A new mobile phone app enables farmers to monitor the success of wildlife habitats they have created on their land, by using artificial intelligence to rapidly identify plants from thousands of possible species.
E-Surveyor which is being launched today (8 June 2022), is the latest addition to a suite of free digital tools developed by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) to guide farmers and other land managers when they are implementing agri-environment options.
The app automatically recognises plant species in photographs uploaded by the user, allowing them to check what has successfully grown from what they have sown, such as wildflowers to support pollinators or seed mixes for winter bird food. It also provides information about which pollinators and other beneficial insects are typically supported by each plant, and assesses the quality of a habitat.