Define Species & Species Value Questions

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mdwegner
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:47 am

Define Species & Species Value Questions

Post by mdwegner » Mon Mar 04, 2013 12:00 pm

Am I right in thinking that the climate zone that is chosen for a project dictates what species are automatically defined? For example, I have Katsura Tree in my inventory. My climate zone is Midwest, which does not have Katsura Tree in the species listing. I now have to fill in the common name, scientific name, and assigned species value.

The problem that arises from this is, the possible scientific names in the drop down box is nowhere near complete, resulting in having to designate Katsura Tree as a broadleaf deciduous medium. Even though Katsura Tree has a species value in the Pacific NW. Why can't I choose/type in this value?

Also, what is one to do for vacant sites (AVPS) or stumps? Are these supposed to be deleted from the inventory or what should I put for the common/scientific/species value???

Thank you for any help.

Mark Wegner
Jason.Henning
i-Tree Team
Posts: 337
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:45 am

Define Species & Species Value Questions

Post by Jason.Henning » Mon Mar 04, 2013 3:17 pm

Hi Mark,

You are correct that the climate zone selected determines the species codes available. Here is the list of all species codes by climate zone (http://www.itreetools.org/streets/resou ... 0Codes.xls).

Regarding the limited number of species in i-Tree Streets. Streets is based on the USFS Community Tree Guides which can be accessed from the Resources - Archives page http://www.itreetools.org/resources/archives.php under the i-Tree Streets Reference City Tree Guides tab

The tree guides actually only measured most abundant species in the reference cities. The less abundant species were not measured so the must be assigned as being most similar to one of the abundant species. We've incorporated a number of those assignments into streets for common species but feel that for less common species these assignments are best left to the user.

In the Pacific NW you'll see the Katsura is actually assigned a species value of broad leaf deciduous medium (BDM) the same as what you are assigning.

Also, you can add any species and assign them any species value you wish by going to the "Input" menu in Streets and selecting "Species". For additional directions about adding species to streets and handling vacant sites or stumps please see pages 42 and 43 of the users manual (http://www.itreetools.org/resources/man ... ual_v5.pdf).

Hope that helps clarify what Streets is doing with species codes.

-Jason
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