The five CAP fields — CAP 1 through CAP 5 — are not redundant. They're five separate circumference-at-breast-height measurements taken at different points around the same trunk, averaged for biometric accuracy. A tree with buttressed roots or irregular stem form can't be characterized by a single CAP reading. This is the detail that separates a forest management database from a checklist.
What an Unstructured Urban Tree Record Costs
Urban forestry in dense metropolitan areas like Medellín's Valle de Aburrá operates at scale — thousands of individual trees across six municipalities (Medellín, Bello, Itagüí, Sabaneta, Envigado, La Estrella), each with its own intervention history, risk profile, and infrastructure context. Managing this without individual tree records is possible until it isn't: until a silvo-technically sound pruning recommendation can't be made because nobody recorded the crown architecture from the previous visit, or until a root infrastructure conflict (Daño infraestructura raíces) wasn't flagged until the damage was already done.
The FONVALMED template is built around the individual tree as the unit of record. Every entry carries Código del árbol, Especie, GPS Coordenadas, and Municipio — enough to locate, identify, and retrieve any tree in the network. Resolución ties the record to the administrative intervention resolution or permit under which the work was authorized. ID provides a simple integer lookup that doesn't require the full code.
The Fields That Drive Silvicultural Decision-Making
The intervention checklist — Tala, Poda, Tipo de poda, Plateo, Limpieza, Fertilización, Chipeado, Resiembra, Tutor, Manejo fitosanitario — captures the complete silvicultural intervention record per visit in binary and short-text fields. Each is a simple Yes/No or text entry, but their cumulative record across multiple visits tells you a tree's entire management history without reconstructing it from reports.
Tipo de poda is the field that moves beyond the checklist. Poda de mantenimiento, poda de realce, poda de despunte, poda de compensación — each type has different crown impact implications and different technical standards. Recording "Yes, pruning was done" without noting the type produces a record that can't be reviewed for silvicultural quality.
Estado del árbol (Enfermo / Muerto / Sano) and Estado de Madurez (Juvenil / Adulto) establish the biological status. A juvenile tree receiving a maintenance prune has different post-intervention expectations than an adult tree with existing decay. Fenología — Florecido, Fructificado, Defoliado — provides the phenological moment at the time of intervention, which affects how pruning stress is absorbed and whether seed dispersal obligations apply.
Risk Taxonomy That Prevents Infrastructure Incidents
The Riesgo multichoice field covers eight urban risk categories: posible caída de ramas, interferencia de redes aéreas, afectación a construcciones, interferencia en circulación, daño infraestructura raíces, volcamiento, interferencia señalización. A tree can present multiple risks simultaneously — root infrastructure damage AND interference with low-voltage power lines — and the multichoice format captures both without forcing a single-worst-case selection that loses the full picture.
Entorno maps the infrastructure present around the tree: manholes, drainage systems, water meters, gas networks, street lighting, power poles, traffic signals, telephone lines, low-voltage compact lines, and high-voltage transmission lines. This is the environmental context that determines how intervention planning proceeds. A poda de copa on a tree with overhead transmission lines requires different precautions and coordination than the same prune on an isolated street tree.
Síntomas de Daño Mecánico — anillado, heridas en tallo o ramas, ramas quebradas, raíces descubiertas, descortezamiento, inclinado, descopado — documents structural and mechanical damage with the specificity needed to assess structural failure risk before an intervention order is issued.
Recomendaciones closes the record with forward-facing management guidance: twelve options from Poda Túnel and Poda V to Cicatrización, Cerramiento, and Drenaje. Entering recommendations at the time of inspection means the next intervention order can be generated from the database rather than from a new field visit.