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A New Method for Morphometric Analysis of Opal Phytoliths from Plants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2014

Welmoed A. Out ,
José F. Pertusa Grau  and
Marco Madella
Welmoed A. Out*
Affiliation:
Graduate School Human Development in Landscapes/Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Johanna-Mestorf-Strasse 2-6, Kiel 24118, Germany
José F. Pertusa Grau
Affiliation:
Department of Functional Biology and Physical Anthropology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Valencia, C/Doctor Moliner 50, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
Marco Madella
Affiliation:
CaSEs Research Group, ICREA – Department of Humanities, University Pompeu Fabra & IMF-CSIC, C/Trias Fargas 25–27, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
*
*Corresponding author. w.a.out@ufg.uni-kiel.de
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Abstract

Micro-morphometry has substantially gained ground in the field of phytolith analysis, but the comparability of results is limited due to the use of different methods. This paper presents a new, user-friendly method based on open-source software (FIJI) that is proposed as a step towards the introduction of a standard method. After obtaining a mask of a phytolith by making a digital drawing, 27 commonly used variables of size and shape are measured automatically. This method is not only useful for phytolith analysis, but may also be used for other fields of morphometric research. Users can furthermore customize the software tool when additional variables are required.

Keywords

micro-morphometryimage analysisarcheobotanyFIJIphytoliths
Type
Biological Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 20 , Issue 6 , December 2014 , pp. 1876 - 1887
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2014 

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