This open-source tool allows users to conduct a Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) measuring a site’s habitat condition or a specified natural plant community’s condition on a site. A user specifies a region within the United States and enters basic information about a specific site such as date, location, and weather on the day of observation. The user then uploads an inventory assessment of plants observed on site, with plants added individually or in bulk using scientific names or common names. Plants on site may also be documented using transect/plot assessment methods. Once a plant list is completed, an Excel file of results is downloaded that summarizes the Conservativism-based metrics. These types of metrics use the estimated probability that a plant would have been found in that area before human occupation as an indicator for habitat quality, including Total Mean C and Floristic Quality Index. The open-source database also allows users to upload their FQA and plant lists for public viewing.
An additional resource on FQA can be found here: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.2825
