search

NERC-CEH / dunes-app

📱Dynamic Dunescapes mobile application
Other
0 stars 0 forks source link

mismatch between map and manual labels #67

Open DavidRoy opened 4 years ago

DavidRoy commented 4 years ago

From Andy Nelson: The categories in the app and the manual are different, which is confusing.

Manual App
Bare ground/sand Bare ground & sand
Mosses & lichens Moss & lichen
Grasses, sedges & rushes Grasses
Herbs Herbs
Heathland Shrubs Shrubs
Trees and scrub Scrub

It would be good for these to match up exactly, to reduce opportunities for confusion amongst volunteer surveyors. I would suggest there are some issues with some of the categories and their descriptions. E.g. in the manual, herbs are described as including bramble, but I would consider bramble to have a woody stem and to be included in scrub category? Even if I’m wrong about this, from a pragmatic point of view site managers will treat bramble as a scrub, if my understanding is correct. Also, how/why to differentiate between shrubs/scrub? Also, is it worth considering if trees and scrub should be separate categories, as they may well be managed in different ways. Different machinery/strategies are used in management of both habitat types. For example, managers may frequently use a flail to cut back areas of scrub, but that would be an unsuitable management technique for trees. However, I realise it may introduce unnecessary complication, to try to define them separately, so maybe this is not such a good idea! Below is an idea of how descriptions/definitions could look?

Manual & App Definition/example
Bare sand/soil Areas where no vegetation is growing, so sand/soil is exposed
Mosses, lichens & liverworts Very low growing. Individuals are small, but may appear as tufted or cushion like mats, containing many individuals.
Grasses, sedges & rushes Plants that are grass-like in appearance. The stems of sedges generally have three edges whereas rushes have very rounded stems that are filled with pith.
Herbs All plants which have soft stems (i.e. not trees and scrub) but are not grass-like in appearance, e.g. many flowering plants and ferns.
Scrub & Trees Plants with woody stems
Heathland Scrub Scrub species which are found in acidic heathland, e.g. heather, gorse & bilberry
LaurenceJonesES commented 4 years ago

Useful suggestions. We can revise at a subsequent iteration, as requires some thought initially, plus changes to app content & translations