FloraFlux – Flora Incognita

FloraFlux – Collaborative, AI-based plant data collection at flux tower sites

Overview

FloraFlux is a collaborative initiative to collect plant occurrence data at flux tower sites using the Flora Incognita app. By leveraging AI-based plant identification, participants can easily document the flora in the footprints, contributing valuable data to better understand ecosystem fluxes and functions. Participation is simple and inclusive, requiring no botanical expertise, and supports open data sharing within the flux tower community

For more details, download the FloraFlux Project Overview or contact us directly.

Join FloraFlux and contribute to global biodiversity research effortlessly!

How You Can Contribute

Identify as many species as possible in the footprint of the tower — every observation counts!
Add extra details like vegetation layer, frequency, and health via an optional dropdown menu.
Observe throughout the year to capture phenology and seasonal species.
Team up! The workload can be shared across multiple people and mobile devices.

Please share this with your colleagues and networks—the more people participate, the better we understand the “missing biological link” !

Installation and workflow

Install Flora Incognita and FloraFlux on your smartphone. FloraFlux only works with an Flora Incognita user account.
Fill out an initial questionnaire for FloraFlux. Please add your email address and allow email communication, so we are able to contact you for potential shared publications.
Observe plants by taking pictures. Select the right growth form (herb, tree, grass,…). You will be guided to capture different perspectives (flower, leaf, whole plant,…). Confirm the observations with the green check-mark.
Assign observations to the FloraFlux project and provide optional data. Go to my observations, tap on the observation and add the tag “FloraFlux”. Fill out the FloraFlux questionnaire for additional optional data. Only if the tag FloraFlux is present, the data will contribute to the project.

Details on each step are described in the menu below.

1:
Install Flora Incognita and/or FloraFlux
Scan QR Code

or manually add code: FLV XFL RA1
2:
Fill out initial FloraFlux questionaire
3:
Observe plants by taking pictures and confirm observations
4:
Assign observations to FloraFlux and provide optional data

1: Install Flora Incognita and/or FloraFlux

If you do not have Flora Incognita on your mobile:
1. Scan the QR code to download the Flora Incognita app and install FloraFlux
2. Create a free account. Video link Without Flora Incognita account FloraFlux cannot be used.
3. Activate the FloraFlux project.
4. Grant access to phone media and location, if you are asked later during the observation process!
If you already have Flora Incognita installed on your mobile:
1. Scan the QR code to install the FloraFlux project available for Flora Incognita
2. Alternatively go to the Flora Incognita Project overview (circles in the top row of the Flora Incognita start screen); Tap on the “+” button in the lower right, and enter the activation code “FLV XFL RA1”.
3. Activate the FloraFlux project.

2: Fill out initial FloraFlux questionaire

Go to Flora Incognitas project overview (circles in the top row of the Flora Incognita start screen)
Tap on the FloraFlux project.
Tap on FloraFlux questionaire and fill out the information. Please provide your email address and agree to email communication. This way we can invite you to potential joint publications and collaborations.

3: Observe plants by taking pictures and confirm observations

Identify plants by taking pictures of it Video link
1. Take high-quality pictures.
  1. Ensure the plant part is in focus and fills your screen.
  2. If your photos are blurry, deactivate auto-focus and enable fixed focus. Video link
  3. Take your time—good photos significantly improve classification accuracy.
2. Capture multiple perspectives (flower, leaf, fruit, full habitus, etc.).
  1. If a perspective is not applicable, skip it. Video link
  2. For grasses, include a photo of the ligula. Video link
  3. You can add more photos and perspectives even after identification Video link
Confirm or delete the observation
1. Tap the green check-mark in the top-right corner (see end of video). Video link
2. If your photos are of poor quality, discard the observation using the bin icon (top-left corner). Video link
Correct species name in case of miss-identifications (optional)
1. If the app suggests the wrong species name, you can correct it Video link
2. Select the observed plant in “My observations”
3. Tap on “Edit” right to the result from Flora Incognita`s AI
4. Tap on “Suggest a species” to select the correct name from a drop-down list based on the Catalogue of Life (COL)
5. If the species name is not listed in the COL, use “Unknown” and provide it in the free-text entry field “Notes “in the FloraFlux questionaire .
Offline work (optional)
1. If the app does not find internet, it will allow you to work in “offline mode”
2. Capture at least 3 perspectives of the plant and confirm via the upper right checkmark.
3. The “unknown species” can be identified automatically when back online.

4: Assign observations to FloraFlux and add optional data

Assign the observation to FloraFlux
1. Go to “My Observations”; tap on the observed plant, and add the tag “FloraFlux“ Video link
2. To simplify tagging, you can use “smart tags” for your flux tower.
  1. Go to your profile (person on start-screen upper right corner)
  2. Tap on “For experts”
  3. Tap on “Flora routines”
  4. Tap on “New Flora routine”
  5. Within the “If” tap on “Select area”; Do zoom in to have approximately the footprint of your tower
  6. Within the “Do” Add the tag “FloraFlux”
  7. From now on any observed species within the specified region will be automatically tagged with “FloraFlux”. Additionally after identifying a species you will be able to tap on the “+” on the results screen to directly fill out the FloraFlux questionnaire
Provide further information per observation (optional)
1. Go to “My Observations”; tap on the observed plant, and tap on the FloraFlux questionaire
2. You can contribute further details on the tower ID, vegetation layer, frequency, and health.

Quick Tip 1: How to capture plants for automated species identification

The plant object (flower, leaf, bark, fruit…) needs to be in focus and cover a major part of the screen. Small objects can be captured if you deactivate your camera’s auto focus. https://floraincognita.com/faq/#toggle-id-11 – tap the small icon and bring the phone to the right distance so the object is sharply in focus. You can also zoom by spreading 2 fingers on the screen. But don’t tap on the screen in this mode, as this will bring you directly back to the autofocus mode.
Don’t tear off plant parts. Capture them in situ. (Grasses might be an exception as you might need to really isolate them from the surrounding plants).
Don’t photograph your fingers while holding a plant.
Capture entire leaves, not just leaflets.

Quick Tip 2: How to capture grasses for automated species identification

Identification accuracy needs good (sharp, close-up) images, this is especially true for grasses. Use the de-activated auto focus + zoom in.
Before starting identification, switch to life form “grass” at the bottom of the camera screen. You are asked to capture the “whole grass” first. Take the picture.
You are then asked to capture the inflorescence, but please switch to the perspectives overview in the lower left corner. You will see a menu, from which we ask you to capture the following perspectives of the plant: inflorescence, flower, and ligule sideways.
Here’s what an ideal set looks like:
If you are able to capture additional perspectives, awesome. If not, the above-mentioned are sufficient for identification, while also allowing an expert check afterward.
Identification accuracy is highly improved when there is an inflorescence present. It’s okay if it is dried out.

Stay connected

Subscribe to our Newsletter: Stay informed about project updates and events. Subscribe here.
Join first FloraFlux Meeting: Scheduled for Autumn 2025. Details will be shared via the newsletter.
Get help: floraflux[at]bgc-jena.mpg.de

Coordination

Susanne Tautenhahn
Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
staut[at]bgc-jena.mpg.de

Supportive Scientists

Martin Jung, Anke Bebber, David Boho, Ulisse Gomarasca, Bayu Buddy Hanggara, Sung-Ching Lee, Patrick Mäder, Laura Nadolsky, Jacob Nelson, Dario Papale, Markus Reichstein, Michael Rzanny, Ladislav Šigut, Sophia Walther, Hans Christian Wittich, Jana Wäldchen

Flora Flux is part of Flora Incognita MONI project. It is funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the National Monitoring Centre for Biodiversity with resources from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.