Use of high spatial resolution satellite imagery to characterize landscapes at risk for bluetongue

The recent and rapid spread in the Mediterranean Basin of bluetongue, a viral disease of ruminants transmitted by some species of Culicoides (biting midges), highlights the necessity of determining the conditions of its emergence. This study uses high spatial resolution satellite imagery and methods from landscape ecology science to identify environmental parameters related to bluetongue occurrence in Corsica, a French Mediterranean island where the disease occurred for the first time in 2000. A set of environmental variables recorded in the neighborhood of 80 sheep farms were related to case occurrence through a logistic regression model computed within three subsequent buffer distances of 0.5, 1 and 2 km. The results reveal the role of landscape metrics, particularly those characterizing land-use units such as prairies and woodlands, as well as farm type, latitude and sunshine to explain the presence of bluetongue. Internal and external validation both indicate that the best results are obtained with the 1 km buffer size model (area under Receiver Operating Characteristic curve = 0.9 for internal validation and 0.81 for external validation). The results show that high spatial resolution remote sensing (i.e. 10 m pixels) and landscape ecology approaches contribute to improving the understanding of bluetongue epidemiology.     

Experimental study of the mechanical behaviour of thin slices of maturating green poplar wood using cyclic tensile tests

In this study, longitudinal cyclic tensile tests were performed on green wood samples of Populus cv I4551. Complex mechanical behaviour, such as permanent set in terms of displacement and strain-dependent stiffness, was found. A linear relationship between stiffness and strain enabled each sample to be characterized. A large-scale experimental campaign led to the observation of the evolution of temporal and spatial intra-ring mechanical behaviour of intra-ring sliced specimens during wood maturation and tree gravitropic response. The results showed that tension wood lamellas exhibit strain hardening behaviour whereas normal wood lamellas exhibit strain softening behaviour. Temporal variations in the strain hardening behaviour of tension wood lamellas occurred once cell wall deposition was achieved. Moreover, no correlation was found between infradensity and mechanical behaviour of lamellas. These results show that cells undergo temporal variations in their properties due to a complex maturation process.     

An online database for plant image analysis software tools

Background

Recent years have seen an increase in methods for plant phenotyping using image analyses. These methods require new software solutions for data extraction and treatment. These solutions are instrumental in supporting various research pipelines, ranging from the localisation of cellular compounds to the quantification of tree canopies. However, due to the variety of existing tools and the lack of central repository, it is challenging for researchers to identify the software that is best suited for their research.

Results

We present an online, manually curated, database referencing more than 90 plant image analysis software solutions. The website, plant-image-analysis.org, presents each software in a uniform and concise manner enabling users to identify the available solutions for their experimental needs. The website also enables user feedback, evaluations and new software submissions.

Conclusions

The plant-image-analysis.org database provides an overview of existing plant image analysis software. The aim of such a toolbox is to help users to find solutions, and to provide developers a way to exchange and communicate about their work.

     

Removal of Hydrophobic Volatile Organic Compounds in an Integrated Process Coupling Absorption and Biodegradation—Selection of an Organic Liquid Phase

Since usual processes involve water as absorbent, they appear not always really efficient for the treatment of hydrophobic volatile organic compound (VOC). Recently, absorption and biodegradation coupling in a two-phase partitioning bioreactor (TPPB) proved to be a promising technology for hydrophobic compound treatment. The choice of the organic phase, the non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) is based on various parameters involved in both steps of the process, hydrophobic VOC absorption in a gas?Cliquid contactor, and biodegradation in the TPPB. VOC solubility and diffusivity in the selected NAPL, as well as NAPL viscosity, seems to be the main parameters during the absorption step, while biocompatibility, namely the absence of toxic effect of the NAPL towards microorganisms, non-biodegradability and VOC partition coefficient between NAPL and water were revealed as the key factors during the biodegradation step. The screening of the various NAPL available in the literature highlighted two families of compounds matching the required conditions for the proposed integrated process, silicone oils and ionic liquids.     

Arable weed decline in Northern France: Crop edges as refugia for weed conservation?

The maintenance of biodiversity in agro-ecosystems is often viewed as an insurance against an uncertain future, yet, there is increasing evidence of biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes. Here, we examined long term trends in the arable weed flora of North-East France by revisiting 158 arable fields initially surveyed in the 1970s. We assessed changes in species richness, density and frequency of occurrence in weed communities as well as for subgroups that are recognised for their conservation value. We also evaluated the importance of crop edges as potential refugia for the threatened arable weeds. Among the 121 species recorded in both surveys, 40% had significantly declined in frequency while 10% had significantly increased. At the field level, we recorded a 42% decline in species richness and a 67% decline in species density. Trends were comparable for weed species of particular conservation value. In the 2000s survey, crop edges harboured levels of weed diversity that were intermediate between those found in field cores in the 1970s and in the 2000s survey. Our results indicated that many species of conservation value had disappeared or seriously decreased in the field core but still persisted in the crop edge. The consequences of this general decline and possible conservation options are discussed in the light of the results.     

Dealing with the presence of the ciliate Euplotes sp. in cultures of the copepod Acartia tonsa

Ciliates in live feed cultures can be a pest that lower production yields. This could dramatically affect the management and success of copepod cultures. In this study, we investigated the effect of the ciliate Euplotes sp. on egg production, specific egg production and egg hatching success of Acartia tonsa fed with Rhodomonas salina. We found that at a concentration of 2 cells ml^?1, Euplotes sp. had no effect on the production and hatching success of eggs but increased/decreased the mortality/quality of non-subitaneous eggs. Euplotes sp. had a good fatty acid profile containing high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids, but the amount of fatty acids compared to their carbon weight was very low and, therefore, it was considered as a poor food source. We propose a short-term interruption of food supply to copepod cultures in order to mitigate bloom formation of ciliates. This will force copepods to feed on them actively as prey and therefore decrease their long-term negative effects.