A high-tech 'neophyte radar': Using drones and AI to detect invasive plants

Butterfly-bush and staghorn sumac are popular additions to our gardens but are now considered problematic. The reason? These are invasive alien plants – invasive neophytes – and discussions about how to tackle them, as well as the ban on them, are becoming more prevalent. Invasive alien plants are not only a threat to our biodiversity, they are also capable of damaging infrastructure or even harming people. They are difficult to detect and tackle. This is where a current research project comes in: With the neophyte radar, the aim is to detect these unwanted guests from the air in future, using drones and AI. This is an important step in containing them.