Detection of Ecballium elaterium in hedgerow olive orchards using a low-cost uncrewed aerial vehicle and open-source algorithms

BACKGROUND

Ecballium elaterium (common name: squirting cucumber) is an emerging weed problem in hedgerow or superintensive olive groves under no tillage. It colonizes the inter-row area infesting the natural or sown cover crops, and is considered a hard-to-control weed. Research in other woody crops has shown E. elaterium has a patchy distribution, which makes this weed susceptible to design a site-specific control strategy only addressed to E. elaterium patches. Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop a methodology based on the analysis of imagery acquired with an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) to detect and map E. elaterium infestations in hedgerow olive orchards.

RESULTS

The study was conducted in two superintensive olive orchards, and the images were taken using a UAV equipped with an RGB sensor. Flights were conducted on two dates: in May, when there were various weeds infesting the orchard, and in September, when E. elaterium was the only infesting weed. UAV-orthomosaics in the first scenario were classified using random forest models, and the orthomosaics from September with E. elaterium as the only weed, were analyzed using an unsupervised algorithm. In both cases, the overall accuracies were over 0.85, and the producer's accuracies for E. elaterium ranged between 0.74 and 1.00.

CONCLUSION

These results allow the design of a site-specific and efficient herbicide control protocol which would represent a step forward in sustainable weed management. The development of these algorithms in free and open-source software fosters their application in small and medium farms. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

明甪直天王殿松木斗拱振动台试验研究

以甪直保圣寺天王殿斗拱为参考对象,进行无缩尺松木斗拱模型的地震台试验研究。通过对斗拱的加速度与动力放大系数变化趋势、斗拱在振动过程中位移响应变化特征、斗拱变形最大时刻和各构件变形最大时刻的滑移位移和回转位移数值对比分析,得出以下结论：地震加速度用于衡量地震烈度,并不能直接反映斗拱试件的最大变形;振动频率的变化对斗拱回转变形的变化起重要作用,振幅是决定各构件水平滑移的主要因素;各构件变形最大值与斗拱整体变形最大值具有很强相关性,其中栌斗和华拱的回转变形对斗拱的整体变形而言,处于支配地位;斗拱的华拱连下昂部分主要起装饰作用,其榫卯连接节点位置在振动过程中较为薄弱,在对实际文物维护修缮过程中应引起重视并采取相关加固措施。     

松花粉破壁方法的比较研究

以松花粉为主要原料,分别采用纤维素酶法、超声波法、发酵法和旋风破碎法对松花粉进行了破壁研究,并从不同角度对几种方法进行了比较。     

湿地松优良半同胞家系蛋白质及糖类对水分胁迫的生理响应

为研究湿地松优良半同胞家系蛋白质及糖类对水分逆境的生理响应，采用盆栽试验和吸光度测定结合的方法，以湿地松普通种子为对照（CK），测定了七个湿地松半同胞家系在正常水分状态（土壤相对含水量为70%）、弱度水分胁迫（土壤相对含水量为55%~60%）、中度水分胁迫（土壤相对含水量为35%~40%）和强度水分胁迫（土壤相对含水量为20%~25%）条件下的可溶性蛋白质、还原性糖、可溶性糖的含量，研究结果表明：无论是不同水分梯度还是不同家系水平，蛋白质、还原性糖、可溶性糖含量的差异均达极显著性水平。随着水分胁迫程度的加剧，各家系蛋白质含量呈先升后降的趋势，在水分胁迫初期，各家系蛋白质含量增加，水分胁迫中、后期各家系蛋白含量呈直线下降；随着水分胁迫的加剧，各家系还原性糖、可溶性糖含量呈直线上升。家系1027、101、464在水分胁迫条件下具有较高的可溶性糖含量，其抗旱性较其它家系要强，是这三个家系速生、高产的生理原因之一。     

基于森林资源节约的出版规范改进研究

针对当前我国森林资源和文字规范工作的实际情况,在统计分析了森林资源流向、书刊发行现状的基础上,从节约资源的角度出发,应用工业工程的理论思想和方法对文字的规范标准及纸张节约等相关问题进行分析研究,提出了具有较强操作性和实际意义的改进方法。     

Prediction of pine mistletoe infection using remote sensing imaging: A comparison of the artificial neural network model and logistic regression model

In this study, the prediction of pine mistletoe distribution in Scots pine ecosystems was explored using remote sensing variables to compare the multilayer perceptron (MLP) artificial neural network (ANN) and logistic regression (LR) model performances. For this purpose, 109 sample plots were distinguished in pure Scots pine forests (natural) in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. Distinguishing mistletoe-infected stands (69) and uninfected stands (40) was performed with field observations. The variables acquired from Landsat 8 (Level 1) images were used as independent variables for independent-sample t-test, MLP ANN and LR models. Remote sensing variables indicated that mistletoe-infected stands were in drier areas with a lower vegetation-leaf area index. Based on the performance results of both models, the sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of the MLP ANN model were superior to those of the LR model. The prediction percentages (SEN, SPE, PPV and NPV) of mistletoe-infected stands were better than the prediction percentages of uninfected stands. The prediction accuracies of LR and MLP ANN models were 74.3% and 89.6%, respectively. However, all remote sensing variables were included in the prediction equation of the MLP ANN model, while the thermal infrared 1 (TIRS1) variable was included in the LR model. In the MLP ANN model, the TIRS1 variable also had the highest normalized importance (100%). The area under the curve (AUC) value for identifying the mistletoe-infected stands of Scots pine forests used by the MLP ANN model (0.892 ± 0.034) was higher than in the LR model (0.838 ± 0.039), explaining the more accurate predictions obtained from the MLP ANN model. The MLP ANN model showed much better performance than the LR model. The results of this study are expected to make important contributions to the identification of potential mistletoe-infected areas.     

Artificial inoculation and susceptibility of Pinus armandii to Dothistroma septosporum

Dothistroma needle blight (DNB) is a serious needle disease of conifers that primarily affects pine species (Pinus spp.). Dothistroma septosporum is one of the DNB pathogens that has a diverse range of host species excluding Pinus armandii. In 15 inoculated P. armandii seedlings, D. septosporum acervuli were observed in 43 infected needles of ten seedlings with a mean disease severity of 1.11% at 25 weeks after inoculations, demonstrating the potential of D. septosporum to cause symptoms on the needles of P. armandii via artificial inoculation. The disease severity of P. armandii was similar to the positive control, Pinus nigra (median 0.75 for P. armandii to 0.70 for P. nigra), thus, P. armandii acts under artificial conditions as a susceptible host species.     

半固定沙地樟子松小叶锦鸡儿混交林营造及经营技术研究

在对嫩江沙地樟子松和小叶锦鸡儿人工混交林林分状况和生长指标调查的基础上,采用统计分析方法,探讨了混交林主辅林种间的生长消长关系,结果表明:随着林龄的增长,辅助树种小叶锦鸡儿对主栽树种樟子松的生长发育具有抑制作用,樟子松的生长发育进程减慢,应对小叶锦鸡儿林分进行人工干预,以促进樟子松的生长发育。     

千岛湖地区森林土壤类型与可持续利用研究

对千岛湖地区森林土壤类型及其分布进行了调查,结果表明:森林土壤有3个土类、5个亚类、10个土属。分布以黄红壤为主,占86.8%;钙质紫砂土次之,占7.8%;侵蚀性红壤占2.7%;石灰岩土占2.5%;黄壤面积最小,仅占0.2%。研究了不同林分类型的土壤理化性质,认为不同湖区林场的天然林土壤养分差异较大,从整个地区角度看各种林型间土壤养分无差异性,但从每个林场单独分析,无论是天然林,还是人工林,阔叶林地养分明显高于针叶林和混交林地。因而,实施针叶林阔叶化改造,对千岛湖地区林地的持续发展,提高其水源涵养、保持水土、景观生态等效益是有益的。     

相思树种更新木麻黄防护林对林地土壤化学性质的影响

通过对相思树种更新木麻黄防护林对沿海沙地土壤化学性质的分析,结果表明:与木麻黄林分相比,在沿海沙地后沿应用相思树种造林使沙地土壤中水溶性C l-和Na+含量降低,而使表层土壤中的水溶性Ca2+含量升高;相思树种能明显地改善沙地土壤中有效养分的供给,然而,对不同的相思树种来说,其改善程度有所差异;相思树种明显地增加了沿海沙地土壤中全氮和全碳的含量,且增加的量以沙地土壤的表层最为显著。