Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

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skarwath1
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2016 4:32 pm

Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by skarwath1 » Wed Jan 04, 2017 3:34 pm

I am using iTree Eco for the first time, and I have a couple of questions.
I created my project and added the plot information, but when I try to add the tree information in Data > Inventory Data > Trees, the rows where the info should be entered are not displaying. When I click on New in the action ribbon, I get a message that says "Unhandled exception. Index was out of range." Do you know why I am receiving that message?

Does the program allow you to change the plot ID's from 1,2,3, etc. to your own naming convention?
Jason.Henning
i-Tree Team
Posts: 337
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:45 am

Re: Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by Jason.Henning » Fri Jan 06, 2017 8:24 am

I think the issue you are encountering with tree data entry may be related to the required data you have selected during your project set-up. However, without seeing your exact project I could be wrong. If you have selected to collect "Land use" for your project then you need to enter a land use for a plot before you can enter any tree data for that plot. This is because each tree must be assigned to a land use. To assign a land use to a plot go to Data>Inventory Data>Plots. Once you have entered data for a given plot you should click on the "Land Use" tab at the bottom of that screen to enter a land use for whichever plot is selected in the plot table. Additionally, you will not be able to enter any tree data unless the "% tree" column in the Plot table has a value greater than 0%. These are all data integrity checks to ensure that your plot and tree data agree.
If that doesn't fix the issue feel free to send us your packed project, which you can create from the file menu, at info@itreetools.org and we will take another look.

As for the unhandled exception error you encountered this is a known issue that should be resolved in a future update of the software. You should be able to hit "continue" when you encounter that issue and proceed with data entry.

Lastly, you can change the plot id field for a given plot but that field is designed to contain only numbers so your plot ID system can't contain any text or punctuation.

Thanks for your questions,
Jason
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skarwath1
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2016 4:32 pm

Re: Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by skarwath1 » Fri Jan 06, 2017 12:37 pm

Thank you very much for your help.

I have another question about the types of projects. From what I understand, there are two types of projects- complete inventory and plot sample. I had originally set up my project as plot sample, because we measured trees in 33 designated plots that each had a 36 ft radius. We made a note of the latitude and longitude and the strata description for each plot. I would like to enter the tree information into a spreadsheet and import it into the program rather than typing the information into Data > Trees, because we measured a few hundred trees. Do you think that I should set my project up as complete inventory instead? I noticed that in complete inventory projects, you cannot enter plot information. Is that correct?

For a complete inventory project, can the tree information be typed into the Itree Eco Complete Inventory Data Sheet and imported? If so, I have a couple of questions about that data sheet. Is the Ht DBH (cell I4) the total height of the tree? Should the tree species be entered as the abbreviation? Do the required fields depend on how I set up my Project Definition?
azelaya
i-Tree Team
Posts: 372
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:50 am

Re: Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by azelaya » Sat Jan 07, 2017 10:03 am

You are correct that the external data import option is only available for Eco complete inventory projects. We do not have a similar process yet for importing data into Eco sample projects because of the complexity of populating multiple underlying database tables for plots, ground covers, shrubs & trees. So, you are limited in import capabilities.

My thoughts on importing your data into a inventory project are limited as I don't know the overall objective(s) of your project. Yes, you can certainly import the plot tree data into an Eco inventory project but you will only have estimates for those individual trees and a summary of those trees. I am assuming that the plots were randomly distributed over an area of interest and the original project intent may have been to estimate the composition of the trees and ecosystem services in that overall area of interest. so, you will loose the extrapolated population estimates for the overall area which may give you a different estimates than the individual tree estimates...depending on the vegetation sampled and distribution of the vegetation. Also, some plot characteristics such as the %tree cover will not be factored in estimates.

One other advantage of the plot project, if you have data collected for plots already, is that Eco v6 will also give you the individual tree estimates. You can see this if you open one of the sample projects for Grand Rapids or Adrian. THose are plot based projects which have both the extrapolated estimates based on plot sampling. The Measured Tree Details Reports will give you estimates for the individual trees collected in the plots also.

As an option to manual data entry directly into the Eco plot based project, you can consider using the Mobile Data Collection system (MDC) to allow multiple people to enter plot/tree data for your project. Although the MDC system was designed for field data collection, there are users who use the system for entering data collected on paper forms - or what we call distributed data entry. This can be helpful if others are available to assist with data entry using the MDC. You would just need to coordinate the plot data entry among individuals to avoid redundancy as all will have access to all plots if they are entering using the MDC on a computer, tablet or phone.

As for your other question...

Yes, you can use a spreadsheet to import data into Ecov6 complete inventory. The Eco v6 complete project inventory is much more flexible and data can be mapped to accepted Eco v6 fields from a spreadsheet. I would advise you to watch this short video to get a feel for how this works https://youtu.be/m3riZhE_uSg?list=PLTpJ ... hW-SL4QHry . You can also see the Guide for Importing https://www.itreetools.org/resources/ma ... porter.pdf

HtDBH is referring to the measurement where the DBH measurement is taken - typically 4.5 ft for English or 1.3/1.4 for metric projects.

Species entry is flexible for importing into Eco v6 and you can use species codes, scientific names or common names. For example, you can use ACRU, or Acer rubrum, or red maple. You should be consistent and it is easier to use codes or scientific names. Common names can vary and may require more mapping to accepted or available species. You can view the codes, scientific names and common names used in Eco by selecting View>Species Codes or Species List. This may be helpful for refining or checking to see if a tree is available before importing.

Required fields - yes, you really only need to account for the fields that you have elected to collect during your project configuration. So, you may only have a few of the variables from the spreadsheet template besides those that are required.

-Al
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skarwath1
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2016 4:32 pm

Re: Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by skarwath1 » Thu Feb 09, 2017 3:59 pm

Hello,

We only measured 1 DBH on the trees (on the main trunk), but when entering the tree data into iTree, I noticed that the additional DBH check boxes were checked, and if I unchecked them and reopened the program, they become checked again. Will I have to uncheck all of the boxes before we submit the data for processing, or does it not matter that the boxes are checked since there were no measurements entered?

Thank you.
azelaya
i-Tree Team
Posts: 372
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:50 am

Re: Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by azelaya » Thu Feb 09, 2017 5:53 pm

Hello,

No, you do not need to uncheck those boxes and they will be accepted when data is submitted for processing.

Just to clarify for others, this is referring to the (6) check boxes for DBH1:Measured?; DBH2:Measured?, etc. which correspond with DBH1- 6. All are checked in the Data>Inventory Data>Trees entry sheet in Eco v6 but will not cause issues regardless if tree data is populated. You can also select the Check Data option in the menu which will also let you know if there are any data entry issues that may prevent transfer for processing.

Al
A member of the i-Tree Team
skarwath1
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2016 4:32 pm

Re: Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by skarwath1 » Wed Feb 15, 2017 5:15 pm

I selected the Check Data option before submitting the data for processing to make sure all information was entered, but I received a message stating that there is invalid crown top height and crown widths, invalid crown base height, and invalid percent crown missing. We measured the crown width but not crown top height, crown base height, or crown percent missing. Can you please advise on how to proceed? Can I submit the data for processing if that information is not entered?
Thank you.
azelaya
i-Tree Team
Posts: 372
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:50 am

Re: Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by azelaya » Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:09 am

The data validation error is being generated because activating or toggling on the "Crown Size" check box in project configuration then requires you to enter the (4) items listed below:
  • Height to live Top
    Height to crown base
    Crown width
    Percent crown missing
A data validation error will be generated if all (4) Crown Size variables are not entered for each tree. If you do not have all four crown size data, you can either estimate those missing values and enter those for the trees in your inventory.

Or, you can go back to the Project configuration > project definition > data collection options and toggle off the Crown Size option. If you do this option, your crown width information collected will not be used and the model will estimate the crown size variables. You should not have to change any data already entered and the existing crown widths should be ignored.

Unfortunately, those (4) crown variables are required as a group for that estimate. There are some variables that a can be entered alone such as the total tree height .
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JUANmauricio
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu May 30, 2019 2:27 pm

Re: Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by JUANmauricio » Thu May 30, 2019 2:46 pm

Hi, my name is Mauricio, I have a question when I'm importing my excel database in the field of Height the program just accept trees height under the value of 6.5m, but I have trees taller than 6.5m, so many of the trees can't be importing. Note: I'm using I tree in the option of complete inventory, and I already selected the option TREES and no shrubs. Thank you.
Jason.Henning
i-Tree Team
Posts: 337
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:45 am

Re: Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by Jason.Henning » Thu May 30, 2019 3:13 pm

Hello Mauricio,
I can't recreate this exact issue but there may be a couple things going on. It is possible that you are trying to import your height data into the "dbh height" field. That field is used for the height at which DBH is measured and is capped at 6.0 m. Alternatively, if you are importing both "total height" and "crown top height" data your crown top height must always be less than or equal to you total height. If you have total heights of 6.5 meters and are trying to import crown top heights that are taller that could be causing this issue.
If you take a look at your project and data and find that none of these issues are present then please send us your spreadsheet data, packed project, and a screen shot of the error so we can troubleshoot further. You can create a packed project from the "file" menu in i-Tree Eco. You can send all of this to our support email, info@itreetools.org.
Thanks,
Jason
A member of the i-Tree Team
JUANmauricio
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu May 30, 2019 2:27 pm

Re: Eco Tree Inventory/Adding Trees

Post by JUANmauricio » Thu May 30, 2019 3:20 pm

Thank you Jason, I already fixed the problem. :D
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