NOTES ON USING THE SPREADSHEETS FOR THE WASHINGTON FUNCTION ASSESSMENT PROJECT 
December 2000

The Excel spreadsheet (Excel version 97 or v.5/95) calculates the index for the appropriate functions in each of three wetland subclasses of depressional wetlands in the Columbia Basin.   You will need at least Excel 97 or Excel version 5.0.  If you have an earlier version, please contact Tom Hruby at the Department of Ecology (360) 407-7274, and I will try to send you a version compatible with your version of Excel. Please refer to Volumes 1 (Parts 1 and 2) of the DRAFT methods to understand how the indices of the functions are calculated.

There are three spreadsheets on the diskette, one for each type of wetland.  Use the spreadsheet that is appropriate for the wetland you are assessing.  The names of the files are as follows:

For Depressional,freshwater, long duration - CBlongduration.xls
For Depressional freshwater, short duration - CBshortduration.xls
For Depressional, Alkali - CBalkali.xls

To use the spreadsheets you will need to copy the data from your data sheet into the third column of the spreadsheet(Column C).  Please make sure each datum is recorded in the appropriate location.  The datum numbers (D...) on the spreadsheet correspond to the datum numbers on the datasheet. Once all data are input, the resulting score will appear at the top of the spreadsheet.  

Column D contains error messages for some of the most common errors that have been made by users.  The will appear if some of the data do not add up (such as total percent cover) or size thresholds are not met.  The blank data sheet already has some numbers in it to "hide" the error statements.  Please disregard these data and over-write your data in the appropriate fields. 

Sheet 2 of the "worksheet" provides a summary of all the indices. Click on Sheet 2 and print it to obtain a hard copy of the results.

NOTE:  The equations in the spreadsheets are protected and cannot be altered.  If you think you have found an error please let us know. Call Tom Hruby at (360) 407-7274.

I suggest that as soon as you have copied data from a wetland into the spreadsheet you save it under another name so your original spreadsheet is kept "clean". 

Other notes:
1. We have tried to simplify the data collection process as much as possible by not collecting the data for each variable separately. This avoids redundancy.  Rather, we have focused on individual environmental characteristics.  These characteristics may be combined in different ways to represent a variable.  As a result, some of the equations are complex. 
2. The equations in the spreadsheets may not be identical to the equations in the text although both will generate the same scaling for a variable.  The equations in the text were developed so a user can calculate the variable score by hand.  The equations in the spreadsheet may involve shortcuts made possible by the way the spreadsheet actually does its calculations. To see the formula used in the spreadsheet you can click on the box that is one cell down and two cells over from the variable name. 
3. Each variable is listed.  The datum or data used to calculate a score for that variable are listed under it with the appropriate datum number.  Any time you change a datum in column C, the datum will also change in the appropriate space under the variable.  If you want to check on the individual scaled score for a variable within a function, scroll down and note the number in the third column of each function on Sheet 1.