SIST EN 16164:2013

• Abstract:

  This European Standard defines standard principles for the design of taxonomic keys to ensure proper use of nomenclatural rules and reproducible and traceable identification. These principles also allow for the selection of the best key available.

• Status: Published
• Public Enquiry End Date: 04-Jan-2011
• Publication Date: 26-Jun-2013
• ICS: 13.060.01 - Water quality in general
• Technical Committee: KAV - Water quality
• Current Stage: 6060 - National Implementation/Publication (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 12-Jun-2013
• Due Date: 17-Aug-2013
• Completion Date: 27-Jun-2013
• Ref Project: EN 16164:2013 - Water quality - Guidance standard for designing and selecting taxonomic keys

SIST EN 16164:2013 is the Slovenian adoption of EN 16164:2013, a CEN European Standard from CEN/TC 230 “Water analysis”. It gives guidance for designing and selecting taxonomic keys used in water quality work, so identification is based on nomenclatural rules and can be reproduced and traced back to its taxonomic basis. The document is aimed at analysts, ecologists, and people who write, commission, or choose identification guides for aquatic organisms.

What does SIST EN 16164:2013 specify?

SIST EN 16164:2013 specifies standard principles for taxonomic keys used in water quality and aquatic ecological work. Its main purpose is to help users pick the most suitable key available and to help authors build keys that support reliable identification.

The document is organized into:

• Scope
• Terms and definitions
• Principles of biological identification
• Requirements for taxonomic keys
• Summarised criteria
• Glossary
• Synopsis of classification
• Methods for collecting, preserving and examining samples
• Testing and validation of a key
• Bibliography

The structure matters in practice because the standard does not focus only on key design. It also covers the surrounding information that makes a key usable, such as terminology, classification context, sample handling, and validation.

What are the key requirements of SIST EN 16164:2013?

SIST EN 16164:2013 asks authors and users to treat identification as a controlled process, not just a visual comparison. The most important requirements are spread across Clauses 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9.

Choose the right key for the task

Clause 4.1 says the key should fit the geographical area, the taxonomic level being studied, the taxa known from the region, and the language familiar to the analyst. In practice, this means a guide has to match the survey or monitoring task, otherwise identifications can be forced into the wrong names.

State scope clearly

Clause 4.2 requires the title and introduction to show the taxonomic groups, life stages, and geographical scope covered. It also says taxa from adjacent regions should be identified where relevant. For users, this helps avoid assuming that a guide covers more, or less, than it really does.

Use reliable characters and clear couplets

Clause 4.3 and Clause 4.5.1 say to prefer obvious, robust characters, and to keep couplets discrete, categorical, and simple. The standard also warns against relying on fragile, seasonal, sex-specific, or highly magnified features unless they are clearly explained. That matters because the best key is the one a user can actually apply on the specimen in hand.

Make the layout easy to follow

Clause 4.4 and Clause 4.5.1 require a layout that supports quick routing through the key and easy back-tracing. The key should end with a full description of the identified taxon. In practice, this helps users confirm a result instead of stopping at the couplet that seems “closest”.

Support the description with morphology, synonyms, and ecology

Clauses 4.5.1.2 to 4.5.1.4 call for morphological detail, meaningful dimensions, limited and useful synonyms, and ecological and distribution notes based on regional experience. Quantitative information is preferred over vague terms. This makes the guide more defensible in monitoring and assessment work.

Use helpful illustrations and durable binding

Clause 4.5.2 says illustrations should be consistent, comparable, and scaled, with examples from the region covered. Clause 4.5.3 adds that field guides need durable binding, and waterproof covers are recommended for field use. This affects whether the guide survives real laboratory and field conditions.

Validate before publication

Clause 9 requires peer review and end-user testing before publication. That matters because taxonomic correctness and ease of use are not the same thing, and both have to be checked.

What terms does SIST EN 16164:2013 define?

• accuracy - correct identification of a specimen to the relevant taxonomic category, such as family, genus, or species.
• International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) - the official international taxonomic code for botany.
• International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) - the official international taxonomic code for zoology.
• nomenclatural rules - the naming rules for organisms set out in official taxonomic codes.
• traceable identification - identification that can be traced back to the original publication of the taxon, directly or indirectly.

Who uses SIST EN 16164:2013?

SIST EN 16164:2013 is used by ecologists, taxonomists, water analysts, laboratory staff, and anyone involved in aquatic biodiversity or water-quality assessment. It is also relevant to people commissioning new identification guides, because it gives a framework for what those guides should contain. In practice, it helps users choose literature, write keys, preserve samples appropriately, and defend identification results in monitoring and reporting.

Which standards are used with SIST EN 16164:2013?

The bibliography names EN 14996, which supports guidance on the quality of biological and ecological assessments in the aquatic environment, and EN ISO/IEC 17025, which sets general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. These references matter because they connect identification work with broader quality and laboratory competence expectations.

The document also refers to the ICBN and ICZN. These are not standards in the CEN sense, but they provide the nomenclatural rules that this guidance standard is intended to complement.

What does the SIST EN 16164:2013 document contain?

SIST EN 16164:2013 contains practical guidance for building and choosing taxonomic keys, not a test method or a classification scheme by itself. It explains how to frame the title and scope, choose characters, design couplets, write descriptions, and present illustrations.

It also contains guidance on:

• glossary content and terminology consistency
• a synopsis of classification for the covered organism groups
• sample collection, preservation, and examination
• peer review and end-user testing of keys

The examples in Clauses 4.2, 4.5.1, and 4.5.2 show how those points are applied in real identification guides.

2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.MXþHYWasserbeschaffenheit - Anleitung zur Gestaltung und Auswahl von taxonomischen BestimmungsschlüsselnQualité de l'eau - Guide pour la conception et le choix des clés taxonomiquesWater quality - Guidance standard for designing and selecting taxonomic keys13.060.01Kakovost vode na splošnoWater quality in generalICS:Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z:EN 16164:2013SIST EN 16164:2013en,fr,de01-julij-2013SIST EN 16164:2013SLOVENSKI
STANDARD
EUROPEAN STANDARD NORME EUROPÉENNE EUROPÄISCHE NORM
EN 16164
January 2013 ICS 13.060.99 English Version
Water quality - Guidance standard for designing and selecting taxonomic keys
Qualité de l'eau - Guide pour la conception et le choix des clés taxonomiques
Wasserbeschaffenheit - Anleitung zur Gestaltung und Auswahl von taxonomischen Bestimmungsschlüsseln This European Standard was approved by CEN on 24 November 2012.
CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
Management Centre:
Avenue Marnix 17,
B-1000 Brussels © 2013 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CEN national Members. Ref. No. EN 16164:2013: ESIST EN 16164:2013

2 Terms and definitions For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply. 2.1 accuracy correct identification of a specimen to the relevant taxonomic category (e.g. family, genus, species) Note 1 to entry: The definition refers to the context of this European Standard. 2.2 International Code of Botanical Nomenclature ICBN official international taxonomic code for botany 2.3 International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ICZN official international taxonomic code for zoology 2.4 nomenclatural rules rules for naming of organisms that are laid down in official taxonomic codes 2.5 traceable identification identification of a taxon which can be traced back to its original publication either directly or indirectly 3 Principles of biological identification The objective of all biological identification is to assign the correct biological name to a specimen, irrespective of the amount of morphological or other variability shown by the taxon in question. This should be done as efficiently as possible, in order to minimise time and resources. Identification provides a link between a specimen of an organism and the original ‘type specimen’ of that taxon. This is often one or more individuals of the species, preserved in a museum collection (or, in the case of many algae, an illustration), which has been described according to the rules of the ICBN or ICZN using text, measurements and illustrations. There are two methods of identifying organisms: by ‘matching’ (pattern recognition) and by ‘logical comparison’ (typically through the use of keys). The academic taxonomic literature often assumes that logical reasoning is used exclusively but, in practice, most biologists use a combination of approaches: relying on memory for naming common organisms and a mix of pattern recognition and logical reasoning for the less common organisms. It is arguably the poor quality of identification literature that causes biologists to switch from logical reasoning to pattern recognition. 4 Requirements for taxonomic keys 4.1 General principles Most identification guides assume that logical comparison plays a large part in the identification of organisms, and the guides have a key, or similar device, at their core. These work by presenting users with a limited number of choices from which to choose either in sequence (‘dichotomous keys’) or in parallel (‘multiaccess keys’). The same principles apply, regardless of the type of key. SIST EN 16164:2013

Requirements for an appropriate identification guide include:  keys appropriate to the geographic area under consideration;  appropriate taxonomic level for the analysis in question;  all known taxa from the region;  written in a language familiar to the analyst. The key itself should provide:  a clearly defined title and scope (completeness of taxonomic group);  robust characters;  clear layout;  clear language;  complete glossary. The points mentioned above are especially relevant since academic taxonomists often write from the perspective of an ‘expert’ and do not always empathise with the skills of those performing the analyses. These points are described in more detail below. 4.2 Title and scope An identification guide should be clear about the taxonomic groups and life stages covered, and the geographical scope of the guide. These should be reflected both in the title and, in more detail, in the introduction. EXAMPLE 1 Titles like “Chironomidae larvae of the Lowlands of Northwesttern Europe”, “Oligochaeta of North-West Europe” and “Chironomidae exuviae of the West Palaearctic Region” suggest a defined overview of the content. However, a number of terms within each title would need amplification in the introduction. Terms such as ‘lowlands’ would need to be explained in more detail, whilst maps and text showing the limits of the author’s understanding of ‘North-West Europe’ and ‘West Palaearctic’ would also be useful. On the other hand, it is often inappropriate to define the geographical scope too precisely; firstly, because the geographical ranges of many species are themselves known only imprecisely and secondly, because the ranges of many species are changing. EXAMPLE 2 Two species of the Trichopertan genus Drusus have been recorded from the Netherlands: D. trifidus and D. annulatus. A third species, D. biguttatus is similar to D. annulatus and has been recorded from sites close to the Dutch border, though not yet from within the Netherlands. A Dutch Trichopteran key which made no reference at all to D. biguttatus runs the risk of users ‘shoehorning’ specimens into D. annulatus. A similar situation exists for the Mollusc genus Corbicula in Britain and Ireland. C. fluminea is described in “Freshwater Bivalves of Britain and Ireland”; however, C. fluminalis has not yet been recorded from Britain and Ireland and is omitted. Users may not realise that C. fluminalis is spreading throughout Europe and may, in time, also spread to Britain and Ireland. SIST EN 16164:2013
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