A key aspect of Wildnote's contribution to environmental health is the accurate reporting of plant and animal statuses. We need your help.
Wildnote has created a robust framework for managing taxonomy to support our customer's efforts in environmental restoration, compliance, remediation, and conservation. We already have some great lists and additional mappings. We are calling for all scientists that would like to contribute to the effort of building the cleanest and deepest taxonomy database available in the digital world.
If you have a Wildnote login check out the following link to our growing library of taxonomy lists:
Along with the plant and animal lists, we have built the following enhanced lists:
The Benefits
Accurate taxonomy metadata can be applied to recorded field data to deliver sophisticated reports revealing important trends and ecosystem health to stakeholders. For example, one customer worked with us to create a custom export combining their field data with wetland indicator statues and native, nonnative, and invasive statuses to analyze and determine the health of a wetland restoration project. The image below shows a sample report that includes indicator status (column B) which is stored in the taxonomy database for each plant (column C). In the field, the data collector only has to enter the plant name and when they run the report the additional information for indicator status is pulled from the database.
The Challenge
In the customer example, they collected data with the USDA plant list and we merged that with the USACE wetland indicator statuses. In addition, the customer worked with a state agency to provide us with a list of native and non-native plants. In addition, the customer supplied us with an invasive plant list. The tricky part is that when we attempted to merge data from various plant lists there can be subtle differences in the names which can lead to mismatches. For example, in a digital analysis Erigeron strigosus and Erigeron strigosus var. strigosus are not the same. The customer worked with us to scrub the database ensuring their data entries were consistent and accurate.
Moving forward, the customer now trusts the database because they actively worked with us to ensure integrity. Their internal knowledge as scientists combined with the knowledge of their local agencies added information to our copy of the USACE database that is only available because of the combined forces.
The Update Process
Wildnote would like to work with you and all our customers in a similar style of crowdsourcing to build a complete and accurate database filled with trustworthy supplemental information such as Wetland Indicator, Native, Non-Native and Invasive statuses.
A key aspect of environmental health will be the accurate identification and rapid reporting and communication of plant and animal statuses. We consider the taxonomy database to be like a garden that needs continual love and tending. If you would like to join the partnership to help taxonomy survive and flourish, here is how you can help:
- Use the database
- Add your local statuses
Work with your local agencies to obtain the most current data. - Work directly with our staff to keep the data accurate.
Contact support@wildnoteapp.com or call 805-664-0040. - Partner with Wildnote to become a certified taxonomy data keeper.
As we build trust in your knowledge and dedication to a clean database we can give you access to tools for directly editing certain fields in the taxonomy lists.
We are grateful to the many taxonomists and other biologists who have and will contribute to the health of the Wildnote taxonomy library. Digital data is a powerful tool, but it does not replace the taxonomist, who must integrate information from multiple sources.