Information from the Inside Wood database (5,663 descriptions) was used to determine the relative abundance of selected IAWA Hardwood List Features, for the whole world and for the broad geographic regions used in the IAWA List. Features that occur in more than 75 % of the records are: growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent, diffuse porosity, exclusively simple perforation plates, alternate intervessel pitting, and non-septate fibers. The geographic distribution of vessel element features found in this study is consistent with previous studies: ring porosity is a Northern Hemisphere adaptation; numerous, narrow, short vessel elements are more common in temperate regions than in tropical regions. Element size is related to habit, with few wide vessels being a syndrome that is virtually absent from shrubs and small trees. The co-occurrence of selected features, ones that earlier have been suggested to be correlated, was examined; e.g., tangential vessel arrangement and ring porosity, rare axial parenchyma and septate fibers, tracheids and exclusively solitary vessels that are of medium to wide diameter. Axial parenchyma features show geographic variation, with aliform to confluent parenchyma and bands more than 3 cells wide being primarily tropical in occurrence. Storied rays, crystals, and silica bodies are more common in the tropics than in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. For ray features, geographic patterns are less apparent. In Australia, incidences of some features (vestured pits, solitary vessels, radial/diagonal vessel arrangement) are influenced by the Myrtaceae being a major component of the flora. This paper is but a general overview. Information from the Inside Wood database when combined with detailed information on ecological and geographical distributions of species, and subjected to more robust statistical analyses can be used to address a variety of questions on the evolution of wood structure and the ecological and phylogenetic significance of suites of features.
North Carolina State University is collaborating with global partners to produce a comprehensive Internet-accessible wood anatomy reference, research, and teaching tool incorporating images, taxonomy, and anatomical information sets.With its multiple search capabilities, content types, and user options, InsideWood serves as a model for image-intensive, searchable biological collections. PROJECT DESCRIPTIONInsideWood is an extensive, Internet-accessible wood anatomy reference, research, and teaching tool. This resource integrates information from a wood anatomy database for modern wood compiled at North Carolina State University with descriptions and photomicrographs contributed by international partners. The InsideWood web site will have value in 1) helping with wood identification, 2) providing data that can be incorporated into phylogenetic studies, and 3) serving as a resource for any course that teaches about the internal structure of woody plants. The descriptive database and images are useful to a community of users that includes botanists, archaeologists, park naturalists, paleontologists, museum conservators, and forensic scientists, as well as educators in the natural sciences.The InsideWood project is the largest known wood anatomy database. Broad taxonomic coverage provides over 5,500 descriptions that represent at least 8,000 species. The objectives of the InsideWood web site are to provide an interface to search the database by coded features and serve as a repository for photomicrographs of wood structure. Currently, over 35,000 digital images are archived, with contributions from North Carolina State University and 10 other institutions. In early 2005, these images will be loaded and linked to description records.The InsideWood database was developed using Oracle. The complex data module is comprised of three major components: taxonomic information, image information, and descriptive information. Data were converted from text files and loaded into Oracle using PERL, XML, and ColdFusion. A controlled access interface allows editing of the content, including addition of new species descriptions. Image data were loaded using ColdFusion, which related the images to taxonomic and description records. A very fast web-accessible interface to the database has been developed using ColdFusion, Oracle indexes, and pre-formatted display data. Four search options in the user interface provide flexibility in retrieving wood anatomical information, with options for searches by features, scientific names, or keyword.Luna Insight can browse and search images directly, allowing image searching with or without concomitant descriptions. Images can be retrieved by family, genus, species, contributor, or any field configured as searchable from Insight. The Insight workspace is a robust tool that has the capability to "zoom-in" for viewing as well as manipulating the image for incorporation into instructional material and presentations.The InsideWood application will display the large images in the Insight workspace. The...
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