Information Technology, Plant Pathology and Biodiversity

Information technology is revolutionizing the handling of biological information. The British Society for Plant Pathology (BSPP) has been at the forefront of several initiatives in handling information electronically, while the Systematics Association (SA) has a long-standing involvement in computer-based species identification. BSPP and SA recognized the opportunity to join forces and develop a combined programme for a conference on these themes, which was held in December 1996 at the University of Kent at Canterbury. This also marked the 21st Anniversary of the Systematics Association’s 1975 symposium Biological Identification with Computers. This book presents forty edited and revised papers from that conference. The topics covered are wide-ranging and focus on four themes: handling facts to produce information, interpreting information to produce knowledge, passing on knowledge in education and training, and storing and disseminating knowledge. there are papers on subjects as diverse as biological databases, geographic information systems, probabilistic identification systems and electronic teaching aids. Written by authors from Europe, North and Central America, China, India and New Zealand, the book provides an essential review for plant pathologists and taxonomists, as well as other biologists wishing to keep up with the information revolution.