Recognition of Ziziphus lotus through Aerial Imaging and Deep Transfer Learning Approach

There is a growing demand for the detection of endangered plant species through machine learning approaches. Ziziphus lotus is an endangered deciduous plant species in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae) native to Southern Europe. Traditional methods such as object-based image analysis have achieved good recognition rates. However, they are slow and require high human intervention. Transfer learning-based methods have several applications for data analysis in a variety of Internet of Things systems. In this work, we have analyzed the potential of convolutional neural networks to recognize and detect the Ziziphus lotus plant in remote sensing images. We fine-tuned Inception version 3, Xception, and Inception ResNet version 2 architectures for binary classification into plant species class and bare soil and vegetation class. The achieved results are promising and effectively demonstrate the better performance of deep learning algorithms over their counterparts.

Tachinid flies (Diptera: Tachinidae) reared from deciduous plant-feeding lepidopteran larvae at Hokkaido University Tomakomai Forest (Japan), with descriptions of three new species

Seven species of tachinid flies reared from herbivorous lepidopterans collected from the deciduous forest canopy at Hokkaido University Tomakomai Experimental Forest (0.2 ha plot), Hokkaido, Japan, are recorded and described: Blepharomyia brevicornis sp. nov. ex Erannis golda Djakonov (Geometridae), Catocala lara Bremer and Orthosia odiosa (Butler) (both Noctuidae); Ctenophorinia grisea Mesnil ex Himeropteryx miraculosa Staudinger (Notodontidae); Blepharipa carbonata (Mesnil) ex Marumba jankowskii (Oberthür) (Sphingidae); Cyzenis equifacialis sp. nov. ex Faristenia geminisignella Ponomarenko (Gelechiidae), Archips crataegana (Hübner), A. nigricauda Walshingham, Epinotia exquisitana Christoph and Pseudohedya gradana Christo (all Tortricidae); Cyzenis tetrasetosa sp. nov. ex Lomographa simplicior (Butler), Operophtera brunnea Nakajima and O. relegata Prout (Geometridae); Eulasiona zimini Mesnil ex Archips crataegana (Hübner), Pseudohedya gradana (Christoph), Rhopobota naevana (Hübner) and Rhopobota sp. (all Tortricidae); Panzeria sp. (nr. japonica Shima) ex Erannis golda Djakonov (Geometridae). The genus Eulasiona Townsend is moved to the subfamily Tachininae from its present position in the subfamily Dexiinae, and the female and puparium of Eulasiona zimini Mesnil are described for the first time. The parasitization rates and life habits of these tachinids are briefly discussed.

Drought Stress Responses of Prunus microcarpa C. A. Mey. subsp. tortusa Rootstocks under in vitro Conditions

Background: Prunus microcarpa C.A. Mey. subsp. Tortusa (MK), a wild deciduous plant species, is native to Caucasus and West Asia and grows in a dry temperate climate zone. The plant is mainly used to obtain a dark greyish green dye from its leaves and it has an economic value due to ornamental characteristics. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the appropriate Polyethylene Glycol 8000 (PEG) doses for early detection of drought resistance using MK, SL-64, Garnem, Pixy and Gis-6 rootstocks.Methods: The microshoots of each rootstock were planted at the end of the fourth subculture in Magenta GA7 vessels containing NRM medium. The medium contained 1.0 mg L-1 BA + 0.01 mg L-1 IBA supplemented with 30 g L-1 sucrose, gelled with 5.5 g L-1 agar and 0, 2, 3 and 4% PEG doses (four treatments). The cultures were kept at 23±2 °C temperature under 16 h light (80 μmol m-2 s-1) and 8 h dark photoperiod.Result: The highest number of shoots was recorded in control treatment for MK rootstock (2.81 shoots plant-1) and in 4% PEG treatment for Gis-6 rootstock (2.81 shoots plant-1). Mean chlorophyll a (10.66 mg/f.w) and chlorophyll b (3.63 mg/f.w) contents in the control treatment were lower compared to the mean chlorophyll a (2.03 mg/f.w) and chlorophyll b (1.15 mg/f.w) contents of plants grown in PEG 4% dose. Prunus microcarpa genotypes of Turkey origin tested in this study could be used as potential rootstocks in arid and semi-arid region as safe as the other standard rootstocks tested.

Rubus oklejewiczii (Rosaceae), a new bramble species from Central Europe (Poland: Carpathians)

A new species from south-eastern Poland, named Rubus oklejewiczii Wolanin & M. Nobis, is here described and illustrated. It is pentaploid deciduous plant, with morphological features most typical to the species representing Rubus ser. Rubus. The species is distributed in the northern foreground of the Polish Carpathians and has been observed mostly in fir-beech forests margins.

The Oleaster (Elaeagnus angustifolia): A Comprehensive Review on Its Composition, Ethnobotanical and Prebiotic values

Background: Oleaster or Elaeagnus angustifolia is a deciduous plant from Elaegnacea family and is well-known for its remedial applications. Objective: This paper presents a comprehensive review of the potential application of Oleaster's flour incorporated in some food products to make them as a functional food. Emphasis is given to the physicochemical, biochemical, and functional properties of Oleaster's flour. Methods: This review was carried out to extract from published articles. Results: from the nutrition belief, Oleaster's flour as a prebiotic ingredient enhances antioxidants, polyphenols, fiber, flavonoids, Sterols, carbohydrates, and protein content in food products. Conclusions: With further advanced investigations on Oleaster and its functional ingredients, this herbal may be efficacious and can be applied as a substitute source in pharmacological industries for curing some disorders.

Entomofauna diversity in areas of Caatinga under forest management in the semi-arid region of Ceará

The Caatinga is characterised by deciduous plant species. The practice in this ecosystem is the production of firewood which, when carried out with no technical criteria, contributes to a reduction in the biodiversity and degradation of the biome. Forest Management Planning has been approved by the Ministry of the Environment; a lower impact on the environment is expected, as there is still little information on the effect on biodiversity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diversity of soil fauna in areas that adopt a Forest Management Plan. Five areas were selected that adopt Forest Management Planning: Area T1, unexploited for six months; Area T2, unexploited for 2-3 years; Area T3 unexploited for 5-6 years; Area T4, unexploited for 10-11 years; and the Control Area (unexploited). Four pitfall traps were installed in each area. The Shannon-Weaver (H’) Index, the Pielou Uniformity Index (e) and the Species Richness Index were calculated for the purpose of estimating the existing biodiversity. Total richness varied from 7 to 14 groups for the different collection periods and between the treatments; the highest value for the Shannon Index (0.72) was found during the dry/rainy transition period in the area that had been exploited 5-6 years earlier. The number of specimens is influenced by the various stages of wood exploitation.

Using satellite data to improve the leaf phenology of a global terrestrial biosphere model

Correct representation of seasonal leaf dynamics is crucial for terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs), but many such models cannot accurately reproduce observations of leaf onset and senescence. Here we optimised the phenology-related parameters of the ORCHIDEE TBM using satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data (MODIS NDVI v5) that are linearly related to the model fAPAR. We found the misfit between the observations and the model decreased after optimisation for all boreal and temperate deciduous plant functional types, primarily due to an earlier onset of leaf senescence. The model bias was only partially reduced for tropical deciduous trees and no improvement was seen for natural C4 grasses. Spatial validation demonstrated the generality of the posterior parameters for use in global simulations, with an increase in global median correlation of 0.56 to 0.67. The simulated global mean annual gross primary productivity (GPP) decreased by ~ 10 PgC yr−1 over the 1990–2010 period due to the substantially shortened growing season length (GSL – by up to 30 days in the Northern Hemisphere), thus reducing the positive bias and improving the seasonal dynamics of ORCHIDEE compared to independent data-based estimates. Finally, the optimisations led to changes in the strength and location of the trends in the simulated vegetation productivity as represented by the GSL and mean annual fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), suggesting care should be taken when using un-calibrated models in attribution studies. We suggest that the framework presented here can be applied for improving the phenology of all global TBMs.

Using satellite data to improve the leaf phenology of a global Terrestrial Biosphere Model

Correct representation of seasonal leaf dynamics is crucial for Terrestrial Biosphere Models (TBMs), but many such models cannot accurately reproduce observations of leaf onset and senescence. Here we optimized the phenology-related parameters of the ORCHIDEE TBM using satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data (MODIS NDVI v5). We found the misfit between the observations and the model decreased after optimisation for all boreal and temperate deciduous Plant Functional Types, primarily due to an earlier onset of leaf senescence. The model bias was only partially reduced for tropical deciduous trees and no improvement was seen for natural C4 grasses. Spatial validation demonstrated the generality of the posterior parameters for use in global simulations, with an increase in global median correlation of 0.56 to 0.67. The simulated global mean annual GPP decreased by ~10 Pg C yr−1 over the 1990–2010 period due to the substantially shortened Growing Season Length (up to 30 days in the Northern Hemisphere), thus reducing the positive bias and improving the seasonal dynamics of ORCHIDEE compared to independent data-based estimates. Finally, the optimisations led to changes in the strength and location of the trends in the simulated GSL and mean annual fAPAR, suggesting care should be taken when using un-calibrated models in attribution studies. We suggest that the framework presented here can be applied for improving the phenology of all global TBMs.