Oxyfertigation and Transplanting Conditions of Strawberries

Soilless growing systems can improve water-use efficiency, especially in closed soilless growing systems. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of different transplanting conditions, and determine how supplying H2O2 as an oxygen source to the rhizosphere of strawberry plants in a soilless growing system affects plant growth, fruit yield and fruit quality. Strawberry plants (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) cv. ‘Fortuna’ were cultivated in 12 L pots filled with peat substrate, and maintained under conditions of natural light and temperature. Treated plants were supplied with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (H1) and control plants did not receive H2O2 (H0). In terms of the transplanting conditions, the plants were transplanted in October (T1), and either maintained in a culture chamber (T2), or refrigerated (T3), for one month, before being transplanted. A completely randomized block design with two treatment factors (transplanting conditions, and H2O2 treatment) and five replications was established. Then, we determined the fruit per plant, yield per plant (g plant−1), fruit weight (g fruit−1), fruit size (mm), SPAD values, crown number, crown diameter (mm), flower number, firmness (g cm−1), pH, total soluble solid (TSS), titratable acidity (TA) and TSS/TA. During the early crop cycle, there were not significant differences between treatment and the transplanting conditions that significantly affected the fruit weight and fruit size, although T3 produced the highest values. During the late crop cycle, the H2O2 treatment affected fruit per plant, yield per plant (g plant−1), and crown diameter, with H1 producing the highest values. Furthermore, the transplanting conditions affected yield per plant (g plant−1), old SPAD values, crown diameter, firmness, TSS, TA and TSS/TA.

Yield and crown structure characteristics in a red oak (Quercus rubra L.) stand: Case study

The paper provides the results of a detailed analysis of timber volume and several important crown variables of red oak (Quercus rubra L.) based on an experimental plot in eastern Hungary. At the age 32 years the crop trees belonged to different height classes. If the volume of the mean tree from height class I was considered as 100%, the volume of the mean tree of class II was 59%, and the mean tree of class III was only 36%. It appeared that there was a significant correlation between crown indices and yield. For this reason, diameter at breast height showed a positive linear correlation with crown diameter (R2= 0.6211). Additionally, there was also positive linear relationship between crown diameter and volume (R2= 0.6908). The variation of crown indices is height even within the same stand and indicates the importance of following a selective thinning operation method.

Extracting Crown Morphology with a Low-Cost Mobile Lidar Scanning System in the Natural Environment

To meet the demand for intelligent measurements of canopy morphological parameters, a mobile LiDAR scanning system with LiDAR and IMU as the main sensors was constructed. The system uses a LiDAR-IMU tight coupling odometry method to reconstruct a point cloud map of the area surveyed. After using the RANSAC algorithm to remove the map ground, the European clustering algorithm is used for point cloud segmentation. Finally, morphological parameters of the canopy, such as crown height, crown diameter, and crown volume, are extracted using statistical and voxel methods. To verify the algorithm, a total of 43 trees in multiple plots of the campus were tested and compared. The algorithm defined in this study was evaluated with manual measurements as reference, and the morphological parameters of the canopy obtained using the LOAM and LeGO-LOAM algorithms as the basic framework were compared. Experiments show that this method can be used to easily obtain the crown height, crown diameter, and crown volume of the area; the correlation coefficients of these parameters were 0.91, 0.87, and 0.83, respectively. Compared with the LOAM and LeGO-LOAM methods, they were increased by 0.004, 0.12, and 0.13 and 0.07, 0.15, and 0.04, respectively. The test results for this new system are positive and meet the requirements of horticulture and orchard measurements, indicating that it will have significant value as an application.

Tree form morphometrics of Agathis dammara and Acacia mangium in the IPB’s Dramaga Landscape Campus, Bogor

Tree growth comprises diverse tree forms and crown shapes that are influenced by the growing space and are related to biomechanical responses. Due to the complex structures of tree forms and crown architecture, more understanding of their functions is necessary. The study aimed to evaluate the morphometrics of two tree species of contrasting tree forms. Each represents excurrent and decurrent crown architectures located in the Dramaga Campus Landscape, Bogor. Morphometric analysis was conducted on those two species, namely excurrent agathis (n=23 trees) and decurrent mangium (n= 15 trees). The morphometric analysis was carried out for several basic growth variables such as diameter at breast height, total height, and crown height. In addition, other variables and parameters were also assessed, namely live crown ratio, slenderness ratio, crown diameter, crown projection area, crown index, and coefficient of space for growth. The results showed that the average diameters of agathis and mangium trees in this study were 0.49 and 0.48 m, respectively, while the average heights were 24.63 m and 18.23 m, respectively. The live crown ratio of both trees was more than 80%. The average slenderness ratio for agathis trees was 50.66 higher than that of mangium trees (40.64). The crown projection areas for agathis and mangium were 37.60 m2 and 69.69 m2, respectively. On the other hand, the crown index of agathis was 3.20, and mangium was 1.84. The coefficient of space for the growth of agathis and mangium was 0.14. and 0.19. The information related to tree morphometry is important for tree management, especially in evaluating healthy and steady tree stands.

Is leaning trees of Vatica pauciflora (Korth.) Blume related to their crown architecture?

Vatica pauciflora (Korth.) Blume (Dipterocarpaceae) or locally known as resak rawa is an important tree. It is categorized as vulnerable regarding the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. We can find the resak rawa tree collection in the Bogor Botanic Gardens, which serves as a place for research and tourism. Due to the diversity in individual tree anatomy within species, understanding correlation among individual tree traits, particularly crown architecture and tree leaning, is of great interest. That will be important because the leaning trees and crown architecture will affect the risk level to the safety of visitors. We can also use the architecture of the tree crown to understand the factors that influence tree growth. This study aims to investigate the correlation between the leaning trees and the crown architecture of V. pauciflora. Eight heritage trees of the species in the Bogor Botanic Gardens at the age of 54–105 years old were purposely, sampled in this study. The variables observed were height, trunk and crown diameter, leaning tree, live crown ratio, and direction of the main branches. The results show that crown shapes will follow the leaning trees with a correlation of 0.97. The main branches will be longer in the direction of the leaning trees (y=0.9956x+11.312; R²=0.9431). Suggestions to the management of V. pauciflora are to provide information boards to visitors and pruning the crown in the direction of the leaning trees is needed. The findings could be used to formulate mitigation measures as to the risk and safety of visitors.

Estimation of Larch Growth at the Stem, Crown and Branch Levels Using Ground-based LiDAR Point Cloud

BackgroundTree growth is an important indicator of forest health and can reflect changes in forest structure. Traditional tree growth estimates use easy-to-measure parameters (e.g., tree height, diameter at breast height (DBH), and crown diameter) obtained via forest in situ measurements, which are labor-intensive and time-consuming to perform and cannot easily describe the changes throughout the whole growth period of a tree. The combination of Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) and Quantitative Structure Modelling (QSM) can accurately estimate tree structural parameters nondestructively and has the potential to estimate tree growth. Therefore, this paper estimates tree growth according to the stem-, crown-, and branch-level attributes observed by ground-based LiDAR point clouds. Compared with conventional methods, this paper used tree height, DBH, stem volume, crown diameter, crown volume and first-order branch volume to estimate the growth of 55-year-old larch trees in Saihanba at the stem, crown and branch levels, respectively. ResultsThe experimental results showed that the absolute growth of the first-order branch volume was equivalent to that of the stems, which highlights the importance of branches in the study of tree growth. For 55-year-old larch, tree growth is mainly reflected in the growth of the crown, i.e., the growth of branches. Compared to one-dimensional parameters (tree height, DBH and crown diameter), the growth of three-dimensional parameters (crown, stem and first-order branch volumes) was more obvious. ConclusionsFor 55-year-old larch, three-dimensional tree parameters can more effectively describe tree growth, and the absolute growth of the first-order branch volume is close to the stem volume. In addition, it is necessary to estimate tree growth at different levels.

Comparison of Major Biological Characteristics and Adaptations of three Sand Pear Varieties in Hubei Province of China

The growth performance and adaptability of 'Chang Li No.1', 'Cui Guan' and 'Yuan Huang' after their planted in the first and third years were investigated. The results showed that:(1) The first year after the bud seedling planted, in plant height aspect, 'Yuan Huang' was the highest about 164.4cm, 'Cui Guan' was the lowest about 116.4cm; in leaf number aspect, ‘Chang Li No.1’ was the least about 11, ‘Cui Guan’ and 'Yuan Huang' were equivalent; in rate of survival, the survival rate of ‘Chang Li No.1’ was the highest about 82.4%, however, the survival rate of 'Cui Guan' and 'Yuan Huang' were 64.9% and 62.1% respectively; (2) The third year after planted, in plant height aspect, 'Yuan Huang' was the highest about 3.46 m, ‘Cui Guan’ and ‘Chang Li No.1’ were 2.72 m and 2.65 m respectively; in crown diameter aspect, 'Yuan Huang’ was the largest, ‘Cui Guan’ and ‘Chang Li No.1’ were equivalent; (3) In the number of annual branches, 'Yuan Huang' was the largest whatever long, medium or short branches, and that of ‘Cui Guan’ and ‘Chang Li No.1’ were equivalent; (4) In the number of inflorescence per plant, 'Yuan Huang' was the most up to 81 clusters, ‘Cui Guan’ was middle about 48 clusters, ‘Chang Li No.1’ was the least only 28 clusters; in the number of inflorescence flowers aspect, ‘Chang Li No.1’ was the largest about 9, 'Yuan Huang' and 'Cui Guan' were equal only 7; (5) In phenological period, ‘Cui Guan’ and ‘Chang Li No.1’ were similar, 'Yuan Huang' was about 5 days later than that of ‘Cui Guan’ and ‘Chang Li No.1’, and their fruit maturity was about 10 days different each other; (6)In damage by insects expression, 'Yuan Huang' was the lightest, next to ‘Cui Guan’, ‘Chang Li No.1’ was the most serious. Thus it could be seen, ‘Yuan Huang’ had the strongest adaptability in Hubei province, and ‘Chang Li No.1’ had the weakest adaptability in Hubei province of China.

Endovascular treatment of complex bifurcation aneurysms using the pConus device: clinical cases

The objective is to present the clinical experience of using the pConus stent-like device in the treatment of complex bifurcation aneurysms.Clinical cases. A 64-year-old patient was admitted with complaints of periodic headache without loss of consciousness and an increase in focal symptoms. Saccular aneurysms of the anterior communicating artery and the left superior cerebellar artery were found without signs of subarachnoid hemorrhage. For occlusion of the aneurysm of the left superior cerebellar artery (dimensions 7.4 х 5.3 mm, neck width 5.0 mm, facing left and up, body/neck ratio 1.48, the branch of the artery branched off from the neck), a pConus device (crown diameter 8 mm) was used with micro-coils.A 61-year-old patient was admitted with complaints of headache in the occipital region, accompanied by repeated vomiting and an increase in blood pressure to 200/110 mm Hg. Subarachnoid hemorrhage and a saccular aneurysm of the basilar artery bifurcation (facing up, anteriorly and somewhat to the left, measuring 4.9 x 3.4 mm, neck width 3.1 mm, dome/neck ratio 1.1) were revealed. A pConus device was used for micro-coils occlusion (4-25-6 mm).In the postoperative period, both patients did not experience an increase in focal neurological symptoms. Control angiography after 6 months confirmed stable occlusion, all major vessels were passable.Conclusion. In the described cases, there were no technical problems during the installation and implantation of the device. The use of the pConus device in the treatment of complex bifurcation aneurysms technically simplifies surgical intervention, since it does not require catheterization of the efferent vessels of the aneurysm.

Evaluation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) as a Tool to Predict Biomass and Carbon of Tectona grandis in Silvopastoral Systems (SPS) in Costa Rica

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in estimating the aboveground biomass and carbon, and the dasometric characteristics at three different spacings (2.5 m × 1.0 m, 2.5 m × 2.0 m and 2.5 m × 3.0 m) in a silvopastoral system (SPS) for the biomass production of Tectona grandis. A total of 90 trees were sampled, 63 of which were used to perform a dasometric evaluation (vertical and horizontal) in a spacing test in an SPS, and the rest to evaluate the use of UAVs in estimating the aboveground biomass in the spacing test. The results showed significant differences in average diameter at breast height (dbh) between spacings, and in aboveground biomass per tree. The amount of aboveground biomass and carbon per hectare increases at smaller spacings, but the differences were not statistically significant. A logarithmic model was prepared to estimate the dbh based on the crown diameter from the data collected taken in the field, since estimating this variable by means of UAVs is difficult. Significant differences were found in the aboveground biomass estimated using the field data compared to UAV data. The estimation of the crown diameter of the selected trees, hindered by the canopy closure in the SPS, was not adequate, which could influence the amount of aboveground biomass estimated using UAV data.

Silver Fir Decline in Pure and Mixed Stands at Western Edge of Spread in Croatian Dinarides Depends on Some Stand Structure and Climate Factors

Silver fir is one of the most threatened conifer species in Croatia, especially at the western edge of its spread in Croatian Dinarides, where the decline in fir trees has resulted in significant ecological and economic issues. The aim of this study was to determine, over an 18-year monitoring period, the relationships of silver fir crown defoliation with climatic factors and structural attributes. We further analyzed the tree retention time in a given defoliation class and transition dynamics between defoliation classes, as well as the survival/mortality of trees. Data on silver fir defoliation were analyzed in two different forest types: in pure silver fir and in mixed silver fir and common beech stands. The climatic factors, primarily vegetation period air temperature, potential evapotranspiration, and dry season water deficit, were correlated with crown defoliation. Regarding the structural attributes, in the mixed stand with predominantly smaller trees, crown defoliation increased with reduced diameter at breast height, crown diameter, social class, and crown illumination. In the pure fir stand, crown defoliation increased with reduced crown diameter, greater crown asymmetry, greater crown illumination, and on trees with a stork’s nest crown. The retention time in defoliation classes differed for research sites. Transition dynamics were different only for trees in the highest defoliation class (dead trees). At the end of the study period, silver fir mortality was higher in the pure fir stand. Increased silver fir defoliation and mortality can be expected in the future, particularly in overmature stands under prolonged drought stress. Permanent forest monitoring could ensure the high-quality data needed for adaptive management of fir stands that could positively influence the structure of these stands and, thus, improve their health status.