3I Interactive Keys and Taxonomic Databases

Dmitry A. Dmitriev

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Illinois Natural History Survey   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 		Multi-entrance polytomous keys, with unlimited numbers of characters, character states, and taxa. Support for several different languages. After each step of identification, characters not relevant for further identification are removed from the list, states not relevant for further identification are marked. Support for numeric (continuous) characters. Three options for sorting characters: by morphology, by rank (assigned by the author), or by separating power, recalculated after each step of identification. Key can handle taxa of different hierarchic levels (species, genera, tribes, etc.). The number of hierarchic levels is unlimited. Identification may be limited to a single hierarchic level. Support for linking characters and taxa to explanatory images. States can be selected by clicking on their images. Simple and advanced (Boolean) database search for names, geographic distribution, host plants, collector, etc. Results of a search may be applied as a filter to create a customized interactive key. Comparison of taxa based on illustrations. Data matrices can easily be converted and used for phylogenetic analysis. A phenetic tree may be generated on-line from the datamatrix. On-the-fly generation of taxonomic pages, including morphological description, synonymy, illustrations, bibliography, a list of studied material (specimens examined) with collection acronyms, and a distribution map. Distribution map with clickable dots generated automatically using geographic coordinates. Host associations, if included in specimen records, can be displayed as bar charts showing abundance on each host. An interactive module for converting interactive keys into dichotomous keys suitable for publication. 3I: Internet-Accessible Interactive Identification

3I (Internet-accessible Interactive Identification) is a set of software tools for creating on-line identification keys, taxonomic databases, and virtual taxonomic revisions. By organizing illustrations and nomenclatural, morphological, bibliographical, and distributional data into a single database, 3I also facilitates production of traditional, printed taxonomic papers and monographs.

Development of the 3I program and work on interactive keys was supported by NSF-REVSYS grants DEB0315373, DEB050529679, and DEB0715499, Hatch award ILLU-875-361 and EoL award.

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On the Internet since July 9, 2003.
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