As a member of the Ohio Environmental Council’s Ohio Vernal Pool Partnership and a consulting Professional Wetland Scientist, I have opportunities each spring to visit and evaluate vernal pools.  I also happen to be an iPhone owner and avid app user.  During a foray to several Dublin area vernal pools this past spring, I discovered, to my delight, that my app-happy ways had a payoff:  my iPhone was loaded with tools that proved handy during vernal pool monitoring.  Many of these apps also lend themselves to broader ecological applications, and field biologists and ecologists may want to become familiar with these resources (which are inexpensive and often free).

On the night I became fully aware of what a useful field tool a well-loaded iPhone could be, I started my journey using the screen as a flashlight to check my site map.  I then fired up the “Maps” program and used the GPS-based navigation to find my way along the trail in the darkness, easily locating and positioning myself on the edge of each vernal pool.  At each site, I set my iPhone timer for 20 minutes of observation, I then switched to my “Thermometer” app for a temperature reading (based on my GPS coordinates and local weather station data) followed by my “Wind Speed” app to get a real-time (and from what I’ve read, relatively accurate) estimate of wind speed based on an algorithm that computes the rate of air movement across the microphone as a function of the noise volume that the microphone is able to detect.

Once I started hearing gray tree frogs and American toads, I opened yet another app (“Voice Memos”) to record their calls for my site record.  I also used earphones and a program called “Amplitude” to boost my auditory experience by amplifying the night sounds around me, allowing me to better discern the different amphibian (and insect) species calling.  Noticing that traffic noise in the area was considerable, I also used “Decibel” to measure maximum and average noise levels for future reference.  I then used my “Notes” app to record my latitude/longitude (back to the Maps app), the date and time of my visit, and other pertinent observations I’d made about ambient conditions and the species I was hearing.  When all my notes were compiled, I was able to e-mail the entire file (plus my audio file!) to my work account, so I’d have a copy of my records at the office.

While not all apps are created equal, and some are not as accurate as the higher-priced and bulkier field meters they mimic, I have found many that are sufficient for basic monitoring and on-the-fly decision making.  And they are (obviously) transportable and affordable:  a plus for any underpaid and overloaded environmental scientist that spends a lot of time in the field.  For instance, I use my wind meter and other weather apps when deciding when my team can and cannot initiate herbicide application for invasive species control.  I use the phone’s camera when the need arises (i.e., if I don’t have my field camera) or if I want to get an image to a client immediately, via e-mail.  I use TopoPoint, Elevation Pro, Clinometer, and Google Earth for mapping and landscape applications (e.g., checking locations, measuring slopes, etc.).  I was also thrilled to recently find an app called “SoilWeb” that will give you soils information based on your location anywhere in the U.S.!

For nature enthusiasts, more and more field guides are being converted to apps, many with color photos and audio recordings to enhance their utility.  There are also neat programs to share wildlife observations, including “Birdpost,” The Wildlab,” and “WildObs” observer.  Surely, many other useful apps are out there, waiting to be found in less-frequented dusty corners of the App Store and new apps are being created and made available daily.  So long as you can get a signal, it seems that the sky is the limit as to what these apps may some day be capable of.  The potential for the iPhone to become a powerful tool for the environmental sciences and “citizen scientists” is impressive, and I encourage iPhone owners with an interest in the environment to explore these and other potentially useful programs as they peruse the offerings at the App Store.

~Mark

www.environmentalconsultingohio.com/

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