The demand for food is tremendously increasing with the growth of the world population,which necessitates the development of sustainable agriculture under the impact of various factors,such as climate change.To fulfil...The demand for food is tremendously increasing with the growth of the world population,which necessitates the development of sustainable agriculture under the impact of various factors,such as climate change.To fulfill this challenge,we are developing Metaverses for agriculture,referred to as Agri Verse,under our Decentralized Complex Adaptive Systems in Agriculture(De CASA)project,which is a digital world of smart villages created alongside the development of Decentralized Sciences(De Sci)and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations(DAO)for Cyber-Physical-Social Systems(CPSSs).Additionally,we provide the architectures,operating modes and major applications of De CASA in AgriVerse.For achieving sustainable agriculture,a foundation model based on ACP theory and federated intelligence is envisaged.Finally,we discuss the challenges and opportunities.展开更多
The aim of this paper is to develop a simple EV model and predict its energy consumption with a variable and fixed ratio gearbox over a standard driving cycle in order to understand whether this could offer significan...The aim of this paper is to develop a simple EV model and predict its energy consumption with a variable and fixed ratio gearbox over a standard driving cycle in order to understand whether this could offer significant efficiency gains. The powertrain of a generic electric vehicle was modelled in Matlab / Simulink using the QSS Toolkit. The electric vehicle was then fitted with different transmissions with different levels of complexity. Simulations were done to investigate the energy consumptions across 6 standard driving cycles. The emerging conclusions are that it is possible to improve overall energy consumption levels by around 5 to 12 % with a variable ratio gearbox depending on the driving cycle used. However, there are many other practical considerations which must be weighed against this positive result - and the paper discusses the impact of several of these such as, gearbox efficiency, additional weight, cost and complexity, effect on drivability and potential for motor downsizing.展开更多
The cultivation of seed mixtures for local pastures is a traditional mixed cropping technique of cereals and legumes for producing,at a low production cost,a balanced animal feed in energy and protein in livestock sys...The cultivation of seed mixtures for local pastures is a traditional mixed cropping technique of cereals and legumes for producing,at a low production cost,a balanced animal feed in energy and protein in livestock systems.By considerably improving the autonomy and safety of agricultural systems,as well as reducing their impact on the environment,it is a type of crop that responds favorably to both the evolution of the European regulations on the use of phytosanitary products and the expectations of consumers who wish to increase their consumption of organic products.However,farmers find it difficult to adopt it because cereals and legumes do not ripen synchronously and the harvested seeds are heterogeneous,making it more difficult to assess their nutritional value.Many efforts therefore remain to be made to acquire and aggregate technical and economical references to evaluate to what extent the cultivation of seed mixtures could positively contribute to securing and reducing the costs of herd feeding.The work presented in this paper proposes new Artificial Intelligence techniques that could be transferred to an online or smartphone application to automatically estimate the nutritional value of harvested seed mixes to help farmers better manage the yield and thus engage them to promote and contribute to a better knowledge of this type of cultivation.For this purpose,an original open image dataset has been built containing 4,749 images of seed mixes,covering 11 seed varieties,with which 2 types of recent deep learning models have been trained.The results highlight the potential of this method and show that the best-performing model is a recent state-of-the-art vision transformer pre-trained with self-supervision(Bidirectional Encoder representation from Image Transformer).It allows an estimation of the nutritional value of seed mixtures with a coefficient of determination R^(2)score of 0.91,which demonstrates the interest of this type of approach,for its possible use on a large scale.展开更多
Ecosystem services(ES)are the connection between nature and society,and are essential for the well-being of local communities that depend on them.In Ethiopia,church forests and the surrounding agricultural matrix supp...Ecosystem services(ES)are the connection between nature and society,and are essential for the well-being of local communities that depend on them.In Ethiopia,church forests and the surrounding agricultural matrix supply numerous ES.However,the ES delivered by both land use types have not yet been assessed simultaneously.Here we surveyed both church forests and their agricultural matrices,aiming to quantify,compare and unravel the drivers underlying tree-based ES supply,density and multifunctionality.We found that almost all church forests and half of the agricultural matrices provided high ES densities.ES multifunctionality was higher in the agricultural matrices,suggesting that people deliberately conserve or plant multifunctional tree species.Furthermore,the supply of all categories of ES was positively correlated with church forest age(p-value<0.001)in the agricultural matrix,while the extent of church forest was positively correlated with the density of all categories ecosystem services score in the church forests(p-value<0.001).Our results can be used to prioritize conservation efforts at sites that provide high levels of ES supply,ES density and ES multifunctionality,and to prioritize restoration efforts at sites with low levels thereof.展开更多
Interpretation of primary growth markers (modules) is neglected in sustainable resource management processes, yet it opens up prospects for long time series on tree crown development, necessary for their characterizat...Interpretation of primary growth markers (modules) is neglected in sustainable resource management processes, yet it opens up prospects for long time series on tree crown development, necessary for their characterization in the current context of climate change. This study aimed to assess the morphological variation of crown shoots in <i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Parkia biglobosa</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> in the face of a changing environment. Axis growth modules of 420 individuals of different ages were retrospectively analyzed in the presence or absence of shading during the wet and dry seasons in seven localities in Cote d’Ivoire. The results showed that the developmental environment of individuals did not influence the growth modules dimensions (P > 0.05). However, module size remained significantly different between locations (P < 0.05). The southern part of the gradient is still favourable and has priority for the establishment of permanent plots. The modules morphology differs from the youngest to the oldest individuals (P < 0.05). The rainy season remains the ideal period for the implementation of agroforestry reforestation programmes based on this species (P < 0.05). </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Parkia biglobosa</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> is a monochasial sympod (Pseudo-monopod) with a relay axis that follows the Paul Champagnat architectural model in the young stage, and transits to the Wilhelm Troll model later in the adult and old stage. This information contributes to the understanding of the functioning of crown and the adaptation of this species to a varying environment. It could guide choice of suitable environment and ideal genotype for the implementation of a reforestation or agroforestry programme based on </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Parkia biglobosa</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">.</span>展开更多
The central importance of quantum chemistry is to obtain solutions of the Schr?dinger equation for the accurate determination of the properties of atomic and molecular systems that occurred from the calculation of wav...The central importance of quantum chemistry is to obtain solutions of the Schr?dinger equation for the accurate determination of the properties of atomic and molecular systems that occurred from the calculation of wave functions accurate for many diatomic and polyatomic molecules, using Self Consistent Field method (SCF). The application of quantum chemical methods in the study and planning of bioactive compounds has become a common practice nowadays. From the point of view of planning it is important to note, when it comes to the use of molecular modeling, a collective term that refers to methods and theoretical modeling and computational techniques to mimic the behavior of molecules, not intend to reach a bioactive molecule simply through the use of computer programs. The choice of method for energy minimization depends on factors related to the size of the molecule, parameters of availability, stored data and computational resources. Molecular models generated by the computer are the result of mathematical equations that estimate the positions and properties of the electrons and nuclei, the calculations exploit experimentally, the characteristics of a structure, providing a new perspective on the molecule. In this work we show that studies of Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital Energy (HOMO), Low Unoccupied Molecular Orbital Energy (LUMO) and Map of molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) using Hatree-Fock method with different basis sets (HF/3-21G*, HF/3-21G**, HF/6-31G, HF/6-31G*, HF/6-31G** and HF/6-311G), that are of great importance in modern chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, and other fields of knowledge of health sciences. In order to obtain a significant correlation, it is essential that the descriptors are used appropriately. Thus, the quantum chemical calculations are an attractive source of new molecular descriptors that can, in principle, express all the geometrical and electronic properties of molecules and their interactions with biological receptor.展开更多
<i>Khaya senegalensis</i><span><span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> is one of the largest and most majestic ...<i>Khaya senegalensis</i><span><span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> is one of the largest and most majestic trees in Africa. Overexploited for its precious wood and medicinal values, the natural stands of this species are in danger of extinction in Cote d’Ivoire. Its sustainable management through regeneration techniques and assessment of its degree of adaptation to the changing climate is necessary. </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The aim of this study is</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to evaluate the effect of different environments on seedling germination and development in </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><i>Khaya senegalensis</i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">. A total of 2160 seeds from different mother plants and 540 individuals from seed germination were selected and evaluated. The trials were conducted on three sites that were distinct by their microclimate (two nurseries in Cote d’Ivoire and one greenhouse in France). Analysis of variance showed that germination and morphology parameters were not influenced by the characteristics of the mother plants used (p > 0.05), but rather by the study sites (P < 0.05). The stable and controlled greenhouse climate was more advantageous for latency time (12.66 ± 0.80 days), germination delay (16.96 96 ± 0.54 days), germination speed (19.66 ± 2.95 days), germination duration (10.83 ± 2.27 days) and germination rate (88.88 ± 7.97) with more vigorous sowing than the other two sites. The results showed in general that the higher the height of the seedlings, the thicker the diameter of the seedlings (r = 0.796) and the higher the number of leaves (r = 0.946). This savannah species is native to the arid zones of Africa, but this study highlighted its adaptive potential to changing and different climates. These results are decision support tools for the regeneration of native pioneer forest species with high agroforestry potential and socio-economic importance such as </span><span style展开更多
Realistic modelling and interactive rendering of forestry and landscape is a challenge in computer graphics and virtual reality.Recent new developments in plant growth modelling and simulation lead to plant models fai...Realistic modelling and interactive rendering of forestry and landscape is a challenge in computer graphics and virtual reality.Recent new developments in plant growth modelling and simulation lead to plant models faithful to botanical structure and development,not only representing the complex architecture of a real plant but also its functioning in interaction with its environment.Complex geometry and material of a large group of plants is a big burden even for high performances computers,and they often overwhelm the numerical calculation power and graphic rendering power.Thus,in order to accelerate the rendering speed of a group of plants,software techniques are often developed.In this paper,we focus on plant organs,i.e.leaves,flowers,fruits and inter-nodes.Our approach is a simplification process of all sparse organs at the same time,i.e.,Level of Detail(LOD),and multi-resolution models for plants.We do explain here the principle and construction of plant simplification.They are used to construct LOD and multi-resolution models of sparse organs and branches of big trees.These approaches take benefit from basic knowledge of plant architecture,clustering tree organs according to biological structures.We illustrate the potential of our approach on several big virtual plants for geometrical compression or LOD model definition.Finally we prove the efficiency of the proposed LOD models for realistic rendering with a virtual scene composed by 184 mature trees.展开更多
Vegetation ecosystem simulation and visualisation are challenging topics involving multidisciplinary aspects. In this paper, we present a new generic frame for the simulation of natural phenomena through manageable an...Vegetation ecosystem simulation and visualisation are challenging topics involving multidisciplinary aspects. In this paper, we present a new generic frame for the simulation of natural phenomena through manageable and interacting models. It focuses on the functional growth of large vegetal ecosystems, showing coherence for scales ranging from the individual plant to communities and with a particular attention to the effects of water resource competition between plants. The proposed approach is based on a model of plant growth in interaction with the environmental conditions. These are deduced from the climatic data （light, temperature, rainfall） and a model of soil hydrological budget. A set of layers is used to store the water resources and to build the interfaces between the environmental data and landscape components： temperature, rain, light, altitude, lakes, plant positions, biomass, cycles, etc. At the plant level, the simulation is performed for each individual by a structural-functional growth model, interacting with the plant＇s environment. Temperature is spatialised, changing according to altitude, and thus locally controls plant growth speed. The competition for water is based on a soil hydrological model taking into account rainfalls, water runoff, absorption, diffusion, percolation in soil. So far, the incoming light radiation is not studied in detail and is supposed constant. However, competition for light between plants is directly taken into account in the plant growth model. In our implementation, we propose a simple architecture for such a simulator and a simulation scheme to synchronise the water resource updating （on a temporal basis） and the plant growth cycles （determined by the sum of daily temperatures）. The visualisation techniques are based on sets of layers, allowing both morphological and functional landscape views and providing interesting tools for ecosystem management. The implementation of the proposed frame leads to encouraging results that are presented and illus展开更多
To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the differences in yield formation among two parents(P1 and P2) and their F1 hybrid of cucumber, biomass production and whole source–sink dynamics were analyzed using a functio...To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the differences in yield formation among two parents(P1 and P2) and their F1 hybrid of cucumber, biomass production and whole source–sink dynamics were analyzed using a functional–structural plant model(FSPM) that simulates both the number and size of individual organs. Observations of plant development and organ biomass were recorded throughout the growth periods of the plants. The GreenLab Model was used to analyze the differences in fruit setting, organ expansion, biomass production and biomass allocation. The source–sink parameters were estimated from the experimental measurements. Moreover, a particle swarm optimization algorithm(PSO) was applied to analyze whether the fruit setting is related to the source–sink ratio. The results showed that the internal source–sink ratio increased in the vegetative stage and reached a peak until the first fruit setting. The high yield of hybrid F1 is the compound result of both fruit setting and the internal source–sink ratio. The optimization results also revealed that the incremental changes in fruit weight result from the increases in sink strength and proportion of plant biomass allocation for fruits. The model-aided analysis revealed that heterosis is a result of a delicate compromise between fruit setting and fruit sink strength. The organlevel model may provide a computational approach to define the target of breeding by combination with a genetic model.展开更多
<i><span style="font-family:;" "="">Parkia biglobosa</span></i><span style="font-family:;" "=""> is a much-loved and over-exploited Afric...<i><span style="font-family:;" "="">Parkia biglobosa</span></i><span style="font-family:;" "=""> is a much-loved and over-exploited African savannah species for its socio-economic importance. Knowing and taking into account its architectural unit, which is the basis for diagnosing phenology, productivity and tree health, could provide a new perspective on its sustainable management. The aim of this study is to establish the architectural development in <i>Parkia biglobosa</i> by retrospective analysis. To achieve this objective, 390 individuals of all sizes ranging from seedlings to senescent trees were observed and analysed under various soil and climatic conditions in Côte d’Ivoire. The results showed that <i>Parkia biglobosa</i> is a light plant but shading tolerant. It is a mixed vegetative axis plant, the stem is orthotropic* in its proximal part and plagiotropic* (collapsing) in its distal part in young stage. The tree then transitions to an adult and old stage into a tree with a plagiotropic* axis in the proximal and distal parts, the trunk is built up by superimposing collapsed relay axes that gradually straighten, branching is sympodial*, growth is defined and sexuality is terminal and lateral. The ontogeny takes place in three phases: initiation of development and establishment of the crown (young), then flowering and establishment of the architectural unity (adult) and finally the death of secondary axes in the crown, duplication of the architecture by a series of partial and total reiterations (old). The level of organisation is 5: the phytomere, the module or growth unit, the axis, the architectural unit and the reiterated complex. Retrospective analysis of the modules showed that the dimensions of the growth units are indicators of morphological variation and species adaptation to a changing climate (<i>P</i> < 0.05). However, the equations generated by the morphological and habitat dimension linkage models are not significant (<i>R</i><sup>2</sup> and <i>r</i> </span><span style="font-family:;" 展开更多
The rapid rate of deforestation in Cote d’Ivoire has led to loss of plant species diversity and also threatens some commercial tree species with extinction.Some reforestation and aff orestation has been completed.How...The rapid rate of deforestation in Cote d’Ivoire has led to loss of plant species diversity and also threatens some commercial tree species with extinction.Some reforestation and aff orestation has been completed.However,for some species,the numbers of surviving transplants has declined.Hence,it is necessary to develop properly adapted and resilient genotypes that can eff ectively support the programs of forest restoration.In this context we evaluated the eff ects of the provenances of seeds and of various treatments on the germination rates and on plant growth of four commercial trees species(Pycnanthus angolensis,Terminalia superba,Mansonia altissima and Pterygota macrocarpa).We analyzed these parameters for seeds of three provenances(Daloa,Akoupéand Daoukro)of four species and for thirty plants aged 6 months per provenance.Time to begin germination and time to reach maximum germination were similar among species,and were not infl uenced by either treatment or provenance.Untreated seeds and those soaked for 24 and 48 h in water at room temperature yielded the highest germination rates,irrespective of species or provenance.The one exception was P.angolensis,for which no germination was recorded.Within species,some provenances produced higher germination percentages than did others.No clear relationship was computed between the germination rate and the morphometric characteristics of the seeds which varied signifi cantly between provenances.Plant growth and morphological variability also depended greatly on provenance.Genetic factors might be implicated,therefore provenance trials should be undertaken and evaluated.Furthermore,molecular analysis should be undertaken to confi rm the implications of genetic factors and allow for genetic selection.展开更多
Interspecific competition with native species during biological invasions can sometimes limit alien expansion.We aimed to determine the potential ecological effects of Limatus durhamii Theobald 1901,a native Neotropic...Interspecific competition with native species during biological invasions can sometimes limit alien expansion.We aimed to determine the potential ecological effects of Limatus durhamii Theobald 1901,a native Neotropical mosquito (Diptera:Culicidae) species,on the invasive species Aedes (Stegomyia)aegypti (Linnaeus 1762)that breeds in the same artificial water containers.Development time and adult dry mass were measured in 3 rearing conditions:control (a single larva),intraspecific competition (2 conspecific larvae),and interspecific competition (2 heterospecific larvae).Food was provided ad libitum to eliminate exploitative competition.For Ae.aegypti,development time was not affected by interspecific interference competition (nonsignificant differences with the control)and the adult dry mass was significantly higher,meaning that individual fitness likely increased.Yet,because previous studies showed longer development time and lighter adults during competition with other invasive mosquitoes,it is likely that Ae.aegypti can express a different phenotype depending on the competing species.The similar pattern found for Li.durhamii females and the nonsignificant difference with the control for males explain in part why this species can compete with Ae.aegypti.展开更多
The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), a dioecious species, is of particular interest in the Sahel due to its phenological plasticity in relation to climate change and its double-flowering capacity. This article expl...The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), a dioecious species, is of particular interest in the Sahel due to its phenological plasticity in relation to climate change and its double-flowering capacity. This article explores local practices and knowledge associated with date palm cultivation in the oasis basins of southeastern Niger, and provides an inventory of local seed propagated varieties, for more effectively guiding agricultural research and the breeding of this species. We carried out a survey of 30 date palm growers in 14 villages of the Manga region. The qualitative data of the survey were processed by a Multiple Correspondence Analysis. We inventoried 19 date palm varieties, for which the main distinctive criterion was fruit colour, but some other criteria such as biology or provenance were also used. The cultural practices and knowledge associated with the date palm in Manga have improved since the 1990s. They also depend on ethnic groups and the importance they assign to farming compared to livestock rearing and trading activities. The type of basin (high, intermediate, or low water table) influences growers’ practices and perceptions. Lastly, the date harvest in the wet season is abundant, but of mediocre quality, whereas it is the opposite for the dry season harvest. To conclude, sustainable development of date palm cultivation in the Sahel zone relies firstly on the selection of varieties that are early fruit producers or that can complete fruit maturation during the raining season and secondly on technical capacity building for producers.展开更多
Background:Individual tree extraction from terrestrial laser scanning(TLS)data is a prerequisite for tree-scale estimations of forest biophysical properties.This task currently is undertaken through laborious and time...Background:Individual tree extraction from terrestrial laser scanning(TLS)data is a prerequisite for tree-scale estimations of forest biophysical properties.This task currently is undertaken through laborious and time-consuming manual assistance and quality control.This study presents a new fully automatic approach to extract single trees from large-area TLS data.This data-driven method operates exclusively on a point cloud graph by path finding,which makes our method computationally efficient and universally applicable to data from various forest types.Results:We demonstrated the proposed method on two openly available datasets.First,we achieved state-of-the-art performance on locating single trees on a benchmark dataset by significantly improving the mean accuracy by over 10% especially for difficult forest plots.Second,we successfully extracted 270 trees from one hectare temperate forest.Quantitative validation resulted in a mean Intersection over Union(mIoU)of 0.82 for single crown segmentation,which further led to a relative root mean square error(RMSE%)of 21.2% and 23.5% for crown area and tree volume estimations,respectively.Conclusions:Our method allows automated access to individual tree level information from TLS point clouds.The proposed method is free from restricted assumptions of forest types.It is also computationally efficient with an average processing time of several seconds for one million points.It is expected and hoped that our method would contribute to TLS-enabled wide-area forest qualifications,ranging from stand volume and carbon stocks modelling to derivation of tree functional traits as part of the global ecosystem understanding.展开更多
The present study was carried out to verify the statistical relationships between the characteristic parameters in terms of vegetative aerial architecture of the date palms for simulating realistic 3D models. The vege...The present study was carried out to verify the statistical relationships between the characteristic parameters in terms of vegetative aerial architecture of the date palms for simulating realistic 3D models. The vegetal material was composed of two Tunisian varieties of Phoenix dactylifera L., ＂Barhi＂ and ＂Rochdi＂. The observations are taken place in Gabes and on one pair of palms per main stem and offshoot for each cultivar. The analysis of the characteristic dimensions of the pinnae and rachis allowed the determination of a minimum sample. The geometrical analysis confirmed the existence of a strong correlation between rotation angles and radial angles. The architectural analysis of the two Tunisian cultivars revealed that the distribution of characteristic parameter values of pinnae was the outcome ofa regionalized variable along the rachis. This statistical study of relationships between the characteristic parameters in terms of vegetative aerial architecture of the two varieties allows executing a new measurement protocol for computing and simulating realistic 3D models.展开更多
Global illumination effects are crucial for virtual plant rendering. Whereas real-time global illumination rendering of plants is impractical, ambient occlusion is an efficient alternative approximation. A tree model ...Global illumination effects are crucial for virtual plant rendering. Whereas real-time global illumination rendering of plants is impractical, ambient occlusion is an efficient alternative approximation. A tree model with millions of triangles is common, and the triangles can be considered as randomly distributed. The existing ambient occlusion methods fail to apply on such a type of object. In this paper, we present a new ambient occlusion method dedicated to real time plant rendering with limited user interaction. This method is a three-step ambient occlusion calculation framework which is suitable for a huge number of geometry objects distributed randomly in space. The complexity of the proposed algorithm is O（n）, compared to the conventional methods with complexities of O（n^2）. Furthermore, parameters in this method can be easily adjusted to achieve flexible ambient occlusion effects. With this ambient occlusion calculation method, we can manipulate plant models with millions of organs, as well as geometry objects with large number of randomly distributed components with affordable time, and with perceptual quality comparable to the previous ambient occlusion methods.展开更多
基金supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant2021ZD0113701,2021ZD0113704the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 62076239Chinese Academy of Sciences-Thailand National Science and Technology Development Agency Joint Research Program under Grant GJHZ2076。
文摘The demand for food is tremendously increasing with the growth of the world population,which necessitates the development of sustainable agriculture under the impact of various factors,such as climate change.To fulfill this challenge,we are developing Metaverses for agriculture,referred to as Agri Verse,under our Decentralized Complex Adaptive Systems in Agriculture(De CASA)project,which is a digital world of smart villages created alongside the development of Decentralized Sciences(De Sci)and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations(DAO)for Cyber-Physical-Social Systems(CPSSs).Additionally,we provide the architectures,operating modes and major applications of De CASA in AgriVerse.For achieving sustainable agriculture,a foundation model based on ACP theory and federated intelligence is envisaged.Finally,we discuss the challenges and opportunities.
文摘The aim of this paper is to develop a simple EV model and predict its energy consumption with a variable and fixed ratio gearbox over a standard driving cycle in order to understand whether this could offer significant efficiency gains. The powertrain of a generic electric vehicle was modelled in Matlab / Simulink using the QSS Toolkit. The electric vehicle was then fitted with different transmissions with different levels of complexity. Simulations were done to investigate the energy consumptions across 6 standard driving cycles. The emerging conclusions are that it is possible to improve overall energy consumption levels by around 5 to 12 % with a variable ratio gearbox depending on the driving cycle used. However, there are many other practical considerations which must be weighed against this positive result - and the paper discusses the impact of several of these such as, gearbox efficiency, additional weight, cost and complexity, effect on drivability and potential for motor downsizing.
基金This research work was mainly undertaken within the framework of the Carpeso project(AAPIP 2019 n°19AIP5902),supported by the CASDAR program(The Special Affection Account for Agricultural and Rural Development)funded by the French National Research Agency(ANR)through the grant PI@ntAgroEco 22-PEAE0009.
文摘The cultivation of seed mixtures for local pastures is a traditional mixed cropping technique of cereals and legumes for producing,at a low production cost,a balanced animal feed in energy and protein in livestock systems.By considerably improving the autonomy and safety of agricultural systems,as well as reducing their impact on the environment,it is a type of crop that responds favorably to both the evolution of the European regulations on the use of phytosanitary products and the expectations of consumers who wish to increase their consumption of organic products.However,farmers find it difficult to adopt it because cereals and legumes do not ripen synchronously and the harvested seeds are heterogeneous,making it more difficult to assess their nutritional value.Many efforts therefore remain to be made to acquire and aggregate technical and economical references to evaluate to what extent the cultivation of seed mixtures could positively contribute to securing and reducing the costs of herd feeding.The work presented in this paper proposes new Artificial Intelligence techniques that could be transferred to an online or smartphone application to automatically estimate the nutritional value of harvested seed mixes to help farmers better manage the yield and thus engage them to promote and contribute to a better knowledge of this type of cultivation.For this purpose,an original open image dataset has been built containing 4,749 images of seed mixes,covering 11 seed varieties,with which 2 types of recent deep learning models have been trained.The results highlight the potential of this method and show that the best-performing model is a recent state-of-the-art vision transformer pre-trained with self-supervision(Bidirectional Encoder representation from Image Transformer).It allows an estimation of the nutritional value of seed mixtures with a coefficient of determination R^(2)score of 0.91,which demonstrates the interest of this type of approach,for its possible use on a large scale.
基金flnancial support from VLIR-UOS,Belgium through the VLIR-IUC Interuniversity cooperation with Bahir Dar University,Ethiopia (BDU-IUC)
文摘Ecosystem services(ES)are the connection between nature and society,and are essential for the well-being of local communities that depend on them.In Ethiopia,church forests and the surrounding agricultural matrix supply numerous ES.However,the ES delivered by both land use types have not yet been assessed simultaneously.Here we surveyed both church forests and their agricultural matrices,aiming to quantify,compare and unravel the drivers underlying tree-based ES supply,density and multifunctionality.We found that almost all church forests and half of the agricultural matrices provided high ES densities.ES multifunctionality was higher in the agricultural matrices,suggesting that people deliberately conserve or plant multifunctional tree species.Furthermore,the supply of all categories of ES was positively correlated with church forest age(p-value<0.001)in the agricultural matrix,while the extent of church forest was positively correlated with the density of all categories ecosystem services score in the church forests(p-value<0.001).Our results can be used to prioritize conservation efforts at sites that provide high levels of ES supply,ES density and ES multifunctionality,and to prioritize restoration efforts at sites with low levels thereof.
文摘Interpretation of primary growth markers (modules) is neglected in sustainable resource management processes, yet it opens up prospects for long time series on tree crown development, necessary for their characterization in the current context of climate change. This study aimed to assess the morphological variation of crown shoots in <i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Parkia biglobosa</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> in the face of a changing environment. Axis growth modules of 420 individuals of different ages were retrospectively analyzed in the presence or absence of shading during the wet and dry seasons in seven localities in Cote d’Ivoire. The results showed that the developmental environment of individuals did not influence the growth modules dimensions (P > 0.05). However, module size remained significantly different between locations (P < 0.05). The southern part of the gradient is still favourable and has priority for the establishment of permanent plots. The modules morphology differs from the youngest to the oldest individuals (P < 0.05). The rainy season remains the ideal period for the implementation of agroforestry reforestation programmes based on this species (P < 0.05). </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Parkia biglobosa</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> is a monochasial sympod (Pseudo-monopod) with a relay axis that follows the Paul Champagnat architectural model in the young stage, and transits to the Wilhelm Troll model later in the adult and old stage. This information contributes to the understanding of the functioning of crown and the adaptation of this species to a varying environment. It could guide choice of suitable environment and ideal genotype for the implementation of a reforestation or agroforestry programme based on </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Parkia biglobosa</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">.</span>
文摘The central importance of quantum chemistry is to obtain solutions of the Schr?dinger equation for the accurate determination of the properties of atomic and molecular systems that occurred from the calculation of wave functions accurate for many diatomic and polyatomic molecules, using Self Consistent Field method (SCF). The application of quantum chemical methods in the study and planning of bioactive compounds has become a common practice nowadays. From the point of view of planning it is important to note, when it comes to the use of molecular modeling, a collective term that refers to methods and theoretical modeling and computational techniques to mimic the behavior of molecules, not intend to reach a bioactive molecule simply through the use of computer programs. The choice of method for energy minimization depends on factors related to the size of the molecule, parameters of availability, stored data and computational resources. Molecular models generated by the computer are the result of mathematical equations that estimate the positions and properties of the electrons and nuclei, the calculations exploit experimentally, the characteristics of a structure, providing a new perspective on the molecule. In this work we show that studies of Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital Energy (HOMO), Low Unoccupied Molecular Orbital Energy (LUMO) and Map of molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) using Hatree-Fock method with different basis sets (HF/3-21G*, HF/3-21G**, HF/6-31G, HF/6-31G*, HF/6-31G** and HF/6-311G), that are of great importance in modern chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, and other fields of knowledge of health sciences. In order to obtain a significant correlation, it is essential that the descriptors are used appropriately. Thus, the quantum chemical calculations are an attractive source of new molecular descriptors that can, in principle, express all the geometrical and electronic properties of molecules and their interactions with biological receptor.
文摘<i>Khaya senegalensis</i><span><span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> is one of the largest and most majestic trees in Africa. Overexploited for its precious wood and medicinal values, the natural stands of this species are in danger of extinction in Cote d’Ivoire. Its sustainable management through regeneration techniques and assessment of its degree of adaptation to the changing climate is necessary. </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The aim of this study is</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to evaluate the effect of different environments on seedling germination and development in </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><i>Khaya senegalensis</i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">. A total of 2160 seeds from different mother plants and 540 individuals from seed germination were selected and evaluated. The trials were conducted on three sites that were distinct by their microclimate (two nurseries in Cote d’Ivoire and one greenhouse in France). Analysis of variance showed that germination and morphology parameters were not influenced by the characteristics of the mother plants used (p > 0.05), but rather by the study sites (P < 0.05). The stable and controlled greenhouse climate was more advantageous for latency time (12.66 ± 0.80 days), germination delay (16.96 96 ± 0.54 days), germination speed (19.66 ± 2.95 days), germination duration (10.83 ± 2.27 days) and germination rate (88.88 ± 7.97) with more vigorous sowing than the other two sites. The results showed in general that the higher the height of the seedlings, the thicker the diameter of the seedlings (r = 0.796) and the higher the number of leaves (r = 0.946). This savannah species is native to the arid zones of Africa, but this study highlighted its adaptive potential to changing and different climates. These results are decision support tools for the regeneration of native pioneer forest species with high agroforestry potential and socio-economic importance such as </span><span style
基金This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China projects No. 60073007, 60473110, 30371157 by National High-Tech Research and Development Plan of China under Grant No. 2006AA01Z301+1 种基金 by the French National Research Agency within project NATSIM ANR-05-MMSA-45 and by LIAMA funding with the project GreenLab.
文摘Realistic modelling and interactive rendering of forestry and landscape is a challenge in computer graphics and virtual reality.Recent new developments in plant growth modelling and simulation lead to plant models faithful to botanical structure and development,not only representing the complex architecture of a real plant but also its functioning in interaction with its environment.Complex geometry and material of a large group of plants is a big burden even for high performances computers,and they often overwhelm the numerical calculation power and graphic rendering power.Thus,in order to accelerate the rendering speed of a group of plants,software techniques are often developed.In this paper,we focus on plant organs,i.e.leaves,flowers,fruits and inter-nodes.Our approach is a simplification process of all sparse organs at the same time,i.e.,Level of Detail(LOD),and multi-resolution models for plants.We do explain here the principle and construction of plant simplification.They are used to construct LOD and multi-resolution models of sparse organs and branches of big trees.These approaches take benefit from basic knowledge of plant architecture,clustering tree organs according to biological structures.We illustrate the potential of our approach on several big virtual plants for geometrical compression or LOD model definition.Finally we prove the efficiency of the proposed LOD models for realistic rendering with a virtual scene composed by 184 mature trees.
基金This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No.60473110 and by LIAMAGREENLAB Project.
文摘Vegetation ecosystem simulation and visualisation are challenging topics involving multidisciplinary aspects. In this paper, we present a new generic frame for the simulation of natural phenomena through manageable and interacting models. It focuses on the functional growth of large vegetal ecosystems, showing coherence for scales ranging from the individual plant to communities and with a particular attention to the effects of water resource competition between plants. The proposed approach is based on a model of plant growth in interaction with the environmental conditions. These are deduced from the climatic data （light, temperature, rainfall） and a model of soil hydrological budget. A set of layers is used to store the water resources and to build the interfaces between the environmental data and landscape components： temperature, rain, light, altitude, lakes, plant positions, biomass, cycles, etc. At the plant level, the simulation is performed for each individual by a structural-functional growth model, interacting with the plant＇s environment. Temperature is spatialised, changing according to altitude, and thus locally controls plant growth speed. The competition for water is based on a soil hydrological model taking into account rainfalls, water runoff, absorption, diffusion, percolation in soil. So far, the incoming light radiation is not studied in detail and is supposed constant. However, competition for light between plants is directly taken into account in the plant growth model. In our implementation, we propose a simple architecture for such a simulator and a simulation scheme to synchronise the water resource updating （on a temporal basis） and the plant growth cycles （determined by the sum of daily temperatures）. The visualisation techniques are based on sets of layers, allowing both morphological and functional landscape views and providing interesting tools for ecosystem management. The implementation of the proposed frame leads to encouraging results that are presented and illus
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31700315 and 61533019)the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing,China(cstc2018jcyjAX0587)+1 种基金the Chinese Academy of Science(CAS)-Thailand National Science and Technology Development Agency(NSTDA)Joint Research Program(GJHZ2076)The authors thank Wang Qian and Mory Diakite for their assistance in the experiment.
文摘To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the differences in yield formation among two parents(P1 and P2) and their F1 hybrid of cucumber, biomass production and whole source–sink dynamics were analyzed using a functional–structural plant model(FSPM) that simulates both the number and size of individual organs. Observations of plant development and organ biomass were recorded throughout the growth periods of the plants. The GreenLab Model was used to analyze the differences in fruit setting, organ expansion, biomass production and biomass allocation. The source–sink parameters were estimated from the experimental measurements. Moreover, a particle swarm optimization algorithm(PSO) was applied to analyze whether the fruit setting is related to the source–sink ratio. The results showed that the internal source–sink ratio increased in the vegetative stage and reached a peak until the first fruit setting. The high yield of hybrid F1 is the compound result of both fruit setting and the internal source–sink ratio. The optimization results also revealed that the incremental changes in fruit weight result from the increases in sink strength and proportion of plant biomass allocation for fruits. The model-aided analysis revealed that heterosis is a result of a delicate compromise between fruit setting and fruit sink strength. The organlevel model may provide a computational approach to define the target of breeding by combination with a genetic model.
文摘<i><span style="font-family:;" "="">Parkia biglobosa</span></i><span style="font-family:;" "=""> is a much-loved and over-exploited African savannah species for its socio-economic importance. Knowing and taking into account its architectural unit, which is the basis for diagnosing phenology, productivity and tree health, could provide a new perspective on its sustainable management. The aim of this study is to establish the architectural development in <i>Parkia biglobosa</i> by retrospective analysis. To achieve this objective, 390 individuals of all sizes ranging from seedlings to senescent trees were observed and analysed under various soil and climatic conditions in Côte d’Ivoire. The results showed that <i>Parkia biglobosa</i> is a light plant but shading tolerant. It is a mixed vegetative axis plant, the stem is orthotropic* in its proximal part and plagiotropic* (collapsing) in its distal part in young stage. The tree then transitions to an adult and old stage into a tree with a plagiotropic* axis in the proximal and distal parts, the trunk is built up by superimposing collapsed relay axes that gradually straighten, branching is sympodial*, growth is defined and sexuality is terminal and lateral. The ontogeny takes place in three phases: initiation of development and establishment of the crown (young), then flowering and establishment of the architectural unity (adult) and finally the death of secondary axes in the crown, duplication of the architecture by a series of partial and total reiterations (old). The level of organisation is 5: the phytomere, the module or growth unit, the axis, the architectural unit and the reiterated complex. Retrospective analysis of the modules showed that the dimensions of the growth units are indicators of morphological variation and species adaptation to a changing climate (<i>P</i> < 0.05). However, the equations generated by the morphological and habitat dimension linkage models are not significant (<i>R</i><sup>2</sup> and <i>r</i> </span><span style="font-family:;"
文摘The rapid rate of deforestation in Cote d’Ivoire has led to loss of plant species diversity and also threatens some commercial tree species with extinction.Some reforestation and aff orestation has been completed.However,for some species,the numbers of surviving transplants has declined.Hence,it is necessary to develop properly adapted and resilient genotypes that can eff ectively support the programs of forest restoration.In this context we evaluated the eff ects of the provenances of seeds and of various treatments on the germination rates and on plant growth of four commercial trees species(Pycnanthus angolensis,Terminalia superba,Mansonia altissima and Pterygota macrocarpa).We analyzed these parameters for seeds of three provenances(Daloa,Akoupéand Daoukro)of four species and for thirty plants aged 6 months per provenance.Time to begin germination and time to reach maximum germination were similar among species,and were not infl uenced by either treatment or provenance.Untreated seeds and those soaked for 24 and 48 h in water at room temperature yielded the highest germination rates,irrespective of species or provenance.The one exception was P.angolensis,for which no germination was recorded.Within species,some provenances produced higher germination percentages than did others.No clear relationship was computed between the germination rate and the morphometric characteristics of the seeds which varied signifi cantly between provenances.Plant growth and morphological variability also depended greatly on provenance.Genetic factors might be implicated,therefore provenance trials should be undertaken and evaluated.Furthermore,molecular analysis should be undertaken to confi rm the implications of genetic factors and allow for genetic selection.
文摘Interspecific competition with native species during biological invasions can sometimes limit alien expansion.We aimed to determine the potential ecological effects of Limatus durhamii Theobald 1901,a native Neotropical mosquito (Diptera:Culicidae) species,on the invasive species Aedes (Stegomyia)aegypti (Linnaeus 1762)that breeds in the same artificial water containers.Development time and adult dry mass were measured in 3 rearing conditions:control (a single larva),intraspecific competition (2 conspecific larvae),and interspecific competition (2 heterospecific larvae).Food was provided ad libitum to eliminate exploitative competition.For Ae.aegypti,development time was not affected by interspecific interference competition (nonsignificant differences with the control)and the adult dry mass was significantly higher,meaning that individual fitness likely increased.Yet,because previous studies showed longer development time and lighter adults during competition with other invasive mosquitoes,it is likely that Ae.aegypti can express a different phenotype depending on the competing species.The similar pattern found for Li.durhamii females and the nonsignificant difference with the control for males explain in part why this species can compete with Ae.aegypti.
文摘The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), a dioecious species, is of particular interest in the Sahel due to its phenological plasticity in relation to climate change and its double-flowering capacity. This article explores local practices and knowledge associated with date palm cultivation in the oasis basins of southeastern Niger, and provides an inventory of local seed propagated varieties, for more effectively guiding agricultural research and the breeding of this species. We carried out a survey of 30 date palm growers in 14 villages of the Manga region. The qualitative data of the survey were processed by a Multiple Correspondence Analysis. We inventoried 19 date palm varieties, for which the main distinctive criterion was fruit colour, but some other criteria such as biology or provenance were also used. The cultural practices and knowledge associated with the date palm in Manga have improved since the 1990s. They also depend on ethnic groups and the importance they assign to farming compared to livestock rearing and trading activities. The type of basin (high, intermediate, or low water table) influences growers’ practices and perceptions. Lastly, the date harvest in the wet season is abundant, but of mediocre quality, whereas it is the opposite for the dry season harvest. To conclude, sustainable development of date palm cultivation in the Sahel zone relies firstly on the selection of varieties that are early fruit producers or that can complete fruit maturation during the raining season and secondly on technical capacity building for producers.
基金partially funded by the Scientific Research Foundation of Xidian Universitypart of 3DForMod project(ANR-17-EGAS-0002-01)funded in the frame of the JPI FACCE ERA-GAS call funded under European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program(grant agreement No.696356).
文摘Background:Individual tree extraction from terrestrial laser scanning(TLS)data is a prerequisite for tree-scale estimations of forest biophysical properties.This task currently is undertaken through laborious and time-consuming manual assistance and quality control.This study presents a new fully automatic approach to extract single trees from large-area TLS data.This data-driven method operates exclusively on a point cloud graph by path finding,which makes our method computationally efficient and universally applicable to data from various forest types.Results:We demonstrated the proposed method on two openly available datasets.First,we achieved state-of-the-art performance on locating single trees on a benchmark dataset by significantly improving the mean accuracy by over 10% especially for difficult forest plots.Second,we successfully extracted 270 trees from one hectare temperate forest.Quantitative validation resulted in a mean Intersection over Union(mIoU)of 0.82 for single crown segmentation,which further led to a relative root mean square error(RMSE%)of 21.2% and 23.5% for crown area and tree volume estimations,respectively.Conclusions:Our method allows automated access to individual tree level information from TLS point clouds.The proposed method is free from restricted assumptions of forest types.It is also computationally efficient with an average processing time of several seconds for one million points.It is expected and hoped that our method would contribute to TLS-enabled wide-area forest qualifications,ranging from stand volume and carbon stocks modelling to derivation of tree functional traits as part of the global ecosystem understanding.
文摘The present study was carried out to verify the statistical relationships between the characteristic parameters in terms of vegetative aerial architecture of the date palms for simulating realistic 3D models. The vegetal material was composed of two Tunisian varieties of Phoenix dactylifera L., ＂Barhi＂ and ＂Rochdi＂. The observations are taken place in Gabes and on one pair of palms per main stem and offshoot for each cultivar. The analysis of the characteristic dimensions of the pinnae and rachis allowed the determination of a minimum sample. The geometrical analysis confirmed the existence of a strong correlation between rotation angles and radial angles. The architectural analysis of the two Tunisian cultivars revealed that the distribution of characteristic parameter values of pinnae was the outcome ofa regionalized variable along the rachis. This statistical study of relationships between the characteristic parameters in terms of vegetative aerial architecture of the two varieties allows executing a new measurement protocol for computing and simulating realistic 3D models.
基金This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.60073007 and 60473110)National High Technology Development 863 Program of China(Grant No.2006AA01Z301)LIAMA,and French National Research Agency(Grant No.NATSIM ANR-05-MMSA-45).
文摘Global illumination effects are crucial for virtual plant rendering. Whereas real-time global illumination rendering of plants is impractical, ambient occlusion is an efficient alternative approximation. A tree model with millions of triangles is common, and the triangles can be considered as randomly distributed. The existing ambient occlusion methods fail to apply on such a type of object. In this paper, we present a new ambient occlusion method dedicated to real time plant rendering with limited user interaction. This method is a three-step ambient occlusion calculation framework which is suitable for a huge number of geometry objects distributed randomly in space. The complexity of the proposed algorithm is O（n）, compared to the conventional methods with complexities of O（n^2）. Furthermore, parameters in this method can be easily adjusted to achieve flexible ambient occlusion effects. With this ambient occlusion calculation method, we can manipulate plant models with millions of organs, as well as geometry objects with large number of randomly distributed components with affordable time, and with perceptual quality comparable to the previous ambient occlusion methods.
