Vegetation lookup uses AI to identify a plant species from one or more photos, right in Ecobot Collector. It's available in wetland surveys. This article shows you how to use it.
What makes it different
- Up to 5 photos of one plant. More views give the tool more to go on than a single photo.
- A confidence level for every suggestion. If the confidence is low, take new photos from different angles, and get close to the leaves, buds, bark or flowers.
- Indicator status filled in for you. If the species is on the National Wetland Plant List (NWPL), Ecobot fills in its indicator status for your region.
- Any plant in the USDA PLANTS Database. It can identify species that aren't on the NWPL too.
You need a data connection
Identifying a plant needs Wi-Fi or cellular data. If you're working offline in the field, take photos of the plant with your phone's camera, then identify them later from your gallery when you're back in service. See Use a photo from your gallery.
Watch a short walkthrough of the AI vegetation tool:
Open vegetation lookup
- In a wetland survey, open a point and go to Vegetation.
- Tap a stratum, such as Tree Stratum, then add or tap a species.
Under Identify / Lookup Vegetation, three buttons give you different ways to find the species:
- Camera (AI): take a photo of the plant now.
- Gallery (AI): choose a photo you've already taken from your phone's gallery.
- Search: open the vegetation lookup list to search for a species, see your recently used species, or take a photo from there.
Identify a plant from a photo
- Tap the camera button and choose Single or Multiple.
- Take a photo of the plant.
- Scroll through the results. Each suggestion shows its confidence level.
- To see more suggestions, tap Tap to view more.
- Tap Select this species to add it to the point.
Use a photo from your gallery
Tap the gallery button and choose a photo. The rest works the same way as taking a photo. This is also how you identify photos you took while offline.
Take a photo from the lookup list
Tap the search button to open Look Up Vegetation. You can search for a species, pick from your recently used species, or tap the camera at the top right to identify a plant from a photo.
Identify a plant from several photos
- Tap the camera button and choose Multiple.
- Take up to 5 photos of the same plant.
- Tag each photo as Auto, Bark, Leaf or Flower. Auto lets Ecobot decide.
- Tap Continue to identification, then review the suggestions and confidence levels.
Questions
Do several photos of the same plant help? Yes. Up to five photos of the same individual plant can make identification much more accurate, even if they show similar views. Some views help more than others. In order of usefulness: flower, fruit, leaf, whole plant, then bark.
You don't need a photo of every part. It's often better to send several photos of the most distinctive parts, usually flowers and fruit. Bark and leaves tell the tool less. Use bark mainly when nothing else is available, such as deciduous trees in winter.
Do I need to tag each photo? No. Ecobot detects what each photo shows automatically, so you can leave photos on Auto.
Can it identify species that aren't on the NWPL? Yes. It can identify any plant in the USDA PLANTS Database. For species on the NWPL, Ecobot fills in the indicator status for your region, and you can always enter or change an indicator status yourself.
What if the confidence level is low? Take new photos from different angles. Get close to the most distinctive parts, such as leaves, buds, bark or flowers, and send up to 5 photos so the tool has as much to go on as possible.
Where do the identifications come from? The tool uses a large dataset of professionally confirmed species.