We use quantitative ethnobotanical data to compare the usefulness of six flortstically distinct forest types to mestizo people at Tambopat4g southeast Perg We aim to evaluate which forest types are most usefu~ arid why. Ethnobotanical data were collected with informants in inventory plots and analyzed using a new technique that uses a two-tier calculation process to derive an "informant indexed" estimate of each species" use value. Use values are estimated based on the degree of consistency between re. peated int~ of each informant and between different informant~ We show that (1) in 6 1 lgt 94% of woody stems are "useful" to mestizos. (2) Based on ~tages of useful plants per plog there is little difference between each forest type (3) Simply calculating the percent of useful plants is misleading h~, because most species have minor use~ and only a few are exceptionally useful (4) Using the informant indexing technique, we demonstrate significant differences between each forest type's utility. Mature forests of *DeceasegEtnobotMflca cuantitativa y la conservaci6n de la Amazonia Resumen: Se emple6 datos etnobotdnicos cuantitatlvos para comparar la uttlidad de seis tipos de bosques floristtcamente distinto~ con plantas usadas por la poblacidn mestiza en Tambopattg sureste de Pertt Datos etnobotdnicos fueron registrados de informantes en parcelas inventarlada~ usando una nueva t&'nica que constdera un procedimiento simple para obtener un estimado del valor de uso de cada especi~ Los valores de uso se basan en el grado de consistencla de entret~tas m4teradas con uno y ratios informantes (Phillips & Gentry, 1993a). Los resultados muestran que (1) en ~ 1 htg 9496 de individuos arb6reos son "~tiles" a la po-blaci6ft (2) Basados en el porcentaJe de plantas ~Hles por plog hay mtty escasa diferencia entre Hpos de bosqu~ (3) El porcentaJe de plantas t~tiles incluye sin embargo una mayorla de espectes alas que se ies da usos memm~ y son muy pocas las especies que brtndan mayor uttliddg pot" lo tan$o los calculos de porcentaje de plantas t~tiles son err6-nio¢ (4) Empleando la t~'nica del indice de utilida~ se encontraron di~ significativas entre la uHlidad de diferentes ttpos de bosqu~ Las dreas de bosque maduro en 225 Conservation Biology, Pages 225-*248 Volume 8, No. 1, March 1994226 Ethnobotany and Conservation Phillips et al. present and former floodplains are more useful than other forest type~ mostly due to their importance as sources of construction materials and fooa~ (5) Lower floodplain is more useful medicinally, swamp more important commercially, and terra trine sandy more important technologically; they are not easily substituted for some of these use~ (6) On averag¢ 80% of the value of forest plant products to mestizos is subsistence value; only 20% is commercial We conclude that (1) to maintain cultural autonomy, Amazonian people may need access to all local forest type~ and (2) present and former floodplain forests in western Amazonla should be a conservation priority. We make these broad conclustons on the...

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This paper studies convolutional neural networks (CNN) to learn unsupervised feature representations for 44 different plant species, collected at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England. To gain intuition on the chosen features from the CNN model (opposed to a 'black box' solution), a visualisation technique based on the deconvolutional networks (DN) is utilized. It is found that venations of different order have been chosen to uniquely represent each of the plant species. Experimental results using these CNN features with different classifiers show consistency and superiority compared to the state-of-the art solutions which rely on hand-crafted features.

Background Enset (Ensete ventricosum, Musaceae) is an African crop that currently provides the staple food for approx. 20 million Ethiopians. Whilst wild enset grows over much of East and Southern Africa and the genus extends across Asia to China, it has only ever been domesticated in the Ethiopian Highlands. Here, smallholder farmers cultivate hundreds of landraces across diverse climatic and agroecological systems.• Scope Enset has several important food security traits. It grows over a relatively wide range of conditions, is somewhat drought-tolerant, and can be harvested at any time of the year, over several years. It provides an important dietary starch source, as well as fibres, medicines, animal fodder, roofing and packaging. It stabilizes soils and microclimates and has significant cultural importance. In contrast to the other cultivated species in the family Musaceae (banana), enset has received relatively little research attention. Here, we review and critically evaluate existing research, outline available genomic and germplasm resources, aspects of pathology, and explore avenues for crop development.• Conclusion Enset is an underexploited starch crop with significant potential in Ethiopia and beyond. Research is lacking in several key areas: empirical studies on the efficacy of current agronomic practices, the genetic diversity of landraces, approaches to systematic breeding, characterization of existing and emerging diseases, adaptability to new ranges and land-use change, the projected impact of climate change, conservation of crop wild relatives, by-products or co-products or non-starch uses, and the enset microbiome. We also highlight the limited availability of enset germplasm in living collections and seedbanks, and the lack of knowledge of reproductive and germination biology needed to underpin future breeding. By reviewing the current state of the art in enset research and identifying gaps and opportunities, we hope to catalyse the development and sustainable exploitation of this neglected starch crop.

Relationships of Dioscoreales are examined by combined analysis of three molecular data sets (plastid rbcL, atpB and nuclear 18S rDNA genes) and a morphological data set. The combined analysis corroborates a narrow circumscription of Dioscoreales, which includes Burmanniaceae and Thismiaceae in the order, and also indicates that Nartheciaceae are closely related. Dioscoreales thus comprise three distinct clades: a well‐supported ‘core Dioscoreales’ clade (Dioscorea, Trichopus, Avetra, Tacca and Stenomeris), a Burmanniaceae–Thismiaceae clade and Nartheciaceae. The improvement in resolution and high bootstrap percentages found by the total evidence analysis relative to analyses of separate data sets indicates that both morphological and molecular data are crucial in resolving the relationships of Dioscoreales. Combined analysis of morphological and molecular characters is instructive in interpreting the evolution of morphological characters such as microsporogenesis and revealing characters that were previously not regarded as significant in the higher‐level systematics of this group, for example stamen and hypanthium morphology. Other morphological synapomorphies in Dioscoreales include tuberous underground parts, glandular hairs, seed coat anatomy, and calcium oxalate crystals. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 138, 123–144.