A Forest Tour Becomes Digital
On May 26th, I (Michelle) was able to join a guided walk through the fields and forests of the Peelrandbreuk near Uden (NL). This tour was organised by a regional society for field biology and open to the public. I initially participated to learn more about the Peelrandbreuk land phenomenon and its distinct biodiversity , but I was also able to learn a lot about participants' usage of mobile applications for species identification and the use of automated image recognition.
Once we gathered together at the starting point of our tour, I clearly stood out from the rest of the group due to my younger age and especially because of my lack of semi-professional binoculars. Other participants were clearly very experienced at local biodiversity walks.
"Are you interested in bird or plants?", another participant asked. "Uhm, both, I guess? Though I am not so knowledgeable about either, probably", I replied.
Friendly small talk followed, and I briefly shared that I am a researcher with an interest in learning more about the distinct biodiversity of the Peelrandbreuk, as well as my community research project with the eco village. We didn't further discuss the topics of digital technology in this project, as the conversation moved into other directions.
This later turned out to be helpful, as I was able to observe participants' interactions with mobile species identification technologies without deliberately steering or encouraging user engagements.
As a technology, binoculars are already closely tied to the human biodiversity observer. Especially for those with an interest in watching and identifying birds , walking through the forests is done with binoculars at the ready, safely tied around one's neck, to 'capture' all bird-like movements in the skies and trees . Collective walks such as this one elicit a shared excitement every time a new bird is spotted. Participants join together to share the exact location of a possible-new-bird on the horizon:
"left of the three bushes in the middle of the field, about halfway the small tree, on the branch sticking out... could that be a Kieviet [Lapwing, in English]?".
A discussion on the different possibilities regarding the species identity of the bird follows. Often an agreement is reached, but sometimes the final conclusion is left in the middle. Such conversations involve wonder, shared excitement, and knowledge sharing.
Some of the participants of the walk through the Peelrandbreuk at the start of the excursion. Image taken by Michelle Westerlaken.
It was only after a while that the first participant took our their mobile phone to identify a plant species. During this recreational walk, identification was not necessarily sought for biodiversity monitoring or for contributing data, but instead inspired by collective curiosity. Or to settle a dispute.
"Witte gij't?"
Participants joked in a local dialect, where the words 'a white goat?' and 'do you know it?' are pronounced the same. No white goats were roaming the forest during that day, but more and more participants started to take out their phones to engage in digitally identifying local plants.
Each time, before the mobile application revealed its results, certain participants made sure to publicly announce their knowledgeable guesses, hoping for the digital technology to confirm their insights. Sometimes, the results obtained through the digital technology took on a role of authority that directly settled species disagreements. A single decision was reached. Other times, participants directly challenged the image recognition feature and the group used their collective plant knowledge to make contradicting suggestions. The accuracy rating of the automated image recognition played a big role in these discussions. Certain numbers were beyond dispute, other percentages opened collective discussion, and lower ratings were an immediate cause for disagreements. Social dynamics shifted. Some people were quick at using the application, so they became the 'identifiers'. Others were 'often correct' in announcing species before the technology confirmed their suggestions, and they were thus seen as more knowledgeable. Several participants, myself included, quietly observed these discussions, possibly reflecting on the proximate flora and fauna in a more personal manner.
"Effen kijken met de app " ["Take a quick look with the app"]
"Hoornbloem, zegt ie" ["mouse-ear, it/he says"], an 'identifier' called out from behind the bushes.
"Oh right, that's also possible", an announcer agreed after hearing the digital identification.
A participant using their mobile phone to picture a plant and use automated species identification technology. Image taken by Michelle Westerlaken.
These activities also provoked discussions on the use of ObsIdentify versus Pl@ntnet, where people had different preferences. People challenged the scientific objectivity of these apps and reminded each other not to believe everything "these apps say".
"92% Koninginnekruid [Hemp-agrimony], well I don't recognise that leaf... oh actually, I do"
A few meters later, another participant is seemingly identifying the same plant with a different picture:
"29% Koninginnekruid [Hemp-agrimony], but that is very little", one participant remarks after photographing the plant with the app.
"Well, I think it's quite a lot, actually", another participant replies, followed with a conversation on numerical confusion.
While certain people obtained close up images of the plants 'in question', others engaged in discussing possible species. Image taken by Michelle Westerlaken.
Later, the identification of plants with mobile apps shifted to the identification of birds via acoustics through different mobile apps such as Merlin. This shift also changed the social dynamics of the walk, because quietness is required to lean in and listen to the sounds. It also differentiated people with interests in birds and plants. At first, the bird enthusiasts were still more preoccupied with binoculars rather than phones, but once these acoustic apps became involved, this changed. Quite organically, the group had split up in two smaller groups. At some point one of the groups got rather delayed because they were engaged in an extensive and digitally informed discussion about the identification of a yellow flower that can go by many different names. "It looks like a Paardenbloem [Dandelion], but it isn't".
Near the end of the walk, one participant revealed yet another use of these applications that I had not encountered. He shared that before we gathered today, he had looked up the rare types of plants that have previously be observed in this area through the online database , in order to "know what to look for", during the walk. It is interesting to note as well that people were not specifically engaged in uploading their pictures through the applications to contribute them to the online database, but instead they were mainly preoccupied with automated species identifications and disregarded the images afterwards.
*Due to the public nature of this guided walk, I anonymised all pictures and personal details of participants.
