Macrophyte.Mapper mobile app

06 July, 2025

BDS blog BDS software RORS blog

Macrophyte.Mapper is a mobile application developed to support the monitoring and documentation of aquatic plant species (macrophytes) in freshwater ecosystems, including rivers, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. It enables both scientists and citizen users to easily record field data by capturing georeferenced observations, photographing species, and organizing findings within structured surveys. By simplifying in-field data collection, MacrophyteMapper helps improve the consistency and quality of aquatic vegetation surveys while promoting active participation in ecological research and environmental stewardship. MacrophyteMapper is a mobile application developed to support the monitoring and documentation of aquatic plant species (macrophytes) in freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. It enables both professionals and citizen scientists to efficiently collect field data by recording georeferenced observations, capturing photos, and organizing findings into structured surveys. The app integrates a function for creating a Braun-Blanquet (BB) table, a widely used method for estimating species abundance and cover in vegetation surveys. This allows users to quickly assign standardized abundance classes to macrophyte species directly in the field, ensuring consistency and comparability across datasets.

All data collected through Macrophyte.Mapper is uploaded to the https://kladia.info server, which is part of the broader mybiOSis ecosystem. mybiOSis is a collaborative platform for biodiversity research, centered around the Nature Digital Object Repository (NDOR) — a global database that catalogs species, habitats, and ecological interactions. Within this system, kladOS serves as an integrated desktop-like toolkit for exploring and managing biodiversity data. As part of kladOS, the Macrophyte.Mapper web application provides an interface for visualizing, filtering, and analyzing data collected with the mobile app, making it a valuable tool for scientific insight, environmental education, and policy support.

The Macrophyte.Mapper app will soon be available for download on Google Play, making it even easier to contribute to monitoring macrophytes directly from your smartphone.

Biodiv.Systems S.R.L. producer Timisoara, Romania info@biodiv.systems	AquaEcology GmbH & Co. KG contractor Oldenburg, Germany info@aquaecology.de
myNature Association curator of NDOR Timișoara, Romania	Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt funder Germany