Tomnod, which previously helped with crowdsourcing the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight, has teamed up with the Nature Conservancy to map the location of Australian Tree Ferns and African Tulip Trees in order to better understand how these invasive plants are affecting native forests in Hawaii. More than 80 percent of Hawaii’s endangered plants are threatened by invasive species.
Users can view high resolution aerial imagery to flag suspected instances of full or partial Australian Tree Ferns and African Tulip Trees. Users can participate in guest mode or create a login which will track the cumulative contributions from tagging alien tree species.
The user interface is straightforward. The main section of the site has the aerial image tile with three icons in the upper left corner representing the three categories of alien trees to tag. Click on an icon and a number of sample images of the offending plant are made available for comparison. If you see a tree you think is one of the three types, then select the icon and click on its location on the aerial image to tag it.
Visit: Tomnod Hawaii Challenge
