the International Oak Society who attended their 2015 annual conference. Each participant was asked to key out 10 species using each key. The students were tested in control (Forest Service) and experimental (our visual key) groups, while a within-subjects design was used for the experts. Both experts and novices identified between 20-30% more species correctly while using the visual key (p<<0.001) – demonstrating the effectiveness of the visual approach. Using this method, innovative keys could be constructed for students and professionals in both botany and in other fields of research.

Related Links:
Visual Guide to the Oaks of the Southeastern US

1 - UNC Greensboro, Department Of Biology, P. O. Box 27402, Greensboro, NC, 27402, USA
2 - University Of North Carolina At Greensboro, Department Of Biology, PO BOX 26170, GREENSBORO, NC, 27402-6170, USA, 919-304-2991

Keywords:
keys
Quercus
Oaks
identification guides
plant identification
Species Identification.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 21, Cooley Awards I
Location: 201/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016
Time: 8:15 AM
Number: 21002
Abstract ID:90
Candidate for Awards:George R. Cooley Award