A new study from the University of Galway has revealed that some smartphone apps are unable to accurately identify plant species.
Researchers found that some “identifier apps” actually misidentified at least one in five plant species.
Apps have the potential to be useful in a wide range of situations and to a wide range of professions, from gardeners, to trainee environmental professionals to teaching.
However, the study warns that these technologies should be considered an aid to plant identification (ID) and not assumed to be correct, particularly if the plant in question might be toxic or otherwise harmful.
The research carried out by the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Galway and the School of Geography at the University of Leeds has recently been published in the international scientific journal, PLOS ONE.
Neil Campbell was the lead author who carried out the study while completing a master’s degree at the University of Galway.
The team tested the ability of six common smartphone apps: Google Lens; iNaturalist; Leaf Snap; Plant Net; Plant Snap; and Seek, to identify 38 herbaceous plants native to Ireland. The highest-performing app only had an 80-88% accuracy.
Researchers found that there was considerable variation across plant species and that apps were better able to identify plants in photographs that included flowers.
The study concluded that Plant Net was the most successful app at accurately identifying native Irish herbaceous angiosperms in the field, closely followed by Leaf Snap.
Plant Snap and Seek were the lowest preforming apps in this study, the researchers said.
However, the researchers noted that even in the case of the high-scoring apps, they still failed to correctly identify plants between 12-23% of the time, highlighting that even the well-preforming apps continue to need development to improve accuracy.
Study
Although apps can do “a reasonably good job of identifying plants”, the study highlights that they should not be considered to be providing 100% accurate identifications.
“The prevalence of plant ID apps on smartphones means that people can now reach into their pockets, take out their phones and identify plants easier than ever before,” Dr. Karen Bacon, lecturer in plant ecology at the University of Galway, said.
“This offers a great means of encouraging people to engage with nature and become more familiar with the plants in their local areas or, indeed, plants in new exotic places when they travel.
“However, we don’t really know how good many of these apps are at actually doing what they say they can – identifying plants accurately.
“This is of particular importance when we consider people trying to identify a plant that an animal or young child may have ingested – how sure can you be that your app is giving you the right identification?” she said.
Dr. Julie Peacock, associate professor in ecology at the University of Leeds, added that plant identification apps have “huge potential to improve plant awareness” among the general public and can help conservation.
“However, we should be aware that plant identification apps are only a tool to guide the user. The user needs basic plant identification skills too, as well as a willingness to double check the plant species suggestions that the app gives,” she said.