Species lists ease data entry and help to keep the data consistent. They are imported from tabular text files that can be edited and exchanged between devices. Species lists are hosted on a web server and can be downloaded from the menu (Species > Download) or loaded from disk (Species > Load from disk). A link in the action bar displays the active species list and links to related functions in the menu.
To work efficiently you need to activate a species list of your area. If your area is not covered and you have a complete checklist (synonymized if possible), contact us at greens[at]vegapp.de. We will ask for a citation and for a license allowing that use. The availability of species lists is currently a major limitation but more lists will be provided over time.
A custom species table can be imported using the menu (Species > Load from disk). To build your own list create a text file with nine columns delimited by ";" and store it as utf-8. This file needs to be named "species.txt" and sit in a folder which may have the short name of the list. Here is an example for the first lines of a valid file (wrapped lines):
SPECIES_LU_VERSION; Short name of the list goes here
TERMS_AND_CONDITIONS; Terms of use, citation etc.
SPECIES_NR;NAME;GENUS;SPECIES;AUTHOR;SYNONYM;VALID_NR;VALID_NAME;SECUNDUM
1;Abies alba;Abies;alba;NA;FALSE;1;Abies alba;NA
2;Abies sp.;Abies;sp.;NA;FALSE;2;Abies sp.;NA
3;Bromus hordeaceus;Bromus;hordeaceus;NA;FALSE;4;Bromus hordeaceus;NA
4;Bromus mollis;Bromus;mollis;NA;TRUE;3;Bromus hordeaceus;NA
The first header line specifies a name for the list (write the name after the semicolon, this name shows up in the action bar). The second line describes the origin of the data and the terms of use. As before, the part before the semicolon remains unchanged. These two first lines have only one column separator (";"), the others have eight. The specification of the table columns is as follows.
Specification of columns in species lists
| SPECIES_NR | Unique identifier of the taxon (numeric or character). Numbers 1 - 1,000,000 are reserved for user-defined lists. Avoid other numbers and take care that number spaces do not overlap if you use multiple user-defined lists |
| NAME | Scientific name without author citation (see the fields GENUS and SPECIES for details), in alphabetical order. |
| GENUS | Latin name of the genus like Cocos in Cocos nucifera. Names for hybrids between representatives of different genera (nothogeneric names) also go here. |
| SPECIES | The rest of the name except for the author citation. This field usually takes the latin specific epithet like nucifera in Cocos nucifera but it may also contain intraspecific epithets and connecting terms denoting the rank like "subsp.". Also, terms indicating the width of species concepts like "s.str." or "s.l." and other abbreviations like "agg." go here. The same applies to the multiplication sign × in names of hybrids at the species or lower levels. The field should not be empty (use "sp." instead). |
| AUTHOR | - deprecated - |
| SYNONYM | Takes the value TRUE if the taxon is not a valid one but a synonym, otherwise FALSE |
| VALID_NUMBER | The SPECIES_NR entry of the currently preferred species name |
| VALID_NAME | The NAME entry of the currently preferred species name |
| SECUNDUM | - deprecated - |
Vegapp supports user taxon views, meaning that values for AUTHOR and SECUNDUM are not needed in the list (you may enter NA for not available). Entries in NAME need to be unique across a list. If a synonym is used for more than one preferred VALID_NAME this synonym should not show up in your list in order to avoid confusion. Errors in the references between NAME, VALID_NAME, SPECIES_NR and VALID_NUMBER lead to malfunction.