Presence Records

Certain information is required when submitting data to iMapInvasives. The required fields for Presence records (formerly called Observation records) are listed here. We use the term "presence" to distinguish these records from "not detected" records, which are negative observation records where a species was looked for but not found.

See also the pages for Surveys and Treatments.

Presence (Observation) Data

Required Fields

  • Scientific Name
  • Common Name
  • Observation Date
    • if unknown, please provide a default or reasonable guess
    • please use a "Date" data type or format in MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD
  • Observer Name
    • if unknown, the submitter's name will be used
  • Organization Name
    • your agency or organization's name, or "None" if you are an independent observer
  • Location
    • if you are providing non-spatial data, please include the latitude/longitude or other X/Y coordinate information with your projection and datum.
    • if providing a GIS layer, include the projection
  • Universally Unique Identifier (UUID)
    • this allows your record to remain unique even when aggregated into the iMapInvasives dataset, or other shared datasets such as ODA WeedMapper. This will make future updates and sharing of your data much easier. For more information on how to generate a UUID, see this page.

Optional Fields

  • Count of plants or animals seen
  • % Cover (for plants only)
  • Phenology (for plants only)
  • Site Directions
  • Site Access Notes
  • Voucher collection information (herbarium name, accession code)
  • Name of person who ID'd the species
  • Observation comments

If you have additional information in your submitted data, send it on and we'll try to find a place for it.