ONLINE POLYCLAVE KEY FOR THE PLANTS FROM THE KIRBY PARK NATURAL AREA, WILKES-BARRE, PA.

Breanne Dibblea, Matthew Johnstona, Theodore Oreliena, Jeffrey Thompsona, Kenneth Klemowa, and Matthew Zukoskib aBiology Department, bComputer Science Department, Wilkes

University, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766Background

People wishing to identify plants in their natural settings typically turn to published resources like technical manuals or field guides. Advances in computing technology have made it possible to create online taxonomic keys that preclude the need to carry printed resources into the field. Conceivably, online keys are not limited to specific taxa, and can incorporate illustrations with text. They can lead users to a more rapid identification.

One online system, initiated in 1997, is the Kirby Plant Key. That system used a dichotomous approach to facilitate identification of the vascular plants from the Kirby Park Natural Area, an 80-acre riparian woodlot in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

The key consists of text linked to pictures that leads the user through a series of choices to an identification. Over the past nine years, the Kirby Key has undergone refinement and expansion by teams of Wilkes University Biology Students. The URL is:

http://wilkes-fs1.wilkes.edu/~kirbypl/

A second key was developed in 2001 by groups of Wilkes Computer Science majors, following a polyclave format. The user creates a profile of the unknown plant using a series of drop-down menus connected to database stored on the Wilkes mainframe. Plants fitting the profile appear after the database filters the query. The polyclave key is posted to the web at

http://mathcs.wilkes.edu/~kirbyprk/

Statement of Problem

1: As of September 2005, portions of the database pertaining to the flowering herbs were not populated.

2: The dichotomous key is formatted for a standard desktop or laptop computer. Shifting the key to a PDA-based format would greatly enhance its use in the field.

Objectives

We sought to:

1. Complete the polyclave version by updating the database and filling in the previously created shell.

2. Transfer the dichotomous key onto a PDA device, making it useable in the field without an internet connection.

Significance

These keys enable a user to identify a diverse group of plants (gymnosperm trees, hardwood trees and shrubs, grasses, wildflowers) using a single, comprehensive, online resource.

These keys can serve as an educational tool to help people that lack botanical background, or provide a useful identification guide to field research.

Converting the key into a PDA format allows it to be truly usable as a field-based tool.

This project can be scaled-up to include all of the plants in Pennsylvania. It thus fits one objective of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership’s Biodiversity Conservation Plan under development.

Accomplishments – PDA device

Through the use of the software WebZip, the Dichotomous Key was successfully downloaded to a desktop computer. From there, the entire key was transferred to a Compaq PDA and is useable.

Since the key was downloaded, it is able to be used offline. The user has the ability to take the PDA into the field and use the key to either identify a plant, or get information about a known species.

The next step is to use WebZip to successfully transfer the polyclave key onto the PDA. Once this task is accomplished, a user will have mobile access to both keys in field research.

Accomplishments: Polyclave Key

Characteristics for 61 species of wildflowers were added to the polyclave key database using the Putty program and mysql database format. As of March 2006, the polyclave key is fully functional and accessible through the web.

The wildflowers menu page was edited to follow the newly created database table.

Broken hyperlinks were fixed and new links were created.

Figure 1: View of the Polyclave Key home page. Figure 2: A sample page showing the scroll-down menus used for identification of wildflowers.

Figure 3: A sample page showing a typical results page after a species search.

Figure 4: A sample page that shows an identified species and general information about the species.