Automated Taxon Identification in Systematics: Theory, Approaches and Applications (Systematics Association Special Volume, 74) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0367388839 ISBN 13: 9780367388836

Publisher: CRC Press, 2019

Synopsis

The automated identification of biological objects or groups has been a dream among taxonomists and systematists for centuries. However, progress in designing and implementing practical systems for fully automated taxon identification has been frustratingly slow. Regardless, the dream has never died. Recent developments in computer architectures and innovations in software design have placed the tools needed to realize this vision in the hands of the systematics community, not several years hence, but now. And not just for DNA barcodes or other molecular data, but for digital images of organisms, digital sounds, digitized chemical data - essentially any type of digital data. Based on evidence accumulated over the last decade and written by applied researchers, Automated Taxon Identification in Systematics explores contemporary applications of quantitative approaches to the problem of taxon recognition. The book begins by reviewing the current state of systematics and placing automated taxon identification in the context of contemporary trends, needs, and opportunities. The chapters present and evaluate different aspects of current automated system designs. They then provide descriptions of case studies in which different theoretical and practical aspects of the overall group-identification problem are identified, analyzed, and discussed. A recurring theme through the chapters is the relationship between taxonomic identification, automated group identification, and morphometrics. This collection provides a bridge between these communities and between them and the wider world of applied taxonomy. The only book-length treatment that explores automated group identification in systematic context, this text also includes introductions to basic aspects of the fields of contemporary artificial intelligence and mathematical group recognition for the entire biological community.

About this title

About the Author

Norman MacLeod

From the Back Cover

Automated Taxon Identification in Systematics shows how automated identification can be applied to various organismal groups. It is the first text to address the interface between the species recognition question in the biological sciences and the class recognition problem in mathematics and statistics. It will be of interest to taxonomists as well as computational professionals who focus on the biological sciences. Featuring high-profile contributors, the text presents current trends in quantitative approaches to group-recognition challenges, discusses the identification capabilities of current software systems, and evaluates applications of this technology to present and future problems.

Edition details

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0367388839
• ISBN 13: 9780367388836
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368
• Editor: MacLeod Norman