C O N S E R V A T I O N S E R I E S
plant identification
CREATING USER-FRIENDLY FIELD GUIDES FOR BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
ANNA LAWRENCE AND
WILLIAM HAWTHORNE
Plant Identification
PEOPLE AND PLANTS CONSERVATION SERIES
Series Editor
Martin Walters
Series Originator
Alan Hamilton
People and Plants is a joint initiative of WWF,
the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Applied Ethnobotany: People, Wild Plant Use and Conservation Anthony B. Cunningham
Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge: Equitable Partnerships in Practice Sarah A. Laird (ed)
Carving Out a Future:
Forests, Livelihoods and the International Woodcarving Trade Anthony Cunningham, Brian Belcher and Bruce Campbell
Ethnobotany: A Methods Manual
Gary J. Martin
People, Plants and Protected Areas: A Guide to In Situ Management John Tuxill and Gary Paul Nabhan
Plant Conservation: An Ecosystem Approach
Alan Hamilton and Patrick Hamilton
Plant Identification:
Creating User-Friendly Field Guides for Biodiversity Management Anna Lawrence and William Hawthorne
Plant Invaders: The Threat to Natural Ecosystems
Quentin C. B. Cronk and Janice L. Fuller
Tapping the Green Market:
Certification and Management of Non-Timber Forest Products Patricia Shanley, Alan R. Pierce, Sarah A. Laird and Abraham Guillén (eds) Uncovering the Hidden Harvest:
Valuation Methods for Woodland and Forest Resources Bruce M. Campbell and Martin K. Luckert (eds)
Plant Identification
Creating User-Friendly Field Guides
for Biodiversity Management
Anna Lawrence and William Hawthorne
London • Sterling, VA
First published by Earthscan in the UK and USA in 2006
Copyright © World Wide Fund for Nature, 2006
The moral right of Anna Lawrence and William Hawthorne to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
This publication is an output from a research project funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID. R7475 and R7367 Forestry Research Programme.
All rights reserved
ISBN-10: 1-84407-079-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-84407-079-4
Typesetting by MapSet Ltd, Gateshead, UK
Cover design by Yvonne Booth
Index by Indexing Specialists (UK) Ltd
Printed and bound in the UK by Bath Press
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22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012, USA Earthscan is an imprint of James and James (Science Publishers) Ltd and publishes in association with the International Institute for Environment and Development A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lawrence, Anna.
Plant identification : creating user-friendly field guides for biodiversity management / Anna Lawrence and William Hawthorne.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-84407-079-4
ISBN-10: 1-84407-079-4
1. Plants—Identification—Guidebooks. I. Hawthorne, William. II. Title.
QK97.5.L39 2006
580—dc22
2005031809
Printed on elemental chlorine-free paper
Contents
List of plates, figures, tables and boxes
ix
List of case studies
xiii
People and Plants partners
xiv
Acknowledgements
xv
1
Identifying biodiversity: Why do we need field guides?
1
Anna Lawrence and William Hawthorne
Introduction
1
How do we ‘know’ nature? Classifying, naming and recognizing 2
Field guides
3
How to use this book
5
2
Producing a successful guide: Principles, purpose, people and process 11
Anna Lawrence and Patricia Norrish
What makes a successful guide?
11
Purpose
11
Principles
12
People
14
Process
15
3
Planning and budgeting
23
Anna Lawrence, Ana Paula Lopes Ferreira, Maria Theresa Stradmann, Israel Vargas, Claudia Jordán, Marcelino Lima, Patricia Norrish, Sarah Gillett and Teonildes Nunes
Introduction
23
Step 1: Identify the needs and purpose of the guide with the stakeholders 24
Methods for consulting
34
Step 2: Review the scope in relation to available resources 41
Step 3: Prepare an action plan and agreements with stakeholders 53
Summary: Checklist of questions for the planning stage 56
4
Plant names and botanical publication
61
William Hawthorne and Stephen Harris
Introduction
61
Naming, identification and classification
61
The spectrum of botanical literature
72
Landmarks in the spectrum of field guides today
77
Your field guide within the spectrum of types
87
vi Plant Identification
5
Identification: Keys and other access methods
91
William Hawthorne
Introduction
91
Types of guide: Types of access
95
Choosing access methods and the medium for your field guide 117
Conclusions
119
6
Plant characters suitable for field guides
121
William Hawthorne
Introduction
121
Characters of younger stems and leaves
126
Characters of whole plants or plant populations
138
Conclusions
149
7
Information: Finding it and presenting it
151
Anna Lawrence
Introduction
151
Kinds of information
151
Managing information in a database
152
Nomenclature
153
Selecting, sampling and recording your sources of information 156
Primary data: Information direct from people
158
Secondary sources: Information from existing documented sources 169
Ownership, intellectual property rights and copyright 173
Accurac
y and reliability
174
Writing
176
8
Illustration 183
William Hawthorne and Rosemary Wise
Introduction
183
The content of a picture: Some general principles
183
The options for illustrative material
191
Use of computers for handling illustrations
204
Conclusions: Choosing and using imagery
211
9
Testing the field guide
215
Anna Lawrence, Pat Norrish, Maria Theresa Stradmann, Israel Vargas, Edwin Magariños, Jorge Costa, Claudia Jordán and Teonildes Nunes Introduction
215
Overview of the testing process
216
Methodology
218
Organizing workshops for testing
223
Preparing materials for testing
229
Documentation: Instructions and forms for the test
232
Using the results of tests and workshops
234
Contents vii
10 Publishing the field guide
235
Anna Lawrence
Introduction
235
Choosing a publisher
236
Do-it-yourself publication
237
Desktop publishing
238
Finalizing content
240
Printing
240
Getting your guide to the users
242
Follow-up: Tracking the success of your field guide
244
List of acronyms and abbreviations
249
References
251
Index
261
List of plates, figures, tables and boxes PLATES
The plate section is after the index on page 269
1
Copperplate engravings from Hans Sloane’s early guide to Caribbean plants and animals
2
Example of a diagrammatic, dichotamous key based on images 3
A sample of the wide range of tree bole and base forms found in West Africa
4
A sample of the wide range of liane wood found in West Africa 5
Part of the spectrum of bark slashes found in West Africa 6 Colour
photographic
Cola leaf guidelets in Cameroon
7
Samples of modular photoguides tested in Ghana
8
Samples of the photo-cards, paintings and drawings used in format trials in Grenada
FIGURES
1.1 A page from the Virtual Field Herbarium website
6
2.1 The process of producing a field guide
16
2.2 Example of a botanical guide page layout
19
3.1 Indigenous villagers in Bajo Paraguá, Bolivian Amazon, prioritize species to include in their guide to useful plants
40
4.1 Illustration
from
the
Grete Herbal of 1526, an era when botany had not acquired a great deal of scientific rigour
62
5.1 Simple multi-access key to groups based on latex and leaf form 105
5.2 Screenshot of an e-key in action
115
5.3 The evolution of the Australian rainforest key
116
6.1 Moderate levels of jargon in a field guide glossary 132
6.2 Leaf
venation
135
6.3 Distinctive forms of two species of Bombacaceae in West Africa 140
6.4 A minority of species have crowns that can be illustrated with silhouettes 141
6.5 Standardizing use of terms for a tree field guide 144
8.1 Sample guidelet pages from the formats tested in the DFID–FRP
Field Guide Project for Cameroonian Cola
185
8.2 Sample guidelet pages (A5 or A6) tested in the DFID–FRP project for Ghanaian large trees
186
x Plant Identification
8.3 Sample guidelets (A6 cards) with drawings of Grenadian plants, tested in the DFID–FRP project
187
8.4 Leaf silhouettes created using a scanner
190
8.5 Making an image that can substitute for a line drawing from a digital photograph 202
8.6 The problem with saving the same compressed JPEG file too often 208
TABLES
3.1 Examples of stakeholders who may be involved in producing a field guide 26
3.2 Options for guides based on the four key aspects 32
3.3 Comparing different physical designs of guides
33
3.4 An example of a calendar from the Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN) and the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) 46
3.5 Printing options and associated costs
51
3.6 Suggestions for professionals required to produce a field guide 60
4.1 Floras and field guides: A comparison
75
4.2 Regions or countries of high biodiversity and the number of Floras for these areas
77
4.3 The spectrum of field guides
78
5.1 Various formats of dichotomous or similar keys
101
5.2 Dawkins’s primary table
104
6.1 Jargon level: How unnecessary is that word or phrase?
126
6.2 Definition by various authors of some hair-related terms 127
6.3 Where to look for and use various classes of character 147
7.1 Comparing methods for storing data
154
7.2 Linking the method and source to the kind of information needed 159
8.1 The three main categories of illustrative material with their advantages and disadvantages
192
8.2 File space required (kilobytes) for different formats and types of image 208
8.3 Summary of image file formats
210
9.1 Some approaches to testing
220
9.2 Completed usability form in the case of a specific guide to medicinal plants in Paraíba, Brazil
224
10.1 Author objectives and indicators of impact for the eco-tourist guide Biodiversidad del Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado 245
10.2 Eco-tourist objectives and indicators of impact (as perceived by park guards) for the eco-tourist guide Biodiversidad del Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado
246
BOXES
1.1 The Virtual Field Herbarium (VFH)
6
1.2 Learning by doing: Field guides in five countries 7
2.1 Adapting product to purpose and people: Some examples of the principles in action
17
List of plates, figures, tables and boxes xi 3.1 Identifying the stakeholders
25
3.2 A workshop to plan a field guide with stakeholders 36
3.3 Participatory brainstorming methods for species selection 39
3.4 Checklist of costs
49
4.1 Types of non-scientific names
63
4.2 Scientific species, binomials, infra-specific names and authors 66
4.3 The importance and method of collecting herbarium specimens 67
4.4 Vegetative and fertile characters, and sterile specimens 68
4.5 Synonyms and why scientific names keep changing
71
4.6 Checklists
74
4.7 Herbals and the evolution of plant field guides
76
4.8 Geographical coverage of field guides
77
4.9 ‘Pragmatic Flora’
and other technical field guides 83
4.10 ‘Field monographs’: Detailed field guides for small groups of plants 84
4.11 Concise, semi-technical guides
85
4.12 Generic overview field guides and student texts
86
4.13 Field guides to incomplete sets of species
87
4.14 Leucaena genetic resources handbook
90
5.1 Automatic
identification
91
5.2 Do you know how you recognize common objects?
92
5.3 Characters
93
5.4 General criteria for a useful set of diagnostic characters 94
5.5 Types of static guide and typical associated access methods 96
5.6 Orthodox and customized species sequences for nature order guides 98
5.7 Can picture-based guides be accurate in species-rich places?
100
5.8 Dawkins’s
Graphical Field Keys of Uganda Trees two-dimensional multilevel table
104
5.9 Efficient key characters for a given point in a key 107
5.10 Cards with punched holes and/or other information 110
5.11 Main types of dynamic format guides
111
5.12 Modular guides: An efficient solution to the biodiversity identification bottleneck?
112
5.13 Dynamic field guides from databases
113
5.14 Word processor files, Acrobat PDF files and indexes 114
5.15 Experiments on the value of interactivity in keys 115
6.1 Field characters and classical characters
122
6.2 An unfortunate diversity of jargon for classical characters 122
6.3 Other reviews of field characters for tropical forests 123
6.4 Issues with simple and compound leaves
129
6.5 Seedling
guides
129
6.6 What exactly is egg-shaped?
131
6.7 Defining and analysing leaf shapes in databases
133
6.8 Smells and tastes
137
6.9 Habit categories in The Woody Plants of Western African Forests 139
6.10 Bark flakes or scales?
145
7.1 Principles of database design
155
xii Plant Identification
7.2 BRAHMS and Alice: examples of software to create your own botanical databases
157
7.3 Guidance on conducting interviews
160
7.4 How to collect information using a questionnaire 161
7.5 Visual participatory methods
170
7.6 How to assess information that you find on the internet 172
7.7 Existing botanical databases that can help with name checking and known uses, distribution and conservation status
173
7.8 Criteria for trustworthiness
176
7.9 Advice on writing well
178
8.1 Depicting
scale
Plant Identification Page 1
