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About Contributing Plant Observations -- Frequently Asked Questions |
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Registration and Profiles
Contributing Observations
General Information
Assigning Locations to Observations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Who can contribute observations?
Anyone who is registered as a Calflora contributor, and who can reliably identify the plants they are observing. Can
I contribute observations anonymously? Where
do my observations go?
How do I get my observations back?
Are contributed observations reviewed? How
do I register to contribute Plant Observations?
How do I change my personal profile? Didn't
I already register to contribute information to CalPhotos?
How do I add a plant observation?
Bring up the Observation Entry application, and press . Field names written in green are required. For an explanation of any field, click on the name of that field. To choose a plant, go to the Scientific Name field, and type the first three letters. A typeahead name finder is enabled for over 30,000 California plant names. Choose your plant from the list of matching plant names that appears below the field. There is also a typeahead name finder for common names. If you are not sure what the plant is, enter unknown in the Scientific Name field.
Choose a location on the map.
The map starts outside Fresno. Drag the map
to get close to the area of your observation, then zoom
in and click on the map
At the top of the page above the map,
there is a
Press When you share a photo with Calflora in this way, you continue to own and control all rights to the photo. Whenever your photo appears on Calflora, it will have your name next to it as the copyright holder. You can delete it from Calflora at any time. (See also Can I add photographs (photo vouchers) to my observation?) When you have filled in as many fields you can, press . Your observation will be written to the database and immediately available to other Calflora users.
I would like to contribute a large collection of
observations ... ?
If you would like to contribute a large collection of observations
in a format such as a spreadsheet, database,
or MS Word document,
Calflora staff would be happy to work with you directly
(contact).
How can I see other observations of the same plant in the general
area of my observation?
How do I add a checklist of observations? How do I add a place to view California native plants? Bring up the Checklist Entry application. This application is similar to the Observation Entry application.
To add plants, press the
Detail: Adding an existing list of plants:
A. To add a list of plants from another document:
B. To add a list of plants from a web page:
Close the plant list panel, and press the SAVE button. (Questions? Please write to us). Use. This application is typically used to enter a checklist (or floristic survey, or botanical inventory) of plants growing wild at a discrete location. It can also be used to enter other places where native plants can be seen, such as native plants gardens or restoration sites. Many of the 3000+ locations available in the Places to view California Native Plants application were entered with the Checklist Entry application.
How do I indicate whether or not there is public access
to the location?
Can I add photographs to my observations?
I made a mistake entering an observation, how do I correct it?
If necessary, you may also delete an observation you have contributed. (If you have any questions, please contact Calflora staff.)
You may also enter weed observations using Observation Entry. What observations are most useful? There are many different kinds of useful observations, depending on what goals you are trying to achieve. Including photos with an observation is most helpful.
California Department
of Fish and Game maintains negative observation data for rare plants.
Please contact them to report negative search results for rare plants.
I
want to contribute a large set of observations. Why
can't the system find my species name? Also, scientific names of plants do change occasionally. Calflora attempts to keep track of these changes in the Plant Name Library (aka synonymy database). Thus, it should not matter if you enter a scientific name no longer in current use -- Calflora users should be able to find your observation via synonomy options available on the Calflora search pages. If you are entering a plant name in the Observation Entry application (or entering plant names one-by-one in the Checklist Entry application), the scientific name typeahead feature will check your name against about 12,000 plant names, and let you know if it is not found (this is a way of reducing spelling mistakes). However, even if your plant name is not found, the databse will still accept it.
If you are using the Checklist Entry application,
and plant to paste in a list of names, you can see
a preview of which names the scanner will find.
Enter your list into the
CNPLX Nomenclature Analyzer. (This is also a good way to
find spelling errors.)
Why
are repeat observations for the same plant in the same area useful? I
encountered an error or unexpected result while contributing --
what do I do?
Why kind of computer and operating system? What did you do immediately prior to the problem? Please include your name, email, and the date of contribution if possible. How
can I identify plants? Identifying plants is a lot like reading books... there are some books that are easy to read, and some that are hard. Likewise some plants are easy to identify, and some are more difficult. You generally get better at reading by tackling progressively harder books, expanding your vocabulary and learning as you go. Calflora staff is committed to helping you learn more about plants, but unfortunately we do not have the resources to identify plants. There are many other resources available to help expand the number of plants you recognize. If your plant was growing in the wild, you can try contacting your local chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Also, the people who work at native nurseries can be very helpful in identifying local plants. There are Calflora users in the Plant ID Help group who are willing to try to identify plants from photos. To get help from this group,
If your plant was NOT growing in the wild, you should
try asking at your local plant nurseries or Botanical Garden.The
UC Davis Herbarium
also offers plant
identification services to the public for a fee.
How
can I confirm tricky plant identifications? What
information do you need for observations?
I've observed a plant that I think needs some attention, what should I do?
Rare, Endangered, or Threatened Plants:
Early Detection Target Weeds:
There are also other regional groups interested in weeds, such as the Central Coast Invasive Species Action Network.
When will my observation
show up on the maps? How
do I find out the Latitude, Longitude, or UTM
for the location I was at? What
is 'datum', and why do I need to be aware of it? Just as "Hollywood" can be "Hollywood, California" or "Hollywood, Florida", Latitude / Longitude and UTM can be in "NAD 1927" or "NAD 1983". Properly defined, NAD 27 is North American Datum of 1927. A reference point datum based on the Clarke Ellipsoid of 1866, a fixed position and orientation were named starting at Meade's Ranch in Kansas. Based upon this information latitudes and longitudes were calculated for all points based primarily on triangulation. NAD 1983 is a datum based on the GRS 80 Ellipsoid, and fixed position and orientation at the center of the earth. The measurements used in NAD 27 were adjusted- this time using a computer. This results in a different latitude and longitude for a location when compared to its NAD 27 values, with the difference often amounting to hundreds of feet. Most quality maps with
latitude, longitude, or UTM measurements on them also display which
datum was used. For example, most USGS Maps display the datum in
the lower left hand corner, along with what projection they used
(Projections are methods to display features of the round earth
on flat paper with minimum distortion.)
Most older USGS
maps are NAD 27. Many newer maps and most GPS unit readings are
NAD 83. Using the wrong datum
can cause your location to be off as much as 100 meters (325 feet).
If your precision is much less than this, then choosing the correct
datum is less critical.
Should
I give an imprecise location for rare plants I observe? You have a wide range of choice in reporting locations.
For research purposes, the more precise the location, the better. For certain populations of plants determined to be especially vulnerable, Calflora reserves the right to alter the submitted location to make it deliberately imprecise. This step has been taken very occasionally in order to minimize the threat to the population from the possibility of plant predation. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
to pick a precise point.
If you change to the "Satellite" view, you may be able
to identify certain trees, rock formations, or buildings
to help find your exact location.
Background
control, which lets you choose which background layer
is shown on the map. Certain layers, such as the
(native)
or
(non-native)
on the map, and an information window will appear.
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