Determination (biology)

In biology, determination is the process of matching a specimen of an organism to a known taxon, for example identifying a plant. The term is also used in cellular biology, where it means the act of the differentiation of stem cells becoming fixed. Various methods are used, for example single or multi-access identification keys. History of plant systematics The need to identify which plant is which has existed for time immemorial. The ability depends to a large extent on what criteria and whose system is used. Determination now relies on modern taxonomy to define the identify of organisms. Taxonomy is the branch of biology which deals with identity, nomenclature and classification. The term was first coined in 1813 by Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. Carl Linnaeus, who began modern taxonomy, used the term 'systematics' himself. Determination then requires comparisons of certain characteristics and then assigning a particular specimen to a known taxonomic group, hopefully ultimately arriving at a species or infraspecific name. The characteristics used are usually morphological, such as colours, numbers, shapes and sizes of particular organs. Where possible, this is traditionally done using dichotomous keys. Keys are traditionally found in such works such as floras, field guides or monographs. Botanical or entomological keys have been coded as computer programs. Applications are even available now which use artificial intelligence to identify plants on the basis of photographs. There are not always keys available for certain regions or plant groups, and the person determining the specimen will then have to rely on characteristics in the species description or discovered through comparison of multiple specimens with the type. Using DNA barcoding is a modern method that does not require the determiner to be highly trained. Another similar method uses the alkaloid profiles of specimens to determine the species. The total weight or length of the genome as measured in base-pairs can be used to identify species.