The UKHab Survey – Recording Individual Trees

3 minutes

In this document we explain how to record individual trees within the UKHab survey app.

As a general note, the correct way to record trees in UKHab surveys is to use the primary code of the habitat surrounding the tree. Trees themselves are then added as secondary codes e.g. a mature tree is added using the ‘additional’ secondary code of 203. A mature tree in grassland would therefore be recorded as g~ 203 (The tilde symbol is used in UKHab to indicate any sub-set of the habitat, so in this case could be g1, g2, g3, g4, g1a etc.).

Instructions

To begin, open a UKHab Survey project in the app.

Select the blue ‘Add record’ button in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.

Select the ‘UKHab Survey’ form from the list.

Ensure that you have ‘Point’ selected as your geometry feature in the dropdown menu at the top left corner of the screen.

Select the blue ‘Add Point’ tool to drop your point, marking the location of the tree you are recording.

To confirm the placement of your point tap the white ‘Tick’ icon.

Select ‘Next’

Record the base habitat’s primary codes to the appropriate level.

When finished select the blue ‘Next’ button.

You will now be prompted to add secondary codes to your record. For an individual tree:

Tap the ‘Select additional secondary codes’ box.

In the search bar type ‘tree’.

You will now see a list of the available secondary codes for trees.

Select the appropriate code from your list.

Select ‘Confirm’ and then ‘Next’ to continue.

You’ll now be on species recording page. If you wish to record the species of tree you can find out how to do so here.

Tap ‘Next’ again to continue.

If you are recording your tree in a grassland, heathland, cropland or urban habitat then the app will now present you with the option of also recording a metric habitat type that is not part of UKHab.

Tap the drop down box to open up the code list.

Type ‘Tree’ in the search box.

Select whether you are recording an ‘Urban Tree’ or ‘Rural Tree’.
Tap ‘Next’ when done.

You will now be presented with the option of performing condition assessments. Note that if your base habitat qualifies (e.g. your tree is in “Other neutral grassland”) say “No” to the base habitat’s condition assessment. You’ll then move on to the condition assessment for individual trees.

Tap ‘Yes’ to select to add condition criteria for individual trees. This will present you with the relevant condition questions to answer.

Work your way through each question answering ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ as appropriate.
Select ‘Next’ when finished

Once you have answered the condition criteria questions you will have the option to add a DBH recording to your tree record. Note that this expects an answer in cm not metres.

Tap ‘Next’ when finished.

Should you wish to add justification or notes to your response you can do so using the note boxes associated with each question on the following page.