logo Calflora About Weed Manager
What is Weed Manager?     Updated June 28, 2021
  • Weed Manager is a system (multiple software components working together) for organizations engaged in land management.

  • It enables a land manager to track weed infestations and treatments over time.

  • Each organization which subscribes to Weed Manager will essentially be using a private copy of the system

      with the option of sharing the data they collect with other subscribing organizations within the system, with other Calflora users, and with other systems such as CalWeedMapper.

  • Each organization can configure certain aspects of how they want to use the system

      for instance, by choosing which fields are required, or which extra fields they want to collect for occurrences and assessments.

  • The way a small organization uses it is different from how a large organization uses it.

  • The core data fields collected and the core methodology remain standard across all organization subscribers, thus enabling data exchange and integration.

Data Collection Components, basic Calflora:
Calflora provides users with several ways to get records into the database. Observation Entry is the cornerstone application, because it can be used to edit or fine tune any record.

 

Data Collection Components,Weed Manager:
In Weed Manager, the typical way to get records into the database is with a full featured mobile app called Observer Pro. The behavior of this app is controlled by a project record.

Observation Entry continues to be the cornerstone application for entering and editing observation (occurrence and assessment) records.

 

Use Cases (a tale of two organizations)
Here are two hypothetical examples of how different organizations might use the system. Organization A is small and uses the system in the simplest and least expensive way, without any customizations. Organization B is large and has more exacting reporting requirements, and so uses the system in a more complex way including many customizations.

Organization A Organization B
Group 4 users; 2 of them part-time. The group owner is the only person with the Data Czar role. 15 users; 2 of them have the Data Czar role.
Project The organization has a single project called Priority Weeds. This project contains the list of priority weeds on the organization's land. The list of weeds changes occasionally. For each region that the organization takes care of, the organization makes a new project at the beginning of each field season, called, for instance, Region 2 Weed Inventory 2019. The project record contains the short list of plants whose populations will be inventoried that year, and the list of occurrences which will be re-assessed.

The organization also makes a new project at the beginning of each field season, called, for instance, Region 2 Weed Treatment 2019. The project record contains the list of occurrences which will be treated that year. (People doing treatment load this list onto their tablets when they go into the field.)

Occurrence No extra fields. The following extra fields are included to further characterize the location of the plant: region, nearby vegetation, distance to water. Region is required and auto-populated from coordinates; the others are optional.

Whenever an occurrence record is entered, the user enters number of people and number of hours, and a session record is generated with these values.

Assessment No extra fields.

Only date, observer, and number of plants are required.

No extra fields.

All fields are required. Shape (line or polygon) is strongly encouraged.

Whenever an assessment is entered, the user enters number of people and number of hours, and a session record is generated with these values.

Treatment No extra fields.

(treatment-occ) percent treated is not required. (treatment event) shape is required.

The following extra fields are included in treatment method: adjuvant name and adjuvant concentration.

(treatment-occ) percent treated is required. (treatment event) shape is required.

Whenever a treatment event is entered, the user enters number of people and number of hours, and a session record is generated with these values.

Session During field season, one session record is explicitly entered to summarize all occurrence work done in a day, one session record is explicitly entered to summarize all assessment work done in a day, and one session record is entered to summarize all treatment work done in a day. At the end of the season, a report is run that shows the mix of occurrence, assessment and treatment work. Session records are not entered explicitly. Whenever an occurrence, assessment or treatment record is added, an accompanying session record is generated. At the end of the season, a report is run that shows the mix of occurrence work, assessment work and treatment work for each target weed.