The Vegetation section of a wetland point in Ecobot Collector is where you record plot sizes and species, and decide whether hydrophytic vegetation is present. Collector works out dominance and the hydrophytic vegetation indicators as you go. This article walks through each part.
Not sure which regional form to use? See Wetland region selection.
Set the plot size
Each stratum starts with the Plot size and Plot Size Unit from the USACE Regional Supplement. You can change either one: type a new plot size, and choose a unit from the list.
Add a species
The number of species lines in each stratum matches the regional form you chose for the survey. Tap a line to add a species.
Look up the species
- Under Identify / Lookup Vegetation, tap the search button to open Look Up Vegetation. The camera and gallery buttons identify a plant from a photo. See Vegetation lookup, powered by AI.
- Search by scientific name, common name or symbol. The list narrows as you type, and your recently used species are at the top.
- Tap the species. Its indicator status for your region fills in automatically. You can change it if you need to.
- Enter the Absolute % Coverage.
Or type it in
- Scientific Name: type the name.
- Absolute % Coverage: enter the percentage.
- Indicator Status: choose from the list, or leave it blank.
When you're back at the office, Ecobot Manager flags species with no indicator status, and species typed in by hand, so they get reviewed.
Dominance and calculations
As you enter species, the list sorts itself by dominance and Collector applies the 50/20 rule. Dominant species are highlighted in green.
To remove a species, swipe left on it and tap Delete. This is handy after you clone a point.
- Hydrophytic Vegetation Indicators are worked out for you.
- Show/Hide Calculations shows or hides the calculations.
- To show only the highest indicator on the completed form, turn on Display only highest indicator?.
Is hydrophytic vegetation present?
Choose Yes, No or Pending under Hydrophytic Vegetation Present?. It's at both the top and the bottom of the Vegetation screen, so you don't miss it.
It starts as Pending, and you need to choose Yes or No yourself, whatever the indicators show, in keeping with USACE guidelines. Any point still on Pending is flagged for review in Ecobot Manager.
Add any Remarks, then tap the back arrow at the top left to return to the point.
In Manager
You can also fill in vegetation in Ecobot Manager. Check the survey out, open the point, and select the Vegetation tab at the top of the form. It has the same strata, species and hydrophytic vegetation indicators, and Hydrophytic Vegetation Present? with Yes, No or Pending. Select Save data when you're done. See Edit a point.
More species than the form allows
The number of species lines in each stratum comes from the official USACE wetland determination data form, and Ecobot mirrors it exactly, so you can't add extra lines. If you have more species than lines:
- Use Remarks. Record the extra species in the Remarks for that stratum or point. Anything in Remarks isn't part of the dominance (50/20 rule) calculations, so it's for the record only.
- Add a second point. Create another point with a similar name and record the extra species there. This keeps them in the data and in the calculations.
This rarely comes up: the 2024 USACE forms include an extra vegetation sheet for more species. If that sheet isn't used, Ecobot leaves it out of the PDF.