The CD contains 500 color photos, a half hour of video, sketches, range maps, habitats and audio clips of many of the calls. For example, photos of two different species could be compared, or the range map and call of the same species could be selected. There is also a challenge mode that presents a photo, call, map, sketch, or video and asks the user to identify the species. The database pertaining to wetland woody plants of North America includes 830 species. As the characteristics are selected, MEKA eliminates taxa that no longer match the list of selected characteristics.
Several windows display different aspects of the underlying data base.
As identification progresses, the windows are updated automatically. An index screen makes it easy to find and select particular classes of characteristics. MEKA does not force the user through a fixed series of questions as in a dichotomous key. Instead, the user can perform identifications by selecting characteristics in any order. This software can be downloaded from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory, Ecology Section .