Wildlife Australia - Spring 2017

If 1(b) was correct, you would go to

couplet 3. By selecting descriptions

that match the specimen, you’d follow

a tree-like (dichotomous) pathway to a

final identification.

Dichotomous, or pathway, keys have

now been published online, and a number

are now interactive web pages allowing

users to follow a pathway of (often

illustrated) characters by moving from one

web page to the next. Since each node

has to be manually linked to subsequent

nodes, this involves considerable

construction effort when a large number of

taxa are involved. However, there is a more

significant problem with dichotomous

keys. What if a user cannot decide which

couplet statement is correct for the

specimen in question? For instance, one

node might be ‘flowers red’ or ‘flowers

white’, but if the plant is not flowering

at the time, progress through that key

ceases; this is generally referred to as the

‘unanswerable couplet problem’.

Fortunately, digital technology has also

allowed for the development of alternative,

matrix key systems. Matrix keys enable

users to answer questions about features

of the plant or animal in any order, at the

same time indicating which taxa match the

selected answers and which don’t.

Since the late sixties, several software

platforms for constructing matrix keys

have been developed, such as Delta

(CSIRO), Linnaeus (Netherlands), Slicks,

and PolyKey (USA). The system most

widely used is an Australian-developed

application called the Lucid Identification

platform. Developed at the University

of Queensland some two decades ago,

Lucid is now managed by a small spin-off

company based in Brisbane. Constructing

a Lucid matrix-based identification tool

normally involves subject experts, such

as taxonomists and ecologists, using an

authoring tool (Key Builder) to set up the

matrix, which consists of rows of features

and columns of plant or animal species.

Scores are then entered in the cells in

this matrix, indicating which features are

present for each species. Images, fact

sheets and other multimedia are added

to help the user distinguish features. The

finished key can then be made available

via CDs/DVDs, USBs, web servers, online

browsers, or smartphone applications.

Identification tools have come a long

way since the publication of paper

keys more than 300 years ago. From

the somewhat arcane world of classical

taxonomy, we have now entered a new era

where multimedia ID apps are available

almost everywhere for an audience

of almost anyone, whether they’re

ecologists, conservation biologists

or just enthusiasts, enabling them to

identify species, however rare, and

report their findings.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to express our

gratitude to the many scientific colleagues and

collaborators in Australia and overseas who have

authored apps and contributed to the design and

development of the Lucid platform.

READING Go to http://www.lucidcentral.org for further

information on matrix keys and to find details about

existing keys. Many Lucid keys developed for the Animal

and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USA can be

viewed or downloaded from the Identification Technology

Program site at – http://www.idtools.org/identify.php.

GEOFF NORTON has been involved in research

on ecological and environmental management

issues at CSIRO and The University of

Queensland, including the role of software tools

to provide training and decision support.

MATT TAYLOR is a computer scientist

responsible for managing the production and

support of Lucid software and related projects.

DAMIAN BARNIER is the lead programmer

responsible for the Lucid software platform.

NATURE KIT

EXPLORING THE ‘ZOONIVERSE’

Technology enables us to gather and

store data at the touch of a button,

and the amount we generate currently

doubles annually. As a result, scientists

and researchers lack the time to analyse

it all. Increasingly efficient algorithms are

tasked with analysing huge amounts of

information, and quantum computers and

artificial intelligence will likely assume that

task within decades; yet, in some ways and

for now at least, the human brain does a

better job of identifying patterns and noting

peculiarities. That is where the collective ‘hive

mind’ becomes a valuable scientific resource.

Deep space is incredibly vast and largely

unstudied, and the costs of exploration are

high. Co-opting citizen scientists to help

sort and study astronomical data is already

saving enormous amounts of money. For

instance, astronomers know that at the

centre of most galaxies is a mysterious,

swirling black hole, but what they don’t

know is very much about the ‘supermassive’

black holes that form in the centre of very

large galaxies. Such black holes dwarf our

sun, growing billions of times larger and

hauling in nearby matter. Not even light

escapes their pull, and the dust and gas

generated obscures most optical clues as

to their whereabouts. Occasionally, however,

high-velocity jets of material shoot out

almost at the speed of light and can be

observed by using radio telescopes. Despite

that, the sheer number of galaxies in our

universe – far more than there are human

beings or even grains of sand – makes

looking for them more challenging than

searching for a needle in a haystack. Using

Galaxy Zoo, citizen scientists are able

to view millions of images and identify

galaxy types and features, in the hope of

helping astronomers link black holes to host

galaxies and study different stages of their

growth. Some 60 million classifications have

been made since 2007, and more than 53

academic papers have been produced. The

success of the project has generated an

entire ‘Zooniverse’ (www.zooniverse.org),

offering projects across a range of

scientific disciplines.

Why limit yourself to our galaxy? Citizen science apps and websites are helping fast-track our

knowledge of galaxies beyond the Milky Way (Photo: Janette Asche). Join the ‘Zooniverse’ or help

NASA verify more than 10 million measurements made by satellites, using the international GLOBE

observer app. Anyone can get involved and record their own observations about solar eclipses, clouds,

and other natural phenomena. Find out more at https://observer.globe.gov (Photo: NASA)

36 | Wildlife Australia | SPRING 2017