Plant Identification - Creating User-Friendly Field Guides for Biodiversity and Management

paperback  256 pp  ISBN 9781844070794      £35.00

• Written by the leading experts in the field for use by non-experts
• Practical guide with step-by-step explanations including clearly drawn diagrams and illustrations
• Universal principles that can be applied in all environments worldwide

In order to manage, use and conserve plants, we need to improve communication of useful information about them. For this, accurate identification using field guides is important. This book provides potential authors of field guides with an understanding of the issues and methods suitable for producing user-friendly guides which help to identify plants for the purposes of conservation, sustainable use, participatory monitoring or greater appreciation of biodiversity.

The book draws on both scientific and participatory processes, supported by the experience of contributors from across the tropics. It presents a core process for producing a field guide, setting out key steps, options and techniques available to the authors of a guide and, through illustration, helps authors choose methods and media appropriate to their context.

Contents

• Identifying Biodiversity: Why We Need Field Guides
• Producing a Successful Guide: Principles, Purpose, People and Process
• Planning and Budgeting
• Plant Names and Botanical Publication
• Diagnostic Keys and Other Access Methods
• Plant Characters Suitable for Field Guides
• Information: How to Get It and Present It
• Illustration
• Testing the Field Guide
• Getting Your Guide Published