The Pl@ntNet mission in Gabon that we mentioned recently was a resounding success, particularly during the training sessions held in Franceville by Murielle Simo-Droissart and Daniel Barthélémy, which brought together 60 participants over two days. At the end of these sessions, 59 accounts were created on the platform, enabling the sharing of 395 observations corresponding to 168 different species.
As a reminder, these trainings took place at the University of Science and Technology of Masuku (USTM) and aimed to raise awareness and provide instruction on using the tool for both students and teachers from the university’s various faculties. These sessions reached a diverse academic audience directly involved in teaching, research, or field activities, and likely to integrate Pl@ntNet use sustainably into their practices.
The training allowed participants to explore the application and understand how it works, and it clearly sparked strong interest among the audience. In fact, most participants plan to incorporate the application into their professional and personal activities. Among them, 48 anticipate using it regularly, and 11 plan to use it occasionally.
Daniel Barthélémy training students from the University of Science and Technology of Masuku (USTM) in Franceville, Gabon.
This mission also made it possible to document the observation of about 20 specimens of Lasianthera africana, a relatively rare species with few images on Pl@ntNet. It is a monotypic genus, observed in a patch of vegetation within a village under strong land conversion pressure. This plant is characterized by terminal inflorescences composed of white flowers, whose fringed labellum gives it an almost “hairy” appearance, a distinctive morphological trait that is still poorly represented visually on the platform. This observation was made in the village of Lengori, east of Franceville, during an additional field excursion conducted with two USTM students.
More broadly, this observation underscores the importance of missions conducted in tropical environments for Pl@ntNet. Tropical regions are major biodiversity hotspots, yet also among the most threatened. Although botanical knowledge of many species in these areas is already established, it remains essential to collect as much field data as possible to ensure regular and accurate monitoring of this biodiversity. In this perspective, integrating new observations, especially for rare or poorly documented species, is crucial to improving the app’s performance in tropical areas and enhancing the capacity for monitoring and tracking plant biodiversity. In line with this goal, permanent plot setups offer a particularly valuable opportunity. Indeed, when tree species identification within these plots is already well established, it allows for prioritizing the collection of observations on species that are underrepresented on the platform, while also providing high-quality scientific data.
The Lasianthera africana specimen observed by Daniel Barthélémy, Murielle Simo-Droissart, and the USTM students.
