The Environment Agency, the Nature Locator team at the University of Bristol and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology have joined forces to help combat the spread of the UK's most problematic invasive, non-native plant species.
Plants such as Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam and Floating Pennywort are examples of such plants, which are spreading quickly across the UK. They displace native species and detrimentally affect the ecology of many vulnerable habitats. Some also pose a considerable threat to human health and can present a large financial cost to the UK economy, with the annual cost of all invasive, non-native species totalling around £2 billion.
The first step in tackling this problem is accurately determining where these plants are. In order to do that an app has been developed to help build a comprehensive picture.
The PlantTracker app is available free from the iTunes App Store and Android Market, and shows you how to identify each species while enabling you to easily submit geo-located photos whenever you find one. The app features 14 invasive plant species and also includes a "Confusion Species" gallery for each one, to help you separate some of the similar looking plants you might encounter.
This is a pilot project, and the app is being trialled in the Midlands to begin with. It is hoped that in subsequent years, the project will be expanded to cover the whole of the UK.
You can get more information, and download the app, at planttracker.naturelocator.org.
