The digital shift has had an impact on many areas, and ecological research is not an exception. These days, very few people rely on paper notes, old-school compasses, and physical maps. All of that can be done much easier with the right technology. With a smartphone, tablet, or PC, modern ecologists can efficiently collect and analyze large amounts of data, track species, navigate through remote areas, plan and manage research projects, and do many other things.
In this guide, we will explore some essential software that is widely used in the ecologists’ community and can significantly improve the research and fieldwork experiences.
What Types of Programs Can Be Useful for Ecologists
Ecological research spans many activities, from fieldwork and data collection to project management and literature reviews. The software needs of ecologists typically include project management tools for organizing research timelines, field data collection apps for recording observations, navigation and mapping software for fieldwork in remote areas, scientific literature management for keeping up with research, and species identification apps that can connect with citizen science initiatives.
Let’s look at specific software tools that can benefit ecologists in their daily work.
Visualizing Research Timeline with GanttPRO
GanttPRO offers compelling project management features and a robust Gantt chart tool that ecologists can use to plan research activities on a timeline. For example, it can be valuable when planning seasonal fieldwork that must follow the natural flow of specific biological events. i.e., migrations, blooming or breeding seasons.
Researchers can use GanttPRO to lay out ecological studies as a set of steps and tasks, assign responsibilities if they work in a group, and set deadlines that take into account environmental factors, among others. The timeline visualizes whether any of the research components overlap or depend on each other. With this, researchers can optimize the schedule and resource distribution.
For grant-funded research, GanttPRO is helpful to track progress against milestones and report to stakeholders on the progress. A static chart or a live link can show anyone the breakthroughs and the blockages in the process.
Centralizing Research Collaboration with ProofHub
Ecological research is often multidisciplinary and involves collaboration across different institutions. ProofHub can become an excellent central hub where research participants communicate, attach files, and track the overall progress of different stages. The platform is also suitable for task management and time tracking.
ProofHub provides a general picture of who’s working on what, when it has started, and will finish. With the file-sharing capabilities, research teams can distribute field protocols, templates for data collection, and findings among participants.
The platform’s proofing tools are nice for reviewing research papers, grant applications, and reports. Team members can leave their comments and feedback directly on documents without switching to other apps or emails.
Keep Account of Field Journeys with MyTracks
MyTracks is a GPS tracking application. It registers details like your path, speed, distance, and elevation while you move in a study area. For ecologists working on transect surveys or assessing habitat, this app helps get detailed records of where they’ve been and what they’ve seen.
The routes that the app generates can be exported to GIS software later. Ecologist can use the data for analysis or simply include it in research papers to explain their research methods. It’s pretty detailed and includes waypoints at marked locations, notes and photos, and even the time that has been spent at each sampling point.
One important note is that MyTracks works offline. Remote fieldwork is often conducted in places without signal, so this possibility fits just right. For longer expeditions, a battery-saving mode helps keep the device alive for several days in the field. Once the connectivity is back, all data can be backed up to the cloud.
Navigating Off the Beaten Path with OsmAnd
Ecological fieldwork doesn’t usually happen in conventional places. Most often, those are places where maps offer limited detail. OsmAnd is a solution to this, as it provides offline maps based on OpenStreetMap data. It includes trails, paths, and natural features that people wouldn’t normally find on standard maps.
Researchers can download maps for specific regions before deploying to the field, and have access to them later, even without cell service. Other possibilities include marking sampling locations, creating custom maps with the sites will be explored, and sharing locations with other people.
Ecologists who analyze habitat fragmentation or work in complex landscapes will appreciate that OsmAnd shows topographic information and land cover types. It adds valuable context and simplifies the navigation. The GPX tracks are also helpful, as they guide users through predetermined routes and let them record their movements for subsequent analysis.
Orienting in Remote Areas with Smart Compass
Nowadays, every smartphone has a built-in compass. However, the Smart Compass app is more than just a regular compass. It provides additional functionality that will be particularly useful for field researchers. First of all, it offers precise headings and GPS coordinates. Users can also mark locations and determine the distance between specific points.
For those who need to set up sampling grids or transects, Smart Compass ensures that the lines are straight and the spacing between points is accurate. There’s also a night mode to have night vision in nocturnal studies, and an offline mode that is especially practical in remote environments.
There’s a level feature that checks that equipment like camera traps and monitoring devices are properly positioned. The compass calibration tools ensure better accuracy in areas with potential magnetic interferences.
Organizing Research Materials with Mendeley
Once the research moves back from the field to the desk, it’s time to work on theory. Here’s where Mendeley can help. It’s a popular program that assists with research paper organization, generating citations, and annotating PDFs. The software composes a database with easily searchable references and helps find relevant studies when writing grant proposals or research papers.
Ecologists will like Mendeley for the ability to tag papers by different categories (e.g., species, ecosystem type, or methodology). This simplifies information retrieval when working on new research protocols. There’s a shared library for research teams to build a collective knowledge base. Each researcher can then make private annotations to track papers that are relevant for their work.
Another useful feature is the software’s integration with word processors. So, supposing the ecologist is writing down everything in Word, he or she will have a much simpler citation experience. Mendeley can automatically format references following the requirements of ecological journals. It can even suggest related papers based on the existing library and help discover overlooked research.
Digitizing Notes and Specimens with Google PhotoScan
Ecologists who still use notebooks or need to digitize plant specimens have to try Google PhotoScan. The app works like a high-quality scanner to create digital copies of physical documents and samples.
It takes care of all the aspects to create clean, professional scans: automatically detects edges, corrects perspective, and combines images. In other words, it provides all the means to quickly digitize notes, herbarium specimens, or hand-written maps with a simple mobile app.
No need to explain how useful this is. These scans can be further shared with other people, added to databases, and, what’s more important, used as backups when physical specimens get damaged or lost.
Collection of Specialized Data with Pollinators
Some apps are designed for specific areas of ecological studies. Plant-pollinator researchers, for example, will find the Pollinators app very handy. It provides tools required for this particular area, and records visitation rates, pollinator behavior, and plant phenology. The app includes taxonomic keys for identifying common pollinators and standardized protocols for particular studies.
Users can register timed observations, note flower visitation sequences, and link together photos of pollinators and corresponding plants. It’s also great that the data structure is tuned with common methodologies in pollination ecology. Therefore, it will be easy to compare results with other studies.
Just like with other apps in the list, Pollinators works offline. Users also value its data export features that help sync the app with statistical software for further analysis. The results and data in general can be shared within the community in a large database.
Monitoring Forest Conditions and Phenology with Tree Watch
With Tree Watch, ecologists can monitor individual trees or the entire forest stands over time, and track different phenological events, e.g., budding, flowering, and leaf fall. Observations are standardized, so researchers can be sure that data is collected consistently and coherently for long-term studies.
Tree Watch provides templates to record signs of stress, disease, or insect damage, for studies on climate change impacts on forests. The geolocation helps to determine where to return to observe the same tree over time, and the photo documentation feature helps to capture its visual changes.
There’s a database that allows researchers to monitor individual trees and entire populations, depending on the scale. Data can be exported in formats compatible with common ecological analysis software, streamlining the research workflow.
Ornithological Research with eBird
For ecologists studying birds or using them as ecological indicators, eBird is the real deal. It provides access to millions of observations from different parts of the world.
Ornithologists can use the app to record their bird sightings using predetermined checklists and contribute this to a large database used by hundreds of researchers around the world. It is also possible to download data for specific regions, indicate periods, or species, in the context of ecological studies and observations.
On top of that, eBird includes mapping tools to visualize migration patterns, how species are distributed, and what the population trends are in general. This may be useful for conservation planning and habitat management. Lastly, there are quality control measures that ensure the data is reliable for scientific use.
Conclusion
The digital toolkit available for researchers today goes far beyond what we have covered here, but these software programs can help with many common needs in ecological research. By using them, ecologists can enhance their efficiency and achieve better results.
However, it is important to remember one thing. Digital tools indeed offer more possibilities for ecological research, but there may be a hidden danger in them. By becoming so focused and dependent on screens, signals, and technology, it is quite easy to forget to simply be in nature. Technology should amplify knowledge, but never replace it, especially when it comes to ecological issues. Moving deeper into the digital landscape, remember to look up from the map and actually listen to nature.
