OneSTOP partner Philip E. Hulme from Lincoln University co-authored a new research paper that examines whether and how Google Trends can be used to study biological invasions from alien plants in the United States and adequately depict their occurrence.

Invasive alien species (IAS) pose a significant threat to biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and agricultural productivity on a global scale. Effective management depends on continuous surveillance and monitoring of their occurrence and spread. However, many traditional approaches for detection and monitoring, such as field surveys and remote sensing, are often too time-consuming, slow to capture, and geographically patchy. That’s why using citizen science platforms like iEcology and Google Trends may provide additional support for mapping and monitoring species occurrences across the globe.

To evaluate the usability of Google Trends, the authors developed a workflow to assess the value of the tool for describing invasive alien plant occurrences, identify the importance of selecting appropriate keywords as search terms, and determine objectively under what circumstances Google searches may be valuable in the management of biological plant invasions. To test and exemplify the workflow, they searched for state-wide occurrences of 100 invasive alien plants in the United States.

The results showed that, although only moderately, using the scientific name of plant species (i.e. Schinus terebinthifolius) led to more results compared to using its common name (i.e. Brazilian pepper), since common names may vary depending on the location or there may be multiple common names for one species. The authors also discovered that Google search data was more accurate for the distribution of invasive alien plants that are ornamental or officially recognised as noxious by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) than for other plant species. Finally, the best results were observed in states with a higher diversity of alien plants and higher levels of education of their citizens.

Therefore, the authors conclude that it is essential to undertake multiple replicate searches for robust interpretation and highlight the need for workflows that can better assess the value of Google Trends in order to ensure that greater scrutiny is applied when using this tool in invasion science.

Read the full paper on the topic here.