A MECHANICAL TRAP FOR SAMPLING POPULATIONS OF SMALL, ACTIVE INSECTS

1977 ◽  
Vol 109 (10) ◽  
pp. 1405-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.R. Menzies ◽  
E.A.C. Hagley
Keyword(s):  
Conventional Method ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Fruit Tree ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Resident Population ◽  
Rapid Movement ◽  
Tree Canopies

It is difficult to estimate numbers of small active insects, particularly predators, in fruit-tree canopies because of the frequent and rapid movement of these species. The conventional method of sampling such populations requires tapping the branch to dislodge the insects which fall to a cloth tray from which they are recovered and counted. However, many species take to flight very rapidly and escape before identification is possible. A sampling method was required which would rapidly enclose a volume of the canopy without disturbing the resident population, thereby eliminating inaccuracies in the sample obtained. This note describes a remotely operated mechanical trap which can be placed on a limb in the tree canopy. The insects thus trapped can be immobilized, counted, and identified.

Spray Volume, Canopy Density, and Other Factors Involved in Thinner Efficacy

HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 553d-553
Author(s):  
C.R. Unrath
Keyword(s):  
Tree Height ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Tree Size ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
Canopy Density ◽  
The North ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Tree Canopies ◽  
Average Water ◽  
Water Volumes

Historically, most airblast chemical applications to apple orchards used a single “average” water volume, resulting in variability of coverage with tree size and also the greatest variable in chemical thinning. This coverage variability can be eliminated by properly quantifying the tree canopy, as tree row volume (TRV), and relating that volume to airblast water rate for adequate coverge. Maximum typical tree height, cross-row limb spread, and between-row spacing are used to quantify the TRV. Further refinement is achieved by adjusting the water volume for tree canopy density. The North Carolina TRV model allows a density adjustment from 0.7 gal/1000 ft3 of TRV for young, very open tree canopies to 1.0 gal/1000 ft3 of TRV for large, thick tree canopies to deliver a full dilute application for maximum water application (to the point of run-off). Most dilute pesticide applications use 70% of full dilute to approach the point of drip (pesticide dilute) to not waste chemicals and reduce non-target environmental exposure. From the “chemical load” (i.e., lb/acre) calculated for the pesticide dilute application, the proper chemical load for lower (concentrate) water volumes can be accurately determined. Another significant source of variability is thinner application response is spray distribution to various areas of the tree. This variability is related to tree configuration, light, levels, fruit set, and natural thinning vs. the need for chemical thinning. Required water delivery patterns are a function of tree size, form, spacing, and density, as well as sprayer design (no. of nozzles and fan size). The TRV model, density adjustments, and nozzle patterns to effectively hit the target for uniform crop load will be addressed.

scholarly journals Three-Dimensional Morphological Measurement Method for a Fruit Tree Canopy Based on Kinect Sensor Self-Calibration

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haihui Yang ◽  
Xiaochan Wang ◽  
Guoxiang Sun
Keyword(s):  
Intelligent Control ◽  
Point Cloud ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Fruit Tree ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Morphological Parameters ◽  
Kinect Sensor ◽  
Self Calibration ◽  
Morphological Measurement ◽  
Tree Width

Perception of the fruit tree canopy is a vital technology for the intelligent control of a modern standardized orchard. Due to the complex three-dimensional (3D) structure of the fruit tree canopy, morphological parameters extracted from two-dimensional (2D) or single-perspective 3D images are not comprehensive enough. Three-dimensional information from different perspectives must be combined in order to perceive the canopy information efficiently and accurately in complex orchard field environment. The algorithms used for the registration and fusion of data from different perspectives and the subsequent extraction of fruit tree canopy related parameters are the keys to the problem. This study proposed a 3D morphological measurement method for a fruit tree canopy based on Kinect sensor self-calibration, including 3D point cloud generation, point cloud registration and canopy information extraction of apple tree canopy. Using 32 apple trees (Yanfu 3 variety) morphological parameters of the height (H), maximum canopy width (W) and canopy thickness (D) were calculated. The accuracy and applicability of this method for extraction of morphological parameters were statistically analyzed. The results showed that, on both sides of the fruit trees, the average relative error (ARE) values of the morphological parameters including the fruit tree height (H), maximum tree width (W) and canopy thickness (D) between the calculated values and measured values were 3.8%, 12.7% and 5.0%, respectively, under the V1 mode; the ARE values under the V2 mode were 3.3%, 9.5% and 4.9%, respectively; and the ARE values under the V1 and V2 merged mode were 2.5%, 3.6% and 3.2%, respectively. The measurement accuracy of the tree width (W) under the double visual angle mode had a significant advantage over that under the single visual angle mode. The 3D point cloud reconstruction method based on Kinect self-calibration proposed in this study has high precision and stable performance, and the auxiliary calibration objects are readily portable and easy to install. It can be applied to different experimental scenes to extract 3D information of fruit tree canopies and has important implications to achieve the intelligent control of standardized orchards.

Mechanical selective removal of flowers in a fruit tree canopy

2018 ◽  
pp. 339-346
Author(s):  
C. Seehuber ◽  
L. Damerow ◽  
A. Solomakhin ◽  
M.M. Blanke
Keyword(s):  
Fruit Tree ◽  
Selective Removal ◽  
Tree Canopy

A novel method for extracting skeleton of fruit tree from 3D point clouds

2020 ◽  
pp. 2050051
Author(s):  
Shenglian lu ◽  
Guo Li ◽  
Jian Wang
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Laser Scanner ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Fruit Trees ◽  
Fruit Tree ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
3D Point Clouds ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Manual Interaction ◽  
Traditional Approaches

Tree skeleton could be useful to agronomy researchers because the skeleton describes the shape and topological structure of a tree. The phenomenon of organs’ mutual occlusion in fruit tree canopy is usually very serious, this should result in a large amount of data missing in directed laser scanning 3D point clouds from a fruit tree. However, traditional approaches can be ineffective and problematic in extracting the tree skeleton correctly when the tree point clouds contain occlusions and missing points. To overcome this limitation, we present a method for accurate and fast extracting the skeleton of fruit tree from laser scanner measured 3D point clouds. The proposed method selects the start point and endpoint of a branch from the point clouds by user’s manual interaction, then a backward searching is used to find a path from the 3D point cloud with a radius parameter as a restriction. The experimental results in several kinds of fruit trees demonstrate that our method can extract the skeleton of a leafy fruit tree with highly accuracy.

scholarly journals An Improved Method to Track Changes of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus Titer in HLB-affected Citrus Trees

HortScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 1357-1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ed Etxeberria ◽  
Pedro Gonzalez ◽  
Ariel Singerman ◽  
Timothy Ebert
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Method ◽  
Sampling Period ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Candidatus Liberibacter Asiaticus ◽  
Improved Method ◽  
Destructive Sampling ◽  
Candidatus Liberibacter ◽  
Random Variability ◽  
Liberibacter Asiaticus ◽  
Citrus Trees

Monitoring the health of Huanglongbing-affected citrus trees by following changes in leaf Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) titer has an inherent element of imprecision because CLas titer varies considerably within the tree canopy and with calendar seasons. In addition, the destructive sampling method used to determine CLas titer entails a different set of leaves per sampling period adding to the inconsistency and inexactitude of the results. To overcome these ambiguities and to reduce the numerical variability between samples, we developed an experimental method that analyzes portions of the same treated leaves for up to four sampling periods. By assaying subsamples of adjacent locations of the same leaf, random variability was significantly reduced, and comparative analysis can be carried out with greater precision.

scholarly journals Stem Flow, Throughfall, and Canopy Interception of Rainfall by Citrus Tree Canopies

HortScience ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1059-1160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.C. Li ◽  
A.K. Alva ◽  
D.V. Calvert ◽  
M. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Storm Event ◽  
Citrus Paradisi ◽  
Citrus Tree ◽  
Canopy Interception ◽  
Canopy Effect ◽  
Tree Canopies ◽  
Stem Flow ◽  
Citrus Cultivar ◽  
Rain Events

It is generally believed that the interception of rain by the citrus tree canopy can substantially decrease the throughfall under the canopy as compared to that along the dripline or outside the canopy (incident rainfall). Therefore, the position of placement of soil-applied agrichemicals in relation to the tree canopy may be an important consideration to minimize their leaching during rain events. In this study, the distributions of rainfall under the tree canopies of three citrus cultivars, `Marsh' grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.), `Hamlin' orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck), and `Temple' orange (Citrus hybrid), were evaluated at four directions (north, south, east, west), two positions (dripline and under the canopy), and stem flow. There was not a significant canopy effect on rainfall amounts from stem flow or dripline, compared with outside canopy, for any citrus cultivar or storm event. However, throughfall varied significantly among the four cardinal directions under the canopy of all three citrus cultivars and was highly related to the wind direction. Among the three citrus cultivars evaluated in this study, throughfall, stem flow, and canopy interception accounted for 89.5% to 92.7%, 0.5% to 4.7%, and 5.8% to 9.3% of the incident rainfall, respectively.

Seed banks of an Arizona Pinus ponderosa landscape: responses to environmental gradients and fire cues

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 552-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott R. Abella ◽  
Judith D. Springer ◽  
W. Wallace Covington
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Seed Density ◽  
Soil Seed Banks ◽  
Tree Canopies ◽  
Dense Tree

We measured soil seed banks in 102 plots within a 110 000 ha Arizona Pinus ponderosa landscape, determined seed-bank responses to fire cues and tree canopy types (open or densely treed patches), compared seed-bank composition among ecosystem types, and assessed the utility of seed banks for ecological restoration. Liquid smoke was associated with increased community-level emergence from seed banks in greenhouse experiments, whereas heating to 100 °C had minimal effect and charred P. ponderosa wood decreased emergence. We detected 103 species in seed-bank samples and 280 species in aboveground vegetation. Erigeron divergens was the commonest seed-bank species; with the exception of Gnaphalium exilifolium , species detected in seed banks also occurred above ground. Although a dry, sandy-textured black-cinder ecosystem exhibited the greatest seed density, seed-bank composition was more ecosystem-specific than was seed density. Native graminoids (e.g., Carex geophila and Muhlenbergia montana ) were common in seed banks, whereas perennial forbs were sparse, particularly under dense tree canopies. Our results suggest that (i) smoke may increase emergence from seed banks in these forests, (ii) seed banks can assist establishment of major graminoids but not forbs during ecological restoration, and (iii) seed-bank composition is partly ecosystem-specific across the landscape.

scholarly journals Canopy Exchange and Modification of Nitrogen Fluxes in Forest Ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossella Guerrieri ◽  
Pamela Templer ◽  
Federico Magnani
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Atmospheric Nitrogen ◽  
Forest Canopies ◽  
Canopy Exchange ◽  
Tree Canopies ◽  
Atmospheric Inputs ◽  
Future Work

Abstract Purpose of Review We provide an overview of the main processes occurring during the interactions between atmospheric nitrogen and forest canopies, by bringing together what we have learned in recent decades, identifying knowledge gaps, and how they can be addressed with future research thanks to new technologies and approaches. Recent Findings There is mounting evidence that tree canopies retain a significant percentage of incoming atmospheric nitrogen, a process involving not only foliage, but also branches, microbes, and epiphytes (and their associated micro-environments). A number of studies have demonstrated that some of the retained nitrogen can be assimilated by foliage, but more studies are needed to better quantify its contribution to plant metabolism and how these fluxes vary across different forest types. By merging different approaches (e.g., next-generation sequence analyzes and stable isotopes, particularly oxygen isotope ratios) it is now possible to unveil the highly diverse microbial communities hidden in forest canopies and their ability to process atmospheric nitrogen through processes such as nitrification and nitrogen fixation. Future work should address the contribution of both foliar nitrogen uptake and biological transformations within forest canopies to whole ecosystem nitrogen cycling budgets. Summary Scientists have studied for decades the role of forest canopies in altering nitrogen derived from atmospheric inputs before they reach the forest floor, showing that tree canopies are not just passive filters for precipitation water and dissolved nutrients. We now have the technological capability to go beyond an understanding of tree canopy itself to better elucidate its role as sink or source of nutrients, as well as the epiphytes and microbial communities hidden within them.

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