PT Journal
AU Engel, J
   Brousseau, L
   Baraloto, C
TI GuiaTreeKey, a multi-access electronic key to identify tree genera in French Guiana
SO PhytoKeys
JI PhytoKeys
PY 2016
BP 27
EP 44
VL 68
IS 1
DI 10.3897/phytokeys.68.8707
DE Amazonia; Electronic key; French Guiana; Morphological characters; Neotropics; Trees identification; Xper2
AB The tropical rainforest of Amazonia is one of the most species-rich ecosystems on earth, with an estimated 16000 tree species. Due to this high diversity, botanical identification of trees in the Amazon is difficult, even to genus, often requiring the assistance of parataxonomists or taxonomic specialists. Advances in informatics tools offer a promising opportunity to develop user-friendly electronic keys to improve Amazonian tree identification. Here, we introduce an original multi-access electronic key for the identification of 389 tree genera occurring in French Guiana terra-firme forests, based on a set of 79 morphological characters related to vegetative, floral and fruit characters. Its purpose is to help Amazonian tree identification and to support the dissemination of botanical knowledge to non-specialists, including forest workers, students and researchers from other scientific disciplines. The electronic key is accessible with the free access software Xper2, and the database is publicly available on figshare: https://figshare.com/s/75d890b7d707e0ffc9bf (doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.2682550). © Julien Engel et al.
ER