Efficiently record vegetation and determine hydrophytic status in Ecobot

USACE regional supplements were used to automatically populate Plot Size and Unit of Measure based on regulator preferences but can be over-written. Plot Size is a free-form text field Choose a Unit of Measure from the select wheel

• Tap anywhere in the row to begin adding species

Use the Vegetation Lookup Tool to quickly and accurately enter species Tap Look Up Vegetation Search by Scientific Name, Common Name, or Symbol. As you type, the list is instantly paired down. Ecobot will automatically place Recently used vegetation at the top of the list. Choose the correct species with indicator status given based on your Region (you can override the given indicator status if you like).  Absolute % Coverage: Use the number pad to type the percentage.

Or, you can type the scientific name and indicator status manually: Scientific Name: Enter free-form text. Absolute % Coverage: Use the number pad to type the percentage. Choose the correct Indicator Status with the select wheel or leave blank

Vegetation Calculations

As you enter data, species lists will dynamically sort in descending order of dominance, and continuously calculate the 50/20 Rule for Dominance (shown in highlighted green).

You can quickly remove a species from the list by swiping right to left and choosing Delete.

• Hydrophytic Vegetation Indicators Met will be automatically calculated.
• Toggle on/off to Show/Hide Calculations
• If you only want to display the highest indicator on the completed form, toggle Display only highest indicator?

• Toggle on/off Hydrophytic Vegetation Present at the top or bottom of the screen. This needs to be manual regardless of other selections you've made, in keeping with USACE guidelines.
• Enter Remarks with free-form typing or dictation
• At the top left, tap the left arrow to return to the Sampling Point page

Adding more species than the form allows

The number of species lines in each vegetation stratum is set by the official USACE wetland determination data form. Ecobot mirrors these forms exactly, so you can't add extra species lines beyond what the form provides. If you have more species than there are lines, you have two options:

• Use the Remarks box. Record the additional vegetation in the Remarks field for that stratum or sampling point. Keep in mind that anything entered in Remarks is not included in the dominance (50/20 Rule) calculations — it's documentation only.
• Add a second point. Create another sampling point with a similar name and record the overflow ("runoff") vegetation there. This keeps it in the data and available for calculations.

In practice this rarely comes up: the 2024 USACE forms all include an extra vegetation sheet, so there's additional room for species. And if that second vegetation page goes unused, Ecobot removes it automatically from the generated PDF, so your forms stay clean.