MeineWaldKI as Part of the Biodiversity Sampling Week
Help us study the condition of our forests!
Forests in Germany are changing: Climate change and the associated disturbances, such as storms and droughts, are having a significant impact on our forests. But the current forest conversion, that is, the transition from relatively homogeneous to more diverse forests, is also altering forests and their ecology. This is intended to make them more climate-resilient and closer to their natural state. With MeineWaldKI, we want to work with you to examine the condition of our forests. To this end, we’ll be launching an app in the coming weeks that lets you easily and conveniently take photos in the forest. To capture the various structures of the forests, such as tree species, age composition of the trees, canopy defoliation, and deadwood proportions, we’re currently working on AI models to automatically recognize these structures in images. In the future, our AI models will analyse your images and provide immediate feedback on which forest structures were detected in your photos and what they might mean for the forest. Through this, we aim to share interesting forest-related knowledge, encourage on-site forest experiences, and foster connections with and an understanding of the forest and its ecology. In addition, we want to investigate how our citizen science approach (i.e., the involvement of private individuals in scientific research), can provide additional data to supplement existing forest monitoring. As part of Biodiversity Sampling Week, we want to work with you to improve the individual tree recognition capabilities of our AI models. This will allow us to investigate which tree species are found in forests and how old these trees are.
Send us photos of forests so we can work with you to investigate the condition of our forests!
How can I participate?
We’re looking for photos of individual trees! With your help, we want to improve the individual tree recognition capabilities of our AI models. This will allow us to identify which tree species are found in forests and estimate their ages. As a result, we’ll be better able to specify which tree layers and growth classes are captured in your forest photos.
Support our research in three easy steps:
📸 Take a photo of a tree: It doesn’t matter whether the tree is the only thing in the picture or is standing in a forest. The only important thing is that it’s clear which tree is being surveyed in the photo (if there are multiple trees in the photo, one should be the clear focus). The tree’s trunk must be clearly visible. Depending on the tree’s size, it may not always be possible to capture the entire tree in a single photo. That’s no problem!
🌳 Identify the tree species: If you know the tree species, please note it down and send it to us along with the photo. If you don’t know the species, you can use an identification app or send us the photo without any information about the tree species.
📏 Measure the circumference: If possible, bring a measuring tape and measure the circumference of the tree trunk at a height of approximately 1.30 m. This information helps us identify different tree layers in photos later on.
Where should I send my photos?
📝 Please upload your photos using this form. For each photo, you can specify the tree species and circumference in the corresponding field.
📬If you encounter any problems, you’re also welcome to email us your photos. You can reach us at meinewaldki@hs-anhalt.de .
I want to learn more about Sampling Week!
European Sampling Week is taking place for the first time this year! From May 16 to 24, people across Europe are invited to collect biodiversity data. You can find more information about the European Sampling Week on the international website. Exciting additional projects you can participate in across Germany are highlighted on the website of the Museum für Naturkunde. Whether it’s forests, rivers, or bat research—there’s something here for everyone!
Sample photos of trees Measuring the circumference of a tree
Our Model Regions
The project "MeineWaldKI" is for now focused on two unique research areas - the "Dölauer Heide", a recreational urban forest, and the Biosphere Reserve "Karstlandschaft Südharz". This is where our innovative AI-based methods for identifying forest structures and biodiversity are being developed. The basis for this is our own research and the forest images collected by citizens. In these two regions our Forest Working Group is carrying out field assessments of the forest conditions themselves, which will serve as a baseline for evaluating the accuracy of our future AI results. But to train our AI-models, we need a wide range of forest photos. So, we invite you to share your forest photos, regardless of where they were taken. This will help us improve the accuracy of our models.
