The Observation Entry application
lets you enter and edit an observation of a wild plant.
To use the application, you need to be registered
as a contributor.
To enter a new record, press the button.
Click on the map to indicate the location .
Type in the first few letters of the scientific name of the plant.
After three letters, a list of matching genera will appear.
You can choose the genus from the list, and then type in a few letters
of the species, or just keep typing.
Choose a plant identification method, which explains
how you recognized the plant.
Enter an observation date in the form 2014-12-31,
or press the today link, or press the calendar link
to choose the date from a calendar.
The rest of the fields are optional, and explained below.
When you are finished, press the button at the top.
If you already have coordinates,
check
Specify location by coordinates.
If you have decimal lat/long coordinates,
enter them, and press .
If you have UTM coordinates, press
UTM Coordinates,
enter the Zone, Easting and Northing,
and press .
2012 September 15:
Coordinate conversion between decimal lat/long and UTM is now much more reliable thanks to
Jason Ji and
the
JCoord
package by J. Stott.
Press SHAPE at the top to
enter a line or polygon describing the extent of the plant population
you are reporting. The shape drawing panel opens in the top
right of the page. Choose polygon or line, then press .
At this point, each click on the map becomes a vertex of
the shape you are drawing. (Dragging the map has no effect on the shape.)
Press when you are done.
Press if you need to add more vertices,
or delete vertices, or move vertices.
Any observation you enter with this application will immediately appear in the
My Observations
application.
if you set Access by other users to public,
then other Calflora users will also be able to find
and view your observation record
with the various search tools.
FIELDS
Scientific Name
The scientific name of the plant observed.
Typeahead is enabled --
type the first three letters, then choose the
name from the popup list.
This field will accept only the full scientific name of a plant
already in the database,
or the word unknown.
If you have alternate scientific names or other comments,
please put them in the Notes field.
If you wish to enter the scientific name of a plant
that is not yet in the database (for instance, a new weed),
put a * (star) just in front of the plant name,
as the first character in the field.
You can also use * (star) to enter genus-only names.
For instance, to indicate some plant in the genus Vaccinium, enter:
*Vaccinium
Common Name
The common name of the plant observed.
Typeahead is enabled --
type at least three letters, then choose the
name from the popup list.
Identification Method
The primary method by which the observed plant was identified.
Observation Date
Date the plant was observed,
in the form YYYY-MM-DD.
For example, 2009-11-15.
Press today for today's date.
Press calendar to choose the date from a calendar.
Natural Status
Was the observed plant planted by a human,
or is it growing wild?
Habitat
The primary habitat type at this location.
Forest: Tree-dominated, generally with a closed canopy (e.g., redwood forest, eucalyptus grove)
Forest Edge: the edge of a forest, or a clearing within a forest.
Open Woodland: Tree-dominated, but with open areas between the trees (e.g., oak woodland)
Scrub/Shrubland: Shrub-dominated, with few or no trees (e.g., coastal scrub, chaparral)
Grassland / Open Field: Grass-dominated, with few to no shrubs or trees
Stream bank / bed: The banks or dried bed of a stream, creek or river
Wetland: Herbaceous-plant-dominated, with standing water at least part of the year and wetland indicator plants (e.g., cattails, rushes, pickleweed marsh, vernal pool)
Open Water: Pond, lake, river, estuary, etc.
Beach / Dune: Generally some open sand (or there would be if not infested with iceplant or European beachgrass)
Rocky outcrop / Cliff: A rocky area with sparse soil or no soil.
Areas of major human impact:
Agricultural field
Roadside / Waste area
Park / Recreation area
Yard / Garden
Percent Cover
At the reported point of observation,
how much of the immediate area is covered by the
observed plant.
Phenology
The life stage of the plant at time of observation.
Bolting: When the flowering stalk begins to shoot up in plants with a basal rosette of leaves (thistles or mustards, for example)
Flowering: In bud or flower
Fruiting: Setting seed or fruit
Dead / skeleton: Dried/dead plant or dormant perennial
Leafing out: Producing new leaves (for deciduous perennial plants such as tree of heaven)
Mature: A perennial plant NOT in one of the above stages
Number of Plants
Either an estimated range of the
number of plants at this location, or an exact count.
If you know the exact count, please
enter it by clicking in the text box and typing over the value.
Otherwise, choose a range from the drop down list.
Special values:
1: exactly one plant.
0: no plants; absence.
1+: at least one plant. This is the default value for older records.
Distribution
The distribution, or abundance, of the plant across the landscape
in the area of the reported point of observation.
Owner
The land owner, manager, or steward of the land where
the plant is growing, to the best of your knowledge.
Before adding observations on private land,
please obtain permission from the land owner.
Herbarium
If a specimen was collected,
the name of the herbarium where it is stored.
Location Description
A brief description of where the plant is. Please include landmarks and/or directions to the site.
Notes
Anything else you would like to report about the plant or the site,
such as associated plant species.
Latitude and Longitude
The location of the plant in
decimal latitude and longitude,
NAD83 datum (WGS84).
(This datum is available on most GPS units
and used by some recent maps.)
Observer
The person(s) who observed the plant.
(Before adding observations to Calflora,
please obtain the consent of all observers.)
Source
The name of the institution which contributed
this record to Calflora, if any.
For an individual contributor,
the name of the individual, or
the name of the organzation with which they are affiliated,
or who organized the data collection effort
(for instance, Marin Municipal Water District).
Collection
Use this field to
divide your records up into various collections.
Or, simply include search terms in the value of this field
that will make it possible to categorize records later.
For instance, if this record is part of a particular
data collection project, put the name of the project here
(e.g. Coastal Mendocino Native Shrubs 2012).
Or, put good photo as the value of this field for all
of your records that have particularly good photos;
then you can find them easily later.
Location Accuracy
An estimate of the accuracy of the location coordinates,
expressed as an area in square meters.
For instance, if the location accuracy is set to 100 square meters,
then the idea is that the real point is somewhere within
that 100 square meter area.
When you specify location by picking a point on the map,
location accuracy depends on the zoom level of the map
when the record is first entered.
When GPS equipment is used to find a point, the location
accuracy will depend on the quality of the equipment,
conditions at the time the point was taken,
as well as any methods employed to correct or
verify the coordinates.
To specify location accuracy, press the Specify link.
In the panel that opens, you can choose an accuracy range,
such as 100 square meters.
Or, you can enter the radius of a circle around the point,
and calculate location accuracy as the area of that circle.
Radius
Area
10 Meters
314 Square Meters
0.07763 Acres
1 Kilometer
3,141,593 Square Meters
776 Acres
1 Mile
8,136,688
Square Meters
2011 Acres
Area Unit Equivalence
1 Acre
43,560 square feet
4,840 square yards
4,047 square meters
0.4 hectares
1 Hectare
107,639 square feet
11,960 square yards
10,000 square meters
2.47 acres
Access by other users
Can the public visit this site?
unknown
public access
The public may visit this site, subject to business hours
and/or seasonal restrictions. A fee may be required (eg. at a State Park).
restricted access
It may be possible to visit this site
by special arrangement.
For many preserves, access is limited to a few
pre-arranged, docent-led hikes each year, and/or volunteer work days.
no access
UTM Coordinates
Zone
10 or 11
Easting
6-digit number such as 251810
Northing
7-digit number such as 4070743
When the UTM panel is visible,
these three fields show the current center position.
To specify a location, enter values into these fields and
press the Display button.
MTRS
Meridian
21, 27 or 15
Township
for example, 6N or 31S (no leading zeros)
Range
for example, 12E or 2W
Section
for example, 17
Elevation
The elevation at the location of the plant.
Access by other users
Specifies which other uers can see this record.
A
public (published)
record is viewable
by all Calflora users.
An in review (unpublished) record is viewable only
by the contributor,
unless you explicitly allow certain other users to view it.
Some contributors
choose to keep certain records in review
until they are confident of the data (eg. plant identification).
Group Association
If you are a member of any groups, then you
can associate a record with one of your groups.
This feature is to enable a group of people
to easily see each other's records
while those records are still
in review.
Access
Group Association
Who can see it
public
any
all Calflora users
in review
none
only the contributor
in review
Group ABC
all members of Group ABC
Suppose you enter a new record, and set Access by other users to
in review (unpublished).
Suppose also that you are a member of the
CalWeedMapper Contributors group.
If you set the group association of the new record
to CalWeedMapper Contributors,
then other members of this group will be able to view the
record.
Web page: About this Location
The URL of a web page with
more information about this location.
Examples: a page from a photo service like Flickr
with pictures of the location;
a page from a free hiking site with
descriptions of the trails;
or, for a restoration site, a page
describing the work done at the site.
Web page: Plant List Source
If the plant list came from a web page,
the URL of that page.
SHAPE at the top to
enter a line or polygon describing the extent of the plant population
you are reporting. The shape drawing panel opens in the top
right of the page. Choose polygon or line, then press .
At this point, each click on the map becomes a vertex of
the shape you are drawing. (Dragging the map has no effect on the shape.)
Press when you are done.
Press if you need to add more vertices,
or delete vertices, or move vertices.
.
Type in the first few letters of the scientific name of the plant.
After three letters, a list of matching genera will appear.
You can choose the genus from the list, and then type in a few letters
of the species, or just keep typing.