Tools for Data Management and Reporting: Levels 2 and 3

June 18, 2008Forbes Boyle & Michael Lee

CVS-EEP Project Manager & Data Entry Tool Author

OBJECTIVES• Vegetation Monitoring Data Walk-Thru

• Level 2 Data Entry: Tips for Faster Data Entry

• Levels 1 and 2 QA / QC Procedures

• Levels 1 and 2 Report Generation

• Introduction to Level 3 Data Entry

VMD Resampling• Step 1: Go to the Reports Tab under the Main Menu

>> Datasheets for Resampling

VMD Resampling

• Step 2: On the “Resample Plots” Form, update year fields if incorrect.

VMD Resampling

• Step 3: On the “Resample Plots” Form, update Plot Level fields if desired.

VMD Resampling

• Step 3: Print Datasheets of desired monitoring plots.

VMD Field Datasheets

VMD Resampling

• Step 4: RESAMPLE!!!• Step 5: Enter data in the existing Entry Tool for that

Project.

VMD Data Entry Tool

VMD Woody Stem Data Entry Tool

Level 2 Data Entry

• TOTAL WOODY STEM INVENTORY PLOTS: Planted woody stems + natural regeneration.

Level 2 Fast and Efficient Data Entry!• Don't forget the header info (especially minimum

stem size sampled = cut-off).

Level 2 Fast and Efficient Data Entry!• Magic Species List and Species Lookup

Level 2 Fast and Efficient Data Entry!

TAB / SPACE BAR: Next Field

UP/DOWN ARROW: Adjacent Row

ENTER: Next Species Row, First Field

MOUSE: To add in Subsample %

Level 2 Fast and Efficient Data Entry!• Often, there is just one size category, or the smaller

categories are absent• To jump to a particular size:

– Press and hold ctrl, then enter the size of the stem class (lower bound, e.g. 30 or 45), then release ctrl

• If you enter a size less than 40cm, the default of 1 stem is filled in (you can change the number if not 1)

• If you enter a size of 40cm or greater, that size is entered in the first box for stems at least 40cm

A stem isn't planted after all

• Sometimes stems are added in the Planted Stems Form, but later someone determines that it should be included as a natural stem instead.

• Previously, you had to delete this stem and add it in the Natural Stems Form.

• Now, you can change a stem to "natural" with a couple of clicks….

A planted, no wait, a natural stem!

• At the bottom of the Planted Stems Form, click the button: Change stems to "natural" or undo

• A new green box appears with "N" for natural stems and "P" for planted. Double-click on the "P" to change the stem from planted to natural. Double-click the "N" to return the stem to a planted stem.

• Click the button at the bottom of the screen again to change all stems on the plot to natural or to planted (you'll be prompted to confirm that).

• Natural stems will still be shown on the Planted Stems Form, with the flag "Natural STEM: NOT PLANTED" and will not be included in planted stem density in Excel reports or when printing monitoring reports.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

Quality Assurance / Quality Control:Embedding Errors

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Quality Assurance / Quality Control:Embedding Errors

Quality Assurance / Quality Control:Embedding Errors

Quality Assurance / Quality Control:Embedding Errors

Using the Data Entry Tool to Generate Simple Reports

• Summary of stems per plot in Excel.– Can choose a subset of plots in "Configurable Stats."

• Can be copied and pasted into a Word document and used in larger written reports.

Using the Data Entry Tool to Generate Simple Reports

• Export to Excel to provide spreadsheets of stem data, including:

1) Plot Metadata (location, level, year, number of stems [planted and natural], stems per acre.

2) Total number of stems per acre by project3) Tally of damage – no damage AND vigor

categories of stems by species and type4) Total number of planted/natural stems by

plot

Plot Metadata

Total Number of Stems per Acre by Project

Vigor by Species

….or use “Customizable Statistics” to only look at a subset of plots

Level 3 Data Entry

• COMMUNITY OCCURRENCE PLOTS: Used to document abundance of most common

species within a plot: COVER CLASS VALUES

Meets standards of Ecological Society of America (ESA) AND Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) to classify vegetation within US National Vegetation Classification (NVC)

Woody stem tallies from Level 2 may also be used

Level 3: Plot Data Entry

• Similar to the Levels 1 and 2, except these fields added:

1) Community Classification Determination

2) Cover By Strata Definition

3) Extra Geomorphology and Hydrology values

• Digital Data Entry Form mimics Field Data Entry Sheets

Community Classification

• Step 1: Generate List of NVC Associations: CEGL codes

Community Classification

• Step 2: Read community descriptions of acceptable community types (based on named geography, title descriptions, etc.):

• http://www.vegbank.org/

Community Classification

• Step 3: Select acceptable community type(s), label degree of fit (Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, Wrong), label confidence of classication (High, Medium, Low), and enter Classifier(s).

Level 3 Cover Data Entry• Similar to the stems forms.• Magic species picklist or search for species (more species are

shown, not just the woody species).• After entering a cover value, it moves cursor to next field.• Use arrow keys and enter key• Header data appears after you start a row.

QUESTIONS??