Factors affecting consistency and accuracy in identifying modern macroperforate planktonic foraminifera
Planktonic foraminifera are widely used in biostratigraphic, palaeoceanographic and evolutionary studies, but the strength of many study conclusions could be weakened if taxonomic identifications are not reproducible by different workers. In this study, to assess the relative importance of a range o...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/69981 https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-431-2018 |
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ftimperialcol:oai:spiral.imperial.ac.uk:10044/1/69981 2023-05-15T18:00:24+02:00 Factors affecting consistency and accuracy in identifying modern macroperforate planktonic foraminifera Fenton, IS Baranowski, U Boscolo-Galazzo, F Cheales, H Fox, L King, DJ Larkin, C Latas, M Liebrand, D Miller, CG Nilsson-Kerr, K Piga, E Pugh, H Remmelzwaal, S Roseby, ZA Smith, YM Stukins, S Taylor, B Woodhouse, A Worne, S Pearson, PN Poole, CR Wade, BS Purvis, A 2018-07-24 http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/69981 https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-431-2018 English eng Copernicus Publications Journal of Micropalaeontology © Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed underthe Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) CC-BY 443 431 Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Paleontology CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY EL KEF RECONSTRUCTION EXTINCTION AGREEMENT 04 Earth Sciences 06 Biological Sciences Journal Article 2018 ftimperialcol https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-431-2018 2019-05-30T22:41:04Z Planktonic foraminifera are widely used in biostratigraphic, palaeoceanographic and evolutionary studies, but the strength of many study conclusions could be weakened if taxonomic identifications are not reproducible by different workers. In this study, to assess the relative importance of a range of possible reasons for among-worker disagreement in identification, 100 specimens of 26 species of macroperforate planktonic foraminifera were selected from a core-top site in the subtropical Pacific Ocean. Twenty-three scientists at different career stages – including some with only a few days experience of planktonic foraminifera – were asked to identify each specimen to species level, and to indicate their confidence in each identification. The participants were provided with a species list and had access to additional reference materials. We use generalised linear mixed-effects models to test the relevance of three sets of factors in identification accuracy: participant-level characteristics (including experience), species-level characteristics (including a participant's knowledge of the species) and specimen-level characteristics (size, confidence in identification). The 19 less experienced scientists achieve a median accuracy of 57 %, which rises to 75 % for specimens they are confident in. For the 4 most experienced participants, overall accuracy is 79 %, rising to 93 % when they are confident. To obtain maximum comparability and ease of analysis, everyone used a standard microscope with only 35× magnification, and each specimen was studied in isolation. Consequently, these data provide a lower limit for an estimate of consistency. Importantly, participants could largely predict whether their identifications were correct or incorrect: their own assessments of specimen-level confidence and of their previous knowledge of species concepts were the strongest predictors of accuracy. Article in Journal/Newspaper Planktonic foraminifera Imperial College London: Spiral Pacific Journal of Micropalaeontology 37 2 431 443 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Imperial College London: Spiral |
op_collection_id |
ftimperialcol |
language |
English |
topic |
Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Paleontology CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY EL KEF RECONSTRUCTION EXTINCTION AGREEMENT 04 Earth Sciences 06 Biological Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Paleontology CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY EL KEF RECONSTRUCTION EXTINCTION AGREEMENT 04 Earth Sciences 06 Biological Sciences Fenton, IS Baranowski, U Boscolo-Galazzo, F Cheales, H Fox, L King, DJ Larkin, C Latas, M Liebrand, D Miller, CG Nilsson-Kerr, K Piga, E Pugh, H Remmelzwaal, S Roseby, ZA Smith, YM Stukins, S Taylor, B Woodhouse, A Worne, S Pearson, PN Poole, CR Wade, BS Purvis, A Factors affecting consistency and accuracy in identifying modern macroperforate planktonic foraminifera |
topic_facet |
Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Paleontology CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY EL KEF RECONSTRUCTION EXTINCTION AGREEMENT 04 Earth Sciences 06 Biological Sciences |
description |
Planktonic foraminifera are widely used in biostratigraphic, palaeoceanographic and evolutionary studies, but the strength of many study conclusions could be weakened if taxonomic identifications are not reproducible by different workers. In this study, to assess the relative importance of a range of possible reasons for among-worker disagreement in identification, 100 specimens of 26 species of macroperforate planktonic foraminifera were selected from a core-top site in the subtropical Pacific Ocean. Twenty-three scientists at different career stages – including some with only a few days experience of planktonic foraminifera – were asked to identify each specimen to species level, and to indicate their confidence in each identification. The participants were provided with a species list and had access to additional reference materials. We use generalised linear mixed-effects models to test the relevance of three sets of factors in identification accuracy: participant-level characteristics (including experience), species-level characteristics (including a participant's knowledge of the species) and specimen-level characteristics (size, confidence in identification). The 19 less experienced scientists achieve a median accuracy of 57 %, which rises to 75 % for specimens they are confident in. For the 4 most experienced participants, overall accuracy is 79 %, rising to 93 % when they are confident. To obtain maximum comparability and ease of analysis, everyone used a standard microscope with only 35× magnification, and each specimen was studied in isolation. Consequently, these data provide a lower limit for an estimate of consistency. Importantly, participants could largely predict whether their identifications were correct or incorrect: their own assessments of specimen-level confidence and of their previous knowledge of species concepts were the strongest predictors of accuracy. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fenton, IS Baranowski, U Boscolo-Galazzo, F Cheales, H Fox, L King, DJ Larkin, C Latas, M Liebrand, D Miller, CG Nilsson-Kerr, K Piga, E Pugh, H Remmelzwaal, S Roseby, ZA Smith, YM Stukins, S Taylor, B Woodhouse, A Worne, S Pearson, PN Poole, CR Wade, BS Purvis, A |
author_facet |
Fenton, IS Baranowski, U Boscolo-Galazzo, F Cheales, H Fox, L King, DJ Larkin, C Latas, M Liebrand, D Miller, CG Nilsson-Kerr, K Piga, E Pugh, H Remmelzwaal, S Roseby, ZA Smith, YM Stukins, S Taylor, B Woodhouse, A Worne, S Pearson, PN Poole, CR Wade, BS Purvis, A |
author_sort |
Fenton, IS |
title |
Factors affecting consistency and accuracy in identifying modern macroperforate planktonic foraminifera |
title_short |
Factors affecting consistency and accuracy in identifying modern macroperforate planktonic foraminifera |
title_full |
Factors affecting consistency and accuracy in identifying modern macroperforate planktonic foraminifera |
title_fullStr |
Factors affecting consistency and accuracy in identifying modern macroperforate planktonic foraminifera |
title_full_unstemmed |
Factors affecting consistency and accuracy in identifying modern macroperforate planktonic foraminifera |
title_sort |
factors affecting consistency and accuracy in identifying modern macroperforate planktonic foraminifera |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/69981 https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-431-2018 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
Planktonic foraminifera |
genre_facet |
Planktonic foraminifera |
op_source |
443 431 |
op_relation |
Journal of Micropalaeontology |
op_rights |
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed underthe Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-431-2018 |
container_title |
Journal of Micropalaeontology |
container_volume |
37 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
431 |
op_container_end_page |
443 |
_version_ |
1766169481496756224 |