Monitoring the health and progress of your planted trees is an essential part of any reforestation project. Regular Observations give you an accurate picture of plant survival and density across your site, highlight problems early, and build the data foundation needed for carbon certification.
Terraware's plant monitoring methodology is based on the Common Stand Examination protocol developed by the United States Forest Service, using standard methods in statistics and forestry science. It uses a sampling approach — monitoring a subset of your Planting Site through randomly assigned monitoring plots — to draw statistically meaningful conclusions about the whole site without requiring every plant to be counted.
Planting monitoring with Terraware utilizes both the web application and the mobile application to schedule and conduct Observations. Observations involve field workers recording the status of plants within monitoring plots in Planting Sites.
When to start monitoring
Schedule your first Observation after a planting season for the Planting Site is completed — not before. Conducting an Observation too early, before planting is finished, will affect the accuracy of your plant density and Survival Rate data.
For most projects, you can expect to schedule Observations at the end of each planting season for the first few years, and less frequently once planting is complete. Terraware will send email reminders to your Organization one month before the start date of each scheduled Observation.
Preparing for an Observation
When an Observation is approaching, use the lead time to gather equipment and plan your field work. The monitoring plot coordinates will be available to download from the web app once the Observation starts, and will be visible in the mobile app after you claim your plots.
Equipment checklist
Stakes or corner posts You'll need four stakes per plot to mark the plot boundary. Stakes should be:
- At least 1 meter long — long enough to drive securely into the ground with at least 1 meter remaining above ground so they're easy to find again as vegetation grows.
- Made of durable material — PVC pipe, fiberglass rod, rebar, or hardwood all work well. Choose a material suited to your site's soil and weather conditions. For consistently wet or soggy soil, avoid steel rebar (which corrodes) and hardwood (which can rot).
- Brightly marked — paint or tape the above-ground portion in a neon or bright color that doesn't occur naturally in vegetation.
You'll also need a mallet, post driver, or similar tool to drive stakes into the ground.
Measurement lines A 30-meter length of landscaping tape, cord, or rope for measuring between plot corners. Avoid yarn or string — it stretches, tangles, and snags on vegetation. Having two 30-meter lines plus one 42.43-meter diagonal line can help you create accurate 90-degree corners.
Compass Monitoring plots are aligned with true north. A quality compass declinated to true north will help you orient correctly between corners. With two people holding a measurement line taut between them, place the compass directly on the line and align it with the intended compass direction to ensure the placement of the two posts is as precise as possible.
Plant markers Brightly colored flagging tape or small ground flags to mark plants as you count them, preventing double-counting. Remove all markers before leaving the plot.
Another approach to avoid double-counting: tie a long cord to one of the corner stakes. As one person systematically counts plants through the plot, another person holds the cord and sweeps it over the area that has already been counted, creating a clear boundary between counted and uncounted sections.
Handheld GPS device A commercial dual-band GPS unit (such as a Garmin eTrex 10) to validate the GPS accuracy of your mobile device at plot corners. GPS accuracy matters most for the first corner of each plot — once that corner is correctly placed, the remaining three can be measured out from it.
Writing pad and pen A backup for recording plant counts if your phone runs out of battery or malfunctions in the field. Data recorded on paper should be entered into Terraware as soon as your device is operational again. Paper should always be a backup, never a replacement for the mobile app.
Waterproof phone protection A plastic bag or waterproof case to protect your phone from rain and wet vegetation.
During monitoring
Claiming plots Before heading into the field, claim your plots in the Terraware mobile app while connected to the internet. Only claim as many plots as you can realistically complete in a single day. Once a plot is claimed, no other user can claim or monitor it.
Navigating to plots Use the plot coordinates in the mobile app, validated against your handheld GPS device, to locate each plot. The mobile app will guide you through the boundary setup and plant counting steps.
Setting up plot boundaries GPS accuracy is most critical when marking the first corner of a plot. Wait for your device's GPS to settle before recording a corner location — this can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Once the first corner is accurately placed, measure 30 meters in the correct compass direction to find each subsequent corner.
For permanent plots, stakes should be left in the ground after the Observation so they can be found again in future cycles. For temporary plots, remove all stakes and markers before leaving.
Counting plants Move systematically through the plot to avoid missing or double-counting plants. Use plant markers to flag each plant as you count it. Be thorough — some plants may be hidden in tall grass, and others may have died and partially decomposed. Record live and dead counts by Species using the Terraware mobile app.
Note: For Accelerator projects, the Species list in the mobile app will be populated based on your project's nursery information and your project design document (PDD).
If you observe a Species not on your list, record it under the Other option in the app. If you can't identify a plant's Species, use the Can't Tell option. On the first monitoring of a permanent plot, record any plants that pre-existed your planting activities under the Existing option to establish a baseline.
Remove all flagging tape, ground flags, and any other temporary materials before leaving the plot. The only materials that should remain at a permanent plot after an Observation are the corner stakes.
After monitoring
Upload your Observation data to Terraware as soon as you have a stable internet connection. All saved plot data that hasn't yet been uploaded will be included in a single upload. Make sure your device is charged before starting, or plug it into a power source for the duration of the upload to ensure there's enough battery life. Uploads can take time depending on connection speed and the volume of photos being transferred.
Once the data is uploaded, it will be available in the Terraware web app. Individual plot data can be viewed in the Observations page, and site-level statistics will update in the Plants Dashboard once the Observation is complete.