Format: ORAL

Alexander M. Greene1, Irene Teixidor-Toneu2, Guillaume Odonne1*

1 LEEISA, (CNRS, Université de Guyane, IFREMER), 275 route de Montabo, 97334 Cayenne, France 2 Laboratoire IMBE (IRD, Aix-Marseille Universités) av escadrille Normandie-Niemen, case 441, 13397 Marseille cedex 20, France

The identification of plants according to the Linnaean system of taxonomy is a cornerstone of ethnobotany, allowing the discipline to be a comparative science. To accomplish plant identification, ethnobotanists have long relied on the collection of voucher specimens and their deposition in herbaria. Nevertheless, the complexity of botanical collecting sometimes hampers the process of local communities self-conducing their own ethnobotanical inventories. Here we bring attention to a new set of methods which could help facilitate this goal: the collection of photographic vouchers and their deposition in digital repositories. The ever-improving quality and ubiquity of smartphone cameras, photographic citizen science applications like Pl@ntnet and iNaturalist, and deep learning techniques of automated photo identification are contributing to a slow revolution in the role of digital data in the field sciences. We propose photographic vouchers as a valid, scientifically rigorous and locally adapted method to inventory local botanical knowledge for and by communities, and lay out guidelines for their use.