New Zealand mudsnail mapping project

This is an experimental page allowing data entry for positive New Zealand mudsnail collections. The goal is to create a on-line mapping system of the most basic data only. Significant new records should also be reported directly to the appropriate state contact person. This may be done at this end also. Any new HUC cateloging unit should be considered a "significant new record".

Basic Data Elements

There are only 12 data elements for each collection report. The input program works in 2 steps to better use, and thus verify the location data.
  1. Latitude and longitude: These can be input as decimal degrees, degrees and decimal minutes, or degrees, minutes and decimal seconds.
  2. State and County: Default values are selected based on the location data. If the location is near boundaries, multiple options will be available.
  3. HUC cataloging unit: A default value is selected based on the location data. If the location is near boundaries, multiple options will be available.
  4. Omernik 1987 Ecoregion: A default value is selected based on the location data. If the location is near boundaries, multiple options will be available.
  5. Elevation: A default value is selected based on the location data. You can replace this value if better data are available.
  6. Mudsnail Density: Select 1 of 3 crude levels (sparse, moderate or abundant). The default in moderate. Sparse populations are generally not even noticed while in the field. Sparse populations may range up to a few hundred per square meter. Note that 100 snails per square meter is only 1 snail for each 10 by 10 cm square, and for a 5 mm snail in a complex 3-dimensional environment with various substrates, this really is barely noticeable. Moderate populations are more like a few thousand per square meter. Anyone working on mudsnails knows what abundant means!
  7. Collection Date: Input by selecting the month and day and entering the year. The default year is the current year. Day and month have no default value.
  8. Water Body and Location: A 36 character label, something like "Madison River at Bakers Hole". Puting the major water body name first will allow the sorted tables to be more useful.
  9. Field Collector:The person or people doing the field work. Use initials if necessary to limit the input to 20 characters.
  10. Contact Person:The person in charge of coordinating the data, identifing the snail and assuring quality control (to the extend possible).
  11. Sample Code Number: An optional 10 character label. This may help the contact person or the collector find more information or it might be used on-line to link to additional information. For example, most samples by D.L. Gustafson have site pictures available on-line.
  12. Comments: Anything at all (up to 512 characters). The comment can include HTML tags and links.

Data Quality and Security

New data entered here will not go on-line automatically. Please send me an e-mail after entering a batch of data and I will get it on-line as soon as possible. In any case, I will always notify the contact person when adding new data in their name. Data from unknown people will not go on-line, so please introduce yourself and provide some contact information. The forms are not encrypted- this is only snail data!

Report a new mudsnail collection now.

2002 FEB 02, updated on 2008 APR 21 dlg@rapid.msu.montana.edu