2023-2028 trial participants: observations start on April 1st!

Fagus transplanting and Abies observation form for 2026

For macro-garden participants

Fagus transplanting in fall 2025 or spring 2026

We are establishing the Fagus macro-gardens following a randomized block design.

Please provide the following information:

site information (coordinates, and any available site description such as soil or canopy conditions, see template attached)
basic design information (date of planting, number of seedlings per species/family, layout if available, see template attached)
survival/establishment data (ideally counts of alive seedlings per unit or per family; if data is already available)

You can record the information as it is available (leave anything blank that is not relevant or not applicable).

Make your own copy of the template, then upload your information directly to your respective Data/Garden_ID folder on Google Drive. Please use this opportunity to complete any missing information in your GardenDates files.

We also always appreciate photos of the saplings, the sites, and/or the nurseries. Let us know if you don’t have access to the Google Drive or encounter other issues.

Contact: Sofia van Moorsel <sofia.vanmoorsel@geo.uzh.ch>

Abies seedlings stay in the nursery in 2026

A single observation form will be used throughout the year to monitor spring phenology, summer survival, fall senescence (Fagus), and height. You only need to make sure that you choose the correct form for your species, Abies or Fagus. The form's structure is similar to last year's, with some improvements based on your feedback.

Note that all forms are available on our server, ONA, and can be accessed using your ONA username.

For iPhones:

Access the observation form using the web app Enketo:

2026_PhenologySurvivalHeightAbies: https://enketo.ona.io/x/8Ikm1Fx7

For Android phones:

Download the App ODK Collect from Google Play and configure it using the QR code.

For more information about the ENKETO webform please visit the site for 2024 observations

Contact: Katalin Csillery <katalin.csillery@wsl.ch>

When should I make the observations?

Each macro-garden participant can make as many observations as s/he can. We ask every participant to make at least two observations during the spring, one in the summer, and two in the autumn. Height could be observed only in the autumn. During spring and summer monitoring, select "no" for form requests that include height observations.

Observe your seedlings starting from the NW corner

You will go through the whole macro-garden, observing the seedlings from the North West corner, moving from left to right and from top to bottom, as if you were reading a book. If you perform your observations across different days, mark the family where you stopped and continue from there the next day. You can mark the NW corner of the garden with a coloured tag or a flag to help future observations.

Submit your form after having observed ~10 families to prevent data loss

Based on our experience from 2024, we recommend submitting your observations for 10 families at once.

Observing phenology and survival

Split your nursery space for a family into four equal parts, and count the seedlings in two quarters. The form will propose two randomly selected quarters to observe; for example, the first quarter is shown in this image.

Tip: Use sticks with appropriate half/quarter marks as needed to divide the space into four equal parts.

Observing height

Note that in 2026 we will observe height in mm!

Abies measurement

Fagus measurement

Where is my data?

The observations are stored on our ONA servers and are accessible to all macro-garden participants, but not for third parties. Please create an ONA account so you can be added to the project website: https://ona.io/mygardenoftrees/231749

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