Interpeting IPED Reports

		Tools for Assessing and Managing Community Forests

Author: Joseph LaForest, University of Georgia and Mike Binkley, Davey Tree

Introduction

Several types of reports have been designed to help users make sense of the data collected in the survey. Below are descriptions of the various reports. A hypothetical case study is also available to show how the reports may be used.

Static reporting

The static reporting summarizes the data without applying any additional resources to identify what the signs and symptoms may mean. These most prevalent sign/symptom/host combination are a good starting point for investigation into what may be affecting your urban forest and may be some of the first items to be analyzed using the IPED Key. They will also be examined in the Dynamic reporting.

Primary Pest Summary

Report showing the trees that had a primary pest identified

This is a simple list of the Primary Pests that can actually be selected out in the field – those pests the data collector felt confident in identifying there and then. A quick way to identify potential problems.

Signs and Symptoms Overview

Static report showing tree species showing a report of a sign or symptom

This report lists all trees in the inventory that have some type of IPED data captured along with them. Data are broken down by species with number and percent of affected trees. A “State of the Forest” in terms of the IPED protocol.

Signs and Symptom Details

Typical report showing signs and symptoms grouped by tree species.

This report provides more detail than the Overview in #4 above – down to the specific sign or symptom with counts and percentages. It is broken down by species, then by the three main IPED categories, and then listed by sign or symptom.

Dynamic reporting of IPED survey data

The IPED development team has created a system to automatically evaluate the data from the survey and compare it against the typical signs and symptoms that are associated with the Early Detection Targets. This does not necessarily mean that the pest or disease is present, but it does highlight what items deserve a closer look since they have many of the expected indicators of an infestation. Once you find an item that you feel deserves more attention and further examination, you can contact the proper experts to verify the new find and determine the proper course of action. More information on the program behind dynamic reporting can be found in the article on the Pest Matrix.

They have also provided the ability to choose your own sign and symptom combinations and see the trees that meet that combination. This would allow you to better explore the collected data using your own expertise to see if there are other problems that do not match the Early Detection Targets.

Primary Pest Details

This is an interactive report so that the user can access the details of those records identified above in the Primary Pest Summary report. Useful for follow up tree inspection.

Sign and Symptom Review

Users can select multiple signs and symptops to see which trees were reported.

After reviewing the above signs and symptoms reports, the user may wish to explore on their own. This report acts like a “query builder” in that the user may check/uncheck multiple signs and symptoms at will to see which tree records are returned. In addition, the bottom third of the report shows other signs and symptoms the returned tree records possess, but that were NOT checked above.

Pest Review

This reporting function examines the IPED tree records to find those that match on some or all of the known signs and symptoms of critical pests. It is not a diagnosis, but rather brings to the forefront tree records that should be examined more thoroughly. Signs and symptoms of the critical pest in question are listed in the top third for review. Trees with at least one of these signs or symptoms on the primary host species are in the middle third. Records with matching signs and symptoms on OTHER hosts are in the bottom third.

Pest Review, expanded

This is the same report as above, however the first grouping has been expanded to show more detail. In this case, six Ash trees have one or more of the ten EAB signs and symptoms. One tree of those six actually matches three of the ten signs and symptoms. The tree record is expanded and they are shown along with any additional, non-EAB signs and symptoms. Two of the six trees match on two of the ten signs and symptoms. This pattern continues for the other three of the six trees, depending on how many signs and symptoms they match, down to one sign or symptom.