Genus Erica: An identification aid version 4.00

Abstract

Species identification is fundamental to all aspects of biology and conservation. The process can be challenging, particularly in groups including many closely related or similar species. The problem is confounded by the absence of an up-to-date taxonomic revision, but even with such a resource all but professional botanists may struggle to recognise key species, presenting a substantial barrier to vital work such as surveys, threat assessments, and seed collection for ex situ conservation. Genus Erica: An Identification Aid is a tool to help both amateurs and professionals identify (using a limited number of accessible characteristics) and find information about the 851 species and many subspecific taxa of the genus Erica. We present an updated version 4.00, with new features including integrating distribution data from GBIF and iNaturalist, links to taxonomic resources through World Flora Online, and a probability function for identifications, that is freely available for PCs. It remains a work in progress: We discuss routes forward for collaboratively improving this resource.

Keywords: Ericaceae; GBIF; World Flora Online; iNaturalist; species identification.

Figure 1.

The publications of earlier versions of the Erica Identification Aid (formerly ‘Interactive Identification Key’). Note: version 2.00 was published as Contributions from the Bolus Herbarium vol. 22, and version 3.00 as volume 23 idem.

Figure 2.

The main screen of the Erica ID aid in ‘view’ mode. The top ribbon provides access to, from left to right, the different identification and view modes; separate windows for information sources (open below the ribbon); options for presenting data in the aid; and links to the help file, webpage, and version information. The open windows, clockwise from top left are the characters used for narrowing down possible species identifications with options underneath for showing and finding data within the ID aid or through external links (‘map distributions’ opens Google Earth); distribution (a list of QDS map references in which the taxon is found); subspecific taxa; synonyms presented with World Flora Online (WFO) links; and references, including where available a DOI link to the relevant taxonomic treatment.

Figure 3.

Distribution data presented on a Google Earth map. The Quarter Degree Square (QDS) map references listed in the main aid are projected as grid squares with separate individual dots for openly available GBIF data in different colours for different taxa displayed. In this example, on clicking ‘map distributions’ whilst viewing the inclusive species Ericaplukenetii, data points representing observations/specimens determined to species only are presented in red, with those determined to the five different subspecies presented in orange (ssp. bredensis), green (ssp. breviflora), dark blue (ssp. lineata), purple (ssp. penicillata), and light blue (ssp. plukenetii) respectively. On clicking on an individual dot, the underlying information is shown, including links where available, such as in this case an iNaturalist observation. Note that the QDS grid data derived from version 3.00 does not cover all the point data, and that there also isn’t point data representing all the QDS. This could indicate errors and/or gaps in the data that are worth further investigation.