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25-419: Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants , also known as RFK , is an identification key giving details—including images, taxonomy, descriptions, range, habitat, and other information—of almost all species of flowering plants (i.e. trees, shrubs, vines, forbs, grasses and sedges, epiphytes, palms and pandans) found in tropical rainforests of Australia , with the exception of most orchids which are treated in

50-483: A CSIRO Honorary Research Fellow to continue to provide input to the project, which has since been headed by Frank Zich . The next milestone in its development was Edition 6 (published 2010), which was transferred to the Lucid software platform and released online for the first time, enabling free access to RFK for any interested person. It covered 2553 taxa and used 730 characteristics. Edition 7 added another 200 taxa and

75-463: A free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA ( license statement/permission ). Text taken from Types of identification keys​ , Gregor Hagedorn, Gerhard Rambold, Stefano Martellos, Edizioni Università di Trieste. Pankhurst, Richard John (1991). Practical taxonomic computing . Cambridge: Cambridge university press. ISBN   978-0-521-41760-0 . Chapters 4-6. Multi-access key In biology or medicine ,

100-615: A multi-access key is an identification key which overcomes the problem of the more traditional single-access keys ( dichotomous or polytomous identification keys) of requiring a fixed sequence of identification steps. A multi-access key enables the user to freely choose the characteristics that are convenient to evaluate for the item to be identified. Alternative terms used for multi-access keys are "random-access key", "multi-entry key", "polyclave", "matrix key", "tabular key", "synoptic key". Some of these terms should be avoided in this sense, however: Interactive multi-access keys are

125-494: A multi-access key (or polyclave ) which would eventually become RFK. He discussed the project with Neil Harvey from the Department's Brisbane office and received considerable assistance from him. Harvey was able to take the raw data given him by Hyland and convert it (using a Fortran program he wrote himself) into a format that could be used to create a key using the then standard 80-column punched cards . These cards formed

150-455: A collaboration with Trevor Whiffin of La Trobe University , whom he had met in 1973, to expand the key even further. As well as planning for a computer version of the key, more species were added to the database as well as flower, fruit and seedling features and x-ray images of the leaves. This was a massive undertaking and Edition 3 was not completed until 1992, and released in November 1993 It

175-485: A high-tech descendant of polyclaves ("card keys"). Historically various styles of encoding features of species (such as flower color) on punch cards were used. Holes or notches in these cards would allow the user to choose cards based on characters observed in a specimen until only one card remained, yielding a tentative identification. Multi-access keys largely serve the same purpose as single-access (dichotomous or polytomous) keys, but have many advantages, especially in

200-675: A separate key called Australian Tropical Rainforest Orchids (see External links section ). A key for ferns is under development. RFK is a project initiated by the Australian botanist Bernie Hyland . The information system had its beginnings when Hyland started working for the Queensland Department of Forestry in the 1960s. It was during this time that he was tasked with the creation of an identification system for rainforest trees, but given no direction as to its format. Having little belief in single-access keys , he began work on creating

225-452: Is a tool that utilizes characters that are the easiest to observe and most practical for arriving at an identity. Identification keys can be divided into two main types. A single-access key (also called a sequential key or an analytical key), has a fixed structure and sequence. The user must begin at the first step of the key and proceed until the end. A single-access key has steps that consist of two mutually exclusive statements ( leads )

250-464: Is called a dichotomous key . Most single-access keys are dichotomous. A single-access key with more than two leads per step is referred to as polytomous. Dichotomous keys can be presented in two main styles: linked and nested. In the linked style (also referred to as open, parallel, linked, and juxtaposition ), each pair of leads (called a couplet ) are printed together. In the nested style (also referred to as closed, yoked, and indented ),

275-545: Is credited to Lamarck who included several in his 1778 book, Flore Françoise. Lamarck's key follows more or less the same design as the modern dichotomous, bracketed key. Alphonso Wood was the first American to use identification keys in 1845. Other early instances of keys are found in the works of Asa Gray and W. H. Evans . Identification keys are known historically and contemporarily by many names, including analytical key, entomological key, artificial key, diagnostic key, determinator, and taxonomic key Within

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300-467: Is the dichotomous key , a type of single-access key which offers a fixed sequence of identification steps, each with two alternatives. The earliest examples of identification keys originate in the seventeenth, but their conceptual history can be traced back to antiquity. ModerRichardn multi-access keys allow the user to freely choose the identification steps and any order. They were traditionally performed using punched cards but now almost exclusively take

325-445: The basis of the key and were used in conjunction with a handbook. Edition 1 was published in 1972 and covered just 584 taxa , using 48 bark characteristics and 45 leaf characteristics to make an identification. Edition 2 , published in 1983, expanded the number of taxa covered to 799, however this was almost the maximum capacity for the card-based system, and a new technology was required to expand it further. In 1983 Hyland began

350-428: The biological literature, identification keys are referred to simply as keys . They are also commonly referred to in general as dichotomous keys, though this term strictly refers to a specific type of identification key (see Types of keys ). Identification keys are used in systematic biology and taxonomy to identify the genus or species of a specimen organism from a set of known taxa . They are commonly used in

375-550: The construction of keys was offered by E. B. Williamson in the June 1922 volume of Science. More recently, Richard Pankhurst published a guidelines and practical tips for key construction in a section of his 1978 book, Biological Identification. Identification errors may have serious consequences in both pure and applied disciplines, including ecology , medical diagnosis, pest control, forensics , etc. The first computer programs for constructing identification keys were created in

400-620: The early 1970s. Since then, several popular programs have been developed, including DELTA, XPER, and LucID. Single-access keys, until recently, have been developed only rarely as computer-aided, interactive tools. Noteworthy developments in this area are the commercial LucID Phoenix application, the FRIDA/Dryades software, the KeyToNature Open Key Editor, and the open source WikiKeys and jKey application on biowikifarm. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

425-410: The fields of microbiology, plant taxonomy, and entomology, as groups of related taxa in these fields tend to be very large. However, they have also been used to classify non-organisms, such as birds nests, and in non-biological sciences such as geology. Similar methods have also been used in computer science A user of a key selects from a series of choices, representing mutually exclusive features of

450-542: The form of computer-aided , interactive keys. The user of an interactive key may select or enter information about an unidentified specimen in any order, allowing the computer to interactively rule out possible identifications of the entity and present the user with additional helpful information and guidance on what information to enter next. Full-featured interactive keys may readily be equipped with images, audio, video, supplemental text, much-simplified language in conjunction with technical language and hyperlinks to assist

475-408: The form of computer programs. The conceptual origins of the modern identification key can be traced back to antiquity. Theophrastus categorized organisms into "subdivisions" based on dichotomous characteristics. The seventeenth-century Chinese herbalist, Pao Shan, in his treatise Yeh-ts'ai Po-Iu , included a systematic categorization of plants based on their apparent characteristics specifically for

500-454: The purposes of identification. Seventeenth-century naturalists, including John Ray , Rivinius , and Nehemiah Grew , published examples of bracketed tables. However, these examples were not strictly keys in the modern sense of an analytical device used to identify a single specimen, since they often did not lead to a single end point, and instead functioned more as synopses of classification schemes. The first analytical identification key

525-557: The specimen, with the aim to arrive at the sole remaining identity from the group of taxa. Each step in the key employs a character : a distinguishing feature of an organism that is conveniently observable. Identification keys are sometimes also referred to as artificial keys to differential them from other diagrams that visualize a classification schemes, often in the form of a key or tree structure. These diagrams are called natural keys or synopses and are not used for identifying specimens. In contrast, an artificial identification key

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550-541: The subsequent steps after choosing a lead are printed directly underneath it, in succession. To follow the second lead of the couplet, the user must skip over the nested material that follows logically from the first lead of the couplet. Nested keys are more commonly known as indented , but unfortunately this refers to an accidental (albeit frequent) rather than essential quality. Nested keys may be printed without indentation to preserve space (relying solely on corresponding lead symbols) and linked keys may be indented to enhance

575-499: The visibility of the couplet structure. A multi-access key (free-access key, or polyclave ) allows a user to specify characters in any order. Therefore, a multi-access key can be thought of as "the set of all possible single-access keys that arise by permutating the order of characters." While there are print versions of multi-access keys, they were historically created using punched card systems. Today, multi-access keys are computer-aided tools. An early attempt to standardize

600-412: Was published in 2018. Edition 8 (published 2020) represents another significant technological step forward, being available as a mobile app for iOS and Android devices, as well as the online version. It now covers 2762 species, uses over 730 features to make identifications, and contains around 14,000 images. Identification key Historically, the most common type of identification key

625-474: Was published on CD-ROMs , covered 1056 taxa, and was available for the public to buy and use on Windows and Mac computers. It is possibly the first computer-based identification key in the world. Edition 4 was published in 2000, followed by Edition 5 in 2003, both CD-roms, bringing the total number of species covered up to 2154. In 2002 Bernie Hyland retired from the CSIRO where he then worked, but continued on as

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