Sarah Brown and C. Riley Nelson, Department of Biology

Introduction

The Freshwater Aquatic invertebrate Identification Guide (FAIIG) was a computer program created by the C. Riley Nelson lab in 2006 to help students with the identification process of various aquatic invertebrates throughout Utah. It has been used in Bio 100 classes at Brigham Young University to help students successfully identify various aquatic invertebrate specimens from rivers and streams in Utah. The goal of this project was to work on expanding the FAIIG program to include aquatic invertebrates in North America west of the Mississippi River. As well as expanding the breadth of content, we also worked on improving the information available about the orders, families and genera of invertebrates to create a more educational program for use in classrooms as a learning tool.

Methodology

In order to learn how best to approach updating the FAIIG, Dr. Riley Nelson and I along with other members of the FAIIG group met with the Center for Teaching and Learning to discuss how to update the formatting of the FAIIG. Ultimately, we learned that we would need to convert the programming from XML to HTML-5 to stay up to date and allow the program to run on all devices. We are currently working on writing a new program in HTML-5. This new program is being designed to make the FAIIG more user-friendly as well as more aesthetically pleasing.

To expand the FAIIG, we have begun to update the dichotomous keys for each order of invertebrates in the FAIIG by writing the keys to the new genera and families of aquatic invertebrates that exist west of the Mississippi River and outside of Utah. These processes required us to research and determine which families we needed to write into the dichotomous key. We have then been incorporating the new families into our existing dichotomous keys.

As we finish writing the new dichotomous key for orders, we have been searching through and determining which genera we currently have pictures for and compiling a list of photographs that we need to take for the new program. After compiling a list of needed photographs, we have begun to take pictures using preserved specimens.

We have also been working as a team to decide the format and layout of the information pages for each order, family, and genus of invertebrate that is included in the CD program. We have also discussed and decided which information will be included on the information pages.

Results

At this time, we have written new keys for the insect orders of Coleoptera, Odonata and Trichoptera. We have taken some new pictures of insects for Odonata. We have started to compile information pages on each of the orders and have decided on what type of content will be included in all of the information pages in the program. We have been working with computer programmers on our team to create a program that is aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly, and informative.

Discussion

There is still a lot of work to be done on the program before it is ready for publication. We will need to finish writing keys for the other orders of aquatic invertebrates in western North America. There are also many genera that we are still missing photographs of and will need to find pictures of to insert into the key. Along with writing new keys, the largest task that we have been and are continuing to work on is writing the new HTML-5 program. Originally, before meeting with the Center for Teaching and Learning, we had planned to simply update the existing XML format and we did not know that we would have to re-write the entire program. Changing formats and creating a brand new HTML-5 backbone to the program was an unplanned, but necessary component to updating the FAIIG. This was a much greater undertaking that previously anticipated, but progress is being and has been made towards creating a product that is informational, easy to use, and effective in identifying aquatic invertebrates of western North America.