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Helpful Apps to Learn about Your Woodland
Curious about your woodland but don’t know where to start? Whether you are interested in learning about your property’s birds, plants, or soil type, you can start by checking out the apps featured below!
iNaturalist: iNaturalist is an app used for those curious about everything their woodlands have to offer! This app is used worldwide, and is intended for folks to use to identify and report plant and animal species of all kinds. iNaturalist will help you determine a plant or animal species by having you take a photo on the app or upload a photo that was already taken. As described by iNaturalist, “Your observation becomes open data — used by scientists, conservationists, and researchers worldwide.” The app is available on the App Store and on Google Play.
Seek: Seek is an app developed by the same creators as iNaturalist, and it is intended to be used by land stewards of the future (i.e. those under age 13) . Using the Seek app, you can earn badges and participate in challenges based on the species you find. The app is available on the App Store and on Google Play.
EddMaps: EddMaps (which stands for Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System) is an online platform that allows you to report invasive species to a national database of invasive species populations. The app is easy to use and asks for basic information on each population reported, including the species, the time searching for the species, and a photo of the plant for verification purposes. There is also a guide for learning about invasive species by type. The app is available on the App Store and on Google Play.
Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab: Merlin Bird ID is a very helpful bird identification app for birders of all ages and experiences. This app allows you to identify birds by sound, photo, or by using a step by step guide. You will need to create a Cornell lab account, which can also be used to sign into the eBird app. This app is available on the App Store and on Google Play.
eBird: eBird is an app developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that is intended to be a companion app to the Merlin bird ID app. Instead of being used as an ID guide, eBird is used as a log to keep track of the birds you spot. You can create checklists of species you want to see, and you can even view reports of birds that have been spotted by other eBird users in your area. You can sign into eBird using the same account you create for the Merlin Bird ID app. This app is available on the App Store and on Google Play.
onX Hunt: Onx hunt is an app that was developed for use by hunters to navigate property boundaries. The layers on the maps, however, can show additional data, such as historic wildfires, timber cuts, drought data, acorn producing oaks, and more! This app is available on the App Store and on Google Play.
SoilWeb: SoilWeb is an app that allows you to retrieve USDA-NRCS managed SSURGO (soil survey) data by location, including soil type, drainage characteristics, soil use, etc. Knowing your soil type is important to inform use and management decisions, and this app retrieves this data for you in seconds. The app is a portable version of UC Davis California Soil Resource Lab’s online soil survey browser. This app is available on the App Store and on Google Play.
vTree: vTree is an app developed by Virginia Tech that contains fact sheets for "1,136 wood plants from all over North America”. Using location data and an easy to use key, the app can narrow down this list of 1,136 plants to the plants that have been identified in the region you are in to allow you to easily identify plants species in your woodland. This app is available on the App Store and on Google Play.
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