Custom species lists for surveys

Why might we need to make species lists?

Species lists are useful for particular survey types, for example if we are looking for a specific set of invasive species on site we might want a survey form which gives us a checklist with those species and we can just tick them off, rather than trying to find each of them in the species inventory every time we want to record one of the species.

You must be logged in as a user with the survey admin role. See Roles 

Viewing species lists

In the 'Survey' menu:

A table of species lists with their name, description, how many species, and the edit button. Click on edit to view/edit the species list

Creating/Editing species lists

You create species lists by clicking the 'Create new species list' button. 

You edit existing species lists by clicking the 'Edit' button in the 'Actions' column.

The species lists will be at a web URL like /species-lists/edit?scratchpad_list_id=4532 where the final number is the species list ID

The create or edit a species list page will look like so:

This is the same page as you use for setting up your sensitive species list, see General admin 

The list has a title and description, please make this descriptive so that someone else knows what this species list is about.

The main box is where you build your species list. Each new line has one species. Enter the scientific (preferable as it is more precise) or common name of species, each on a new line. Then click on 'Check' to check the species against the Nature Counts taxonomy. Each species will either be

• Matched: a species match has been found on the species inventory - great!

• Queries: the species name you have given may have a few different names or versions of the taxonomy, click the correct one.

• Unmatched: no match could be found 🙁 check spelling, or try using scientific name instead?

The page will only let you save a species list if every species has been marked as accepted.

The order you add these species are the order that they will appear on any survey form using this list. If you are creating an online version of a physical form it is important to get species in the same order to make the data input easier.