Ken M. Schwab*, Justin E. Lawrence, and Vincent H. Resh Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley *ken.schwab@berkeley.edu

1. Narwani, A., and A. Mazumder (2012). Bottom-

up Effects of Species Diversity on the

Functioning and Stability of Food Webs, J.

Anim. Ecol. 81:701-13.

2. Lawrence, J.E., K.B. Lunde, R.D. Mazor, L.A.

Bêche, Eric P. McElravy, and Vincent H. Resh

(2010). Long-term Macroinvertebrate

Responses to Climate Change: Implications

for Biological Assessment in Mediterranean-

Climate Streams, J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc.

29:1424-1440

3. Merritt, R.W., K. Cummins, and M. Berg.

(2008) An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects

of North America. Stackpole: Dubuque, IA.

4. Fore, L.S., K. Paulsen, and K. O'Laughlin

(2001). Assessing the Performance of

Volunteers in Monitoring Streams, Freshwater

Biology 46:109-23.

5. Thomason, A. Read. (2010). Bugwater: A Fly

Fisher's Look through the Seasons at Bugs in

Their Aquatic Habitat and the Fish That Eat

Them. Stackpole: Mechanicsburg, PA.

Web Technology to Make Taxonomy More Accessible: Enhancing Quantification of Aquatic Biodiversity at the Regional Scale

Thanks to Dr. Chris Lever, Dr. George Roderick, Michael

Peterson, Lisa Hunt, Janet Hsiao, and Pete Oboyski

Figure 4. Example images taken from An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America4.

5

• The order Plecoptera (stoneflies) was chosen for the prototype.

• BMI specimens obtained from the Essig Museum and the Resh Lab at UC Berkeley.

• Images captured from a Leica MZ APO stereomicroscope with montage camera.

• Identification steps in miKey adapted from existing taxonomic keys3 (Figure 4).

• HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript languages used to achieve web functions and

effects (e.g. mouse-over glossary and image zoom functions)

Introduction

miKey is a web-based prototype built to enhance both intuitive comprehension and time efficiency of taxonomic identification by using web technology to improve the way essential

information in taxonomic keys is displayed to users. For example, the mouse-over feature triggers definitions to be populated in the glossary panel (Figure 3A) and the image zoom

highlights distinguishing morphological trait(s) of interest (Figure 3B). The San Francisco Bay region is home to a community of computer-savvy people who can be engaged

through this tool to advance aquatic science4. Future prototypes will include features that display and serve data in geospatial formats (e.g. ArcGIS and Google Earth).

Figure 3. (A) Step three of dichotomous key (to family) for Plecoptera nymphs.

In this step, identifiers compare length and shape of glossae and paraglossae.

(B) Highlighted in this screenshot is the mouse-over image zoom and glossary

panel features. Image zoom provides the user with freedom to explore images

up-close and can provide a view that is more representative of what would be

seen under a dissection scope than is typically available in a printed key.

Monitoring aquatic biodiversity at regional scales to understand the effects of human impacts has emerged as priority

research area in freshwater science1. For example, the biodiversity of benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) communities in

Mediterranean climate regions has been shown to be responsive to anthropogenic climate change2. A region-specific,

widely accessible tool for identifying BMI communities in the San Francisco Bay Area would facilitate research efforts.

The objective is to design an accessible online macroinvertebrate identification key (miKey) with high quality digital

imagery (Figures 1 & 2) of local specimens to (1) assist professionals, students and citizen scientists of varying levels of

expertise in identifying BMIs with precision and accuracy (Figure 3) and (2) host and disseminate data in formats that

cater to various institutions (e.g. academia, government agencies, and nonprofits) and fields of research (see flow chart).

Flow Chart: Process from Data Collection through Data Dissemination

Web

Access

• miKey website

• Gov't agency websites

• Non-profit websites

Quality

Control

Identification

Keys

• miKey

• Printed keys

(e.g. Figure 3)

miKey

Web

Server

Analyze

Data

• Calculate

metrics

• Geo-spatial

formats

Data

Collectors

• Professionals

• Students

• Citizen scientists

Methods

Discussion

Screenshots

References

Acknowledgements

A

Quantifying Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

Figures 1 & 2. Images of the order Plecoptera with distinguishing morphological traits highlighted. Families represented include (1A) Pteronarcyidae, (1B) Chloroperlidae, (2A),

Nemouridae, and (2B) Chloroperlidae. Images captured by Ken Schwab.

1A

Analysis and Dissemination of Data

= prototype near completion = in development

1B 2A 2B

B

B A