Identifying WA's plants online now even easier

14/9/07
Flower buffs will find identifying Western Australia's plants even easier with the introduction of an interactive facility to FloraBase, the State's authoritative online source on WA plants.
In launching the new initiative today, Environment Minister David Templeman said it would prove invaluable to many individuals, organisations and industries.
"The introduction of an interactive keys module will take FloraBase to a new level of utility and accessibility," Mr Templeman said.
"FloraBase provides access to the WA Herbarium, considered a leader among the world's herbaria in providing authoritative, integrated and up-to-date information on plants in its region.
"It is exciting that FloraBase users around the world will now have even better access to this information and knowledge."
Interactive keys are computer-aided identification tools that assist with finding the correct name for an unidentified specimen.
The keys incorporate more than 500 scientific characters to describe and identify virtually all the families and genera of flora in WA.
Users will now be able to identify unknown plant specimens to nearly 200 families and more than 1,000 genera.
Having narrowed down the group to which a specimen belongs, the keys integrate with published literature and FloraBase to help the user reach a full identification to species level.
"From helping community groups identify weeds and native plants in their local remnant bushland, to helping environmental consultants confirm the identity of their vegetation survey collections, the interactive keys will provide widespread benefits," the Minister said.
A Department of Environment and Conservation bioinformatics team spent the past year developing methods to publish the interactive keys.
Their project was funded by 'Saving our Species', the State Government's two-year, $15million biodiversity conservation initiative.
"The Carpenter Government recognised this as one of 70 'Saving our Species' projects necessary to boost efforts to protect WA's unique flora, fauna and ecosystems,"
Mr Templeman said.
"WA is recognised internationally for its floral diversity and by making information on FloraBase more accessible, we can help more people gain a greater understanding of our State's diverse plant species and the need to protect them.
"This is yet another example of how the Carpenter Government is acting now for the future to ensure our unique environment is appreciated, protected and preserved."
FloraBase can be accessed at http://www.naturebase.net
Minister's Office - 9220 5050