A renowned physics professor has said he welcomes plans to apply high-tech cameras to identify pollinator species.
Scientists from Lund University in Sweden recently claimed using hyperspectral devices could accelerate pollinator research.
Prof Benjamin Thomas from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), who has not been involved in the study, said: “Combined with new AI tools and machine learning classifiers, this technology is very promising.”
Prof Thomas admitted: “As a physicist entering the world of entomology, I was pretty shocked to see that we actually have very little data on insect populations.”
The analysis of insect species distribution is time-consuming and difficult. Entomologists often have to work with small sets of data.
Advanced Science News reports that “using light or the spectral analysis of insect wings could change things.”
Researchers could observe insects in the wild much better by taking specialised cameras with them, according to the news website. The ongoing study focuses on the wings of the pollinators and the way they reflect light.
Prof Thomas commented on the news saying: “This is a step toward improving the identification accuracy of these sensors.”
The co-author of several studies added the tests could “lead to a profound shift in our ability to monitor insect populations.”
Meanwhile, the Lund University scientists said they would continue their investigations to establish whether the procedure is viable for different species richness studies.
