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Floral Surveys, Mobile Phones and the Internet

While we are on the subject of floral or vegetation surveys, it might be worth mentioning the method that was used. Technology has many benefits, some of which are stunningly simple in concept - if not in implementation - like Google Maps and the facility whereby we can never get lost any more…

A central database of plant images - leaves, flowers, seeds and fruits, bark, and so on, for each species, along with botanical and local names as identifiers, is accessible via a smart phone. This application is called PlantNet, and is freely downloadable. By taking a photograph of the particular part of the particular plant the app checks the image taken with those on the database and suggests possible matches. Not only that but the GPS location of the particular point where the photo was taken is also recorded. Once a satisfactory identification has been made it can be shared onto the database, with the rest of the PlantNet community, where it will be checked and either verified or rejected.

PlantNet does not do all the work - the onus is on the user to verify the plant identification given the likely options that PlantNet offers. A book is still essential, and for Ireland Webbs Irish Flora is irreplaceable; or for a well illustrated book Collins Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland.

The location used by PlantNet appears to be based on mobile phone masts, and in Ireland this can mean the locations are a bit inaccurate. So it is not a bad idea to run another application while recording flora. A good one is the modern version of MyTracks, which is quite different to the original - and somewhat better. This app can run in the background and record every place the plant spotter goes.

Back at the office, or home, or lab, PlantNet can be accessed online and the identifications verified, and the dataset, complete with locations, downloaded in a format that can be imported to a mapping software.

Likewise, the route tracked by MyTracks and saved whilst out in the field can be downloaded from the phone, and also loaded into the mapping software.

You now have a graphically mapped set of data that shows the route taken and the plants identified.

Brilliant