Table 1.
Comparison of counts produced by three forms of counting methods: multiple (macro) image processing using ImageJ, single image processing using ImageJ and counting by eye
| Pollen count (±s.e.) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Multiple (macro) image processing using ImageJ | Single image processing using ImageJ | Visual analysis by human eye | P-value |
| A | 1362 (±0) | 1380 (±55) | 1439 (±50) | 0·5599 |
| B | 1231 (±0) | 1194 (±19) | 1225 (±4) | 0·1955 |
| C | 2567 (±0) | 2531 (±24) | 2571 (±4) | 0·2320 |
| D | 679 (±0) | 645 (±9) | 671 (±6) | 0·0416 |
| E | 6 (±0) | 1671 (±44) | 1741 (±16) | <0·0001 |
| F | 1410 (±0) | 1383 (±20) | 1425 (±14) | 0·2295 |
| G | 6511 (±0) | 6122 (±(191) | 6601 (±27) | 0·0851 |
The last column shows the P value from ANOVA, testing for significant differences for each image (Fig. 1A–G) among the counts produced by each method. The macro analysis of all seven images was completed in 20 s (approx. 3 s per image) while single analysis of each image ranged from 30 to 60 s. Human visual counting took between 5 and 68 minutes per image.