Starship Asterisk*

The UK's Environment Agency has teamed up with the Nature Locator project at Bristol University and the National Environmental Research Council's Center for Hydrology and Ecology to develop the PlantTracker app that tells people how to spot invasive plants and lets them snap geo-tagged pictures of the species and submit them to the organizations to better help them manage the populations. Three specific plants are of particular concern: the Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam and Floating Pennywort.

Invasive species are considered to be the second biggest threat to biodiversity after habitat destruction, and in the UK, these plants are also increasing flood risks and affecting waterways, which has cost the country about $2.6 billion a year. Luckily, tools are being developed to help stop the spreading of these species, and what better tool than an army of smart-phone-wielding citizens capable of reporting invasive plant sightings in an instant?