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In the present study, a novel adsorbent, activated carbon produced from the catalpa tree fruit was evaluated for adsorption of Cr (VI) from water and real electroplating wastewater. The batch adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of various operational variables, namely contact time, pH, initial concentration of Cr (VI), and the dose of activated carbon. Experimental data were used to determine the most suitable isotherm and kinetic models. The optimal values of the process were identified at a contact time of 150 min, a pH 2, an initial Cr (VI) concentration of 40 mg/L, and an adsorbent dose of 0.6 g/L that led to mean Cr (VI) removal of 95% with adsorption capacity (q) equal to 75 mg/g. The Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-first-order kinetic models could well explain the adsorption equilibrium. Furthermore, the thermodynamic analysis indicated that the adsorption process was characterised by exothermicity. The efficiency of the adsorbent in removing Cr (VI) from the real electroplating wastewater was obtained about 80%. However, the required adsorbent dose was 1.5 g/L. The fruit of the catalpa tree represents a cost-effective material for producing activated carbon, with a high capacity for adsorbing Cr (VI) from aqueous solution and wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is widely accepted that the five main fruit trees that established horticulture in the late prehistoric period are: olive (Olea europaea), common fig (Ficus carica), grapevine (Vitis vinifera), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), and pomegranate (Punica granatum), there is much less agreement on where, when, and why this happened. This review paper1 gathers all recent archaeological and archaeobotanical information on the topic and suggests that all five founders were first assembled into a package in one geographically small region – the Central Jordan Valley. From this core area, knowledge and/or genetic materials were shifted to nearby regions. Yet, it cannot be ruled out that other parallel independent domestications may have occurred in other regions. 14C dates provided in this study indicate that the beginning of this development is dated at ca. 7000 years cal. BP., earlier than previously considered. It seems that the primary motivation has been related to political and socioeconomic considerations rather than climatological-environmental concerns or other factors. The paper also discusses the cost-effective benefits of simultaneously cultivating several fruit trees. Understanding the early stages of horticulture sheds light on the history of our civilizations, which, according to this study, preceded urbanization or state formation by more than a millennium and a half. A better understanding of the origin and early stages of this development is also of great importance, given the immediate need to adapt horticultural practices to environmental degradation and global climate changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its vast potential for applications in agricultural harvesting, the tethered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has garnered considerable interest. However, the anti-disturbance control of this system remains fraught with obstacles, stemming primarily from its inherent nonlinearity, unpredictable airflow disturbances, unmeasurable tether tension, and the changes in the center of gravity during operation. We propose a comprehensive dynamic model for the operational tethered unmanned aerial vehicle with considering the center of gravity shift. Because of obstructions caused by branches and leaves, the tethered UAV can't reach fruits inside the tree. Therefore, two deformation functions of the tethered quadcopter are considered. Additionally, in order to enhance the effectiveness of traditional Active Disturbance Rejection Control, we present an optimized controller combining a phase compensation algorithm with a nonlinear function. The proposed Controller is validated in a high-fidelity simulation environment, considering internal interference, wind field interference and reactive force from produces. Besides, the simulation is specifically developed for picking operation, The results underscore the better observation capabilities of the enhanced controller proposed in this study. Moreover, when deployed in a simulated picking environment, the improved controller exhibits remarkable resistance to the interference and significantly mitigates chattering issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persian gardens have a rich cultural and historical significance as a part of human heritage. This paper provides a historical review of the edibility of Persian gardens, from ancient Mesopotamia to the present day. The analysis demonstrates that while fruit trees have always been a part of these gardens, the cultivation of edible species has been neglected in modern times. The study highlights the importance of restoring the edible landscape in Persian gardens, in line with the historical and cultural significance of these landscapes. The findings have implications for the management and restoration of Persian gardens, with the potential for wider application in other cultural contexts. This paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on landscape history and its interdisciplinary study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-temperatures during winter are a serious problem in the cultivation of tropical fruit trees in temperate regions. The study investigated whether root zone heating treatments could improve cold injury tolerance in papaya. Leaf water potential was −2.22MPa and leaves wilted in the Control, where the root zone was not heated. However, where the root zone was heated to 20°C or only during the daytime, leaf water potentials were −1.31MPa and −1.41MPa, respectively, and no signs of leaf wilting were observed, suggesting that cold wind damage was suppressed unless temperatures fell below freezing. In contrast, where the root zone was heated, leaves wilted rapidly as temperature fell below the freezing point, and all trees had died by 12 January 2018 (72 days of experiment), suggesting that freezing injury could not be controlled by heating the root zone. It is therefore suggested that in addition to root zone heating, heating the greenhouse only on days when the temperature is below the freezing point would also prevent freezing injury. This has the potential to reduce the total greenhouse heating time by 97%. It also has the potential to reduce fuel costs for overwintering papaya, a tropical fruit tree cultivated in a temperate region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity of edible species originating in Africa is considerable, but the history of their use and domestication remains largely neglected, despite existing historical records. This essay aims to explore attitudes towards safu (Pachylobus edulis), a Central African fruit that defies Western categories. Based on more than one hundred archival documents, this study examines the history of the safu and the tree that produces it as seen by Europeans (German, English, Belgian, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, etc.) present in Central Africa. The documentation collected on safus and safu trees reflects not only local views of the species but also the broader European projects pursued on the continent and the vision of African foodways. Indeed, their valuation is symptomatic of food encounters and hierarchies during colonial settlement. More broadly, it reveals how subsistence and agriculture were viewed in the region: the ubiquity of this fruit tree around villages, as often reported, contrasts sharply with the historical narrative of the absence of African agriculture in the tropics. Finally, it shows how colonial enterprises, despite hindered dispersal and missed opportunities, circulated the species in different parts of the planet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Cold resistance in fruit trees has a direct impact on food production and scientific studies. ‘Donghe No.1’ is an excellent cold‐tolerant peach variety. Metabolomic changes under freezing stress were examined to understand the mechanisms of cold adaptation. The UPLC–MS/MS system was used to identify differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) in branches of ‘Donghe No.1’ under freezing stress for 12 h at −5°C, −20°C, −25°C, or −30°C. In total, 1096 metabolites and 196 DEMs were obtained at −5°C vs −20°C, −25°C, and − 30°C, while 179 DEMs and eight shared DEMs obtained at −5°C vs −20°C, −20°C vs −25°C, and −25°C vs −30°C. KEGG enrichment identified 196 DEMs associated with amino acid metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, alpha‐linolenic acid metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and flavonoid biosynthesis under freezing stress. A metabolic network in 1‐year‐old peach branches under freezing stress is proposed. Moreover, these results enhance understanding of metabolite responses and mechanisms to freezing stress in peach and will help in future breeding of freezing‐tolerant varieties and investigating tolerance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article proposes a real‐time apple picking method based on an improved YOLOv5. This method accurately recognizes different apple targets on fruit trees for robots and helps them adjust their position to avoid obstructions during fruit picking. Firstly, the original BottleneckCSP module in the YOLOv5 backbone network is enhanced to extract deeper features from images while maintaining lightweight. Secondly, the ECA module is embedded into the improved backbone network to better extract features of different apple targets. Lastly, the initial anchor frame size of the network is adjusted to avoid recognizing apples in distant planting rows. The results demonstrate that this improved model achieves high accuracy rates and recall rates for recognizing various types of apple picking methods with an average recognition time of 0.025s per image. Compared with other models tested on six types of apple picking methods, including the original YOLOv5 model as well as YOLOv3 and EfficientDet‐D0 algorithms, our improved model shows significant improvements in mAP by 1.95%, 17.6%, and 12.7% respectively. This method provides technical support for robots' picking hands to actively avoid obstructions caused by branches during fruit harvesting, effectively reducing apple loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dormancy in temperate fruit trees is a mechanism of temporary growth suspension, which is vital for tree survival during winter. Studies on this phenomenon frequently employ scientific methods that aim to detect the timing of dormancy release. Dormancy release occurs when trees have been exposed to sufficient chill, allowing them to resume growth under conducive conditions. This study investigates dormancy dynamics in two apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) cultivars, 'Nicoter' and 'Topaz', by sampling branches in an orchard over 14 weeks (2019 to 2020) and over 31 weeks (2021 to 2022) and subjecting them to a 42-day budbreak forcing period in a growth chamber. Temporal changes in budbreak percentages demonstrated dormancy progression in the studied apple cultivars and allowed the three main dormancy phases to be distinguished: paradormancy (summer dormancy), endodormancy (deep dormancy) and ecodormancy (spring dormancy), along with transition periods between them. Using these data, we explored the suitability of several alternative methods to determine endodormancy release. Tabuenca's test, which predicts dormancy release based on the differences in dry weights of buds with and without forcing, showed promise for this purpose. However, our data indicated a need for considerable adjustments and validation of this test. Bud weight and water content of buds in the orchard did not align with budbreak percentages under forcing conditions, rendering them unsuitable for determining endodormancy release in 'Nicoter' and 'Topaz'. Shoot growth cessation did not seem to be connected with either dormancy progression or dormancy depth of the studied cultivars, whereas leaf fall coincided with the beginning of the transition from endo- to ecodormancy. This work addresses methodological limitations in dormancy research and suggests considering the mean time to budbreak and budbreak synchrony as additional criteria to assess tree dormancy status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern agricultural research, including fruit tree rootstock evaluations, began in England. In the mid-1800s, field plots were established at the Rothamsted Research Station to evaluate cultivars and fertilizer treatments for annual crops. By the early 1900s, farmers questioned the value of field experimentation because the results were not always valid due to inadequate randomization and replication and poor data summarization. During the first half of the 20th century, Rothamsted statisticians transformed field plot experimentation. Field trials were tremendously improved by incorporating new experimental concepts, such as randomization rather than systematically arranging treatments, the factorial arrangement of treatments to simultaneously test multiple hypotheses, and consideration of experimental error. Following the classification of clonal apple rootstocks at the East Malling Research Station in the 1920s, the first rootstock trials were established to compare rootstocks and evaluate rootstock performance on different soil types and with different scion cultivars. Although most of the statistical methods were developed for annual crops and perennial crops are more variable and difficult to work with, rootstock researchers were early adopters of these concepts because the East Malling staff included both pomologists and statisticians. Many of the new statistical concepts were incorporated into on-farm demonstration plots to promote early farmer adoption of new practices. Recent enhancements in computing power have led to the rapid expansion of statistical theory, the development of new statistical methods, and new statistical programming environments, such as R. Over the past century, in many regions of the world, the adoption of new statistical methods has lagged their development. This review is intended to summarize the adoption of error-controlling experimental designs by rootstock researchers, to describe statistical methods used to summarize the resulting data, and to provide suggestions for designing and analyzing future trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of pesticide waste and low utilization rates resulting from traditional plant protection via spraying operations, which apply equal dosages to different targets or to different parts of the same target. To tackle this problem, we designed a variable fruit tree spraying system based on the ExG-AABB (excess green and axis-aligned bounding box) algorithm. We used a Kinect depth camera to capture information about the fruit tree canopy and constructed a spray flow model using pulse width modulation and variable spray control technology. Variable multi-nozzle spraying was guided by combining this canopy data. We evaluated the accuracy of each model in calculating canopy volume by comparing the coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) of the ExG-AABB with the slice convex hull method, voxel method, three-dimensional alpha-shape method, and QuickHull method. The ExG-AABB algorithm had the highest R2 value (0.9334) and the lowest RMSE value (0.0353 m3) among the five models, indicating that it most accurately reflects the true volume of the fruit tree canopy. This validates the effectiveness of the ExG-AABB algorithm in calculating canopy volume. We established a correlation model between canopy volume and spray volume, designed a canopy-adaptive layering method based on point cloud processing, and achieved precise calculation of nozzle flow. Comparative field experiments were conducted to analyze the spray coverage rate and observed flow, thereby evaluating the spraying effect of this variable spraying system. The experimental results showed that compared to conventional continuous spraying, this variable spraying system not only achieves more uniform spray coverage but also significantly reduces pesticide usage by 48.1%. Furthermore, through system optimization, the average coverage rate of the middle layer of the canopy decreased by 17.53%, effectively reducing the phenomenon of overlapping spraying from multiple nozzles and improving spraying efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For precision agriculture, agricultural development planning, and regional food security, accurate crop mapping is essential. The GF-6 satellite offers novel approaches for crop identification. As Jinzhou, Hebei province, China, comprises a mix of grain and fruit trees, this research has selected the area for a case study. First, spectral, index, and texture features are combined in various classification feature schemes. Second, the random forest algorithm is employed to ascertain the significance of these features. Optimal features are then chosen to accurately identify winter wheat, summer maize, and pear orchards. Concurrently, land cover for wheat and maize seasons is mapped. The results demonstrate that: (1) multisource features considerably enhanced the accuracy of crop classification based on GF-6 WFV data. Among these, index features have the greatest contribution, followed by spectral features, while the contribution of texture features, is almost negligible. (2) The classification effect utilizing random forest feature optimization is superior, with an overall accuracy of 94% and a kappa coefficient of 0.91. The extracted land area for each scheme exhibits an accuracy of over 70% when compared to the statistical area. (3) The critical time phases for extracting winter wheat, summer maize, and pear orchards are identified as, in sequence, the leaf-out and jointing stage, the tasselling stage, the leaf-fall stage, fruit development, and the first flowering/full flowering stages. Based on GF-6 WFV data, these research findings will offer a technical reference for the identification of grain crops and the extraction of pear orchards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water erosion poses a significant threat to the sustainability of natural resources and hydro-agricultural infrastructure, particularly in the Mediterranean region, including Morocco. The Allal El Fassi watershed faced such challenges and underwent anti-erosion measures between 2008 and 2014. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures in mitigating dam siltation within the watershed. The methodologies employed include the utilization of the MUSLE model, optimized with bathymetric surveys of the dam, to estimate the amount of sediment reaching the dam and derive the P-factor associated with the implemented anti-erosion measures. Additionally, the radioisotope technique was utilized to assess erosion rates at managed and unmanaged sites within the watershed. The results obtained using the MUSLE model and bathymetric data revealed a noteworthy reduction in mean annual soil loss within the timeframe of 2002–2010 to 2010–2013, resulting in a 13.9% decrease in sediment reaching the dam. Furthermore, variations in the P-factor of erosion control measures were observed, ranging from 0.31 to 0.52 during the respective periods. Utilizing the radionuclide 7Be, erosion rates ranging from 6.8 to 25.3 t.ha−1 were determined for the studied plots, facilitating the calculation of P-factors for specific erosion control measures. Significantly, gabion check dams displayed a P-factor of 0.47, dry stone barriers had a P-factor of 0.41, fruit trees with basins showed a P-factor of 0.51, and enclosures exhibited a P-factor of 0.67. These findings suggest a causal relationship between the implementation of erosion control measures and the reduction in sedimentation rates at the Allal El Fassi Dam, highlighting the interdependence between the two phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endodormancy is one of the most studied physiological processes in perennial plants like apricot. This period is vital both for the tree survival against the adverse climatic conditions of winter and for obtaining a proper flowering and fruit set. Many studies have remarked the importance of chill accumulation as the limiting factor for endodormancy release. The increase of mean temperatures caused by climate change has been seriously endangering this process during the last decades. Because of this, plant growth regulators for promoting endodormancy release have spread worldwide. However, due to the toxicity and the irregular efficiency, there is a great necessity of developing new environment-friendly regulators for promoting endodormancy release. In this 3-year study, we applied four different commercial plant growth regulators to the Flopría apricot cultivar. Two of them, Broston® and Erger® were the most effective ones to advance endodormancy release. The physiology and biochemistry behind these treatments were studied by a non-target metabolomic and expression analysis in flower buds. Metabolic groups, like phospholipids, only varied in treated samples, whereas others like by-products of L-Phe metabolism, or ABA significantly varied in both types of samples throughout endodormancy release. Finally, to validate these results, solutions of phospholipids, phenylpropanoids, or ABA, among others, were applied for the first time to apricot trees, showing, i.e., that phospholipids treated-trees released from endodormancy two weeks earlier than control. This study aims to be an initial stage for the elaboration of environmentally safe regulators in apricot, with a potential in other Prunus and temperate fruit tree species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat stress, low mango yields and inconsistent fruit quality are main challenges for growers. Recently, licorice-root extract (LRE) has been utilized to enhance vegetative growth, yield, and tolerance to abiotic stresses in fruit trees. Potassium sorbate (PS) also plays a significant role in various physiological and biochemical processes that are essential for mango growth, quality and abiotic stress tolerance. This work aimed to elucidate the effects of foliar sprays containing LRE and PS on the growth, yield, fruit quality, total chlorophyll content, and antioxidant enzymes of 'Osteen' mango trees. The mango trees were sprayed with LRE at 0, 2, 4 and 6 g/L and PS 0, 1, 2, and 3 mM. In mid-May, the mango trees were sprayed with a foliar solution, followed by monthly applications until 1 month before harvest. The results showed that trees with the highest concentration (6 g/L) of LRE exhibited the maximum leaf area, followed by those treated with the highest concentration (3 mM) of PS. Application of LRE and PS to Osteen mango trees significantly enhanced fruit weight, number of fruits per tree, yield (kg/tree), yield increasing%, and reduced number of sun-burned fruits compared to the control. LRE and PS foliar sprays to Osteen mango trees significantly enhanced fruit total soluble solids ˚Brix, TSS/acid ratio, and vitamin C content compared to the control. Meanwhile, total acidity percentage in 'Osteen' mango fruits significantly decreased after both LRE and PS foliar sprays. 'Osteen' mango trees showed a significant increase in leaf area, total chlorophyll content, total pigments, and leaf carotenoids. Our results suggest that foliar sprays containing LRE and PS significantly improved growth parameters, yield, fruit quality, antioxidant content, and total pigment concentration in 'Osteen' mango trees. Moreover, the most effective treatments were 3 mM PS and 6 g/L LRE. LRE and PS foliar spray caused a significant increase in yield percentage by 305.77%, and 232.44%, in the first season, and 242.55%, 232.44% in the second season, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional orchards are distinctive features of cultural landscapes in Central Europe. Despite their high level of ecological importance, they are in decline, and comprehensive spatial data over broad extents, which could enable a trend analysis, are lacking. We analysed traditional orchard maps from 1952 to 1967 and a map from 2010, generated via aerial image interpretation, for the state of Hesse (ca. 21,115 km2), which has the second largest share of traditional orchards in Germany. We aimed to (1) quantify long-term orchard dynamics, (2) compare orchard characteristics in terms of topographical, ecological, and socioeconomic factors, and (3) identify key drivers of orchard loss. We found that the number and area of orchards have clearly decreased across Hesse, with varying local and regional patterns. Further, historically old orchards tended to have a larger area, higher shape complexity, and were located closer to settlements, highways, and neighbouring orchards. In contrast, newly established orchards were often found at higher elevations and on steeper slopes. Finally, the three historical orchard hotspots also experienced the most notable losses driven by different factors, namely the expansion of Artificial Surfaces, Residential Buildings, and Agricultural Land. We highlight the importance of such multitemporal spatial data for a wide range of ecological applications, and we encourage the use of novel technologies to support geospatial analyses in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companion cropping offers a potential solution to the challenges of sustainable agriculture, such as optimizing resource use and reducing reliance on chemical inputs. The problem of achieving higher yields while maintaining environmental health remains critical. This practice enhances natural resource conservation, improves fertilization, and optimizes nutrient cycling through the balanced use of chemical and organic sources. Studies, such as those involving tree tomato and Hass avocado, have demonstrated a significant yield increase compared to monocultures, underscoring the viability of this practice. In addition to their environmental benefits, companion crops provide economic advantages by allowing producers to harvest multiple products simultaneously, thereby strengthening food security and the rural economy. This study evaluated three levels of fertilization and interactions between fruit trees at different altitudes, observing differential behavior in the variables evaluated. The combination of cape gooseberry and blackberry showed significantly positive results, with more leaves and fewer pests, demonstrating the benefits of companion plants. A trend towards the combined use of chemical and organic fertilizers was observed, a potential strategy to reduce costs and improve crop growth. The results indicated that the UF system (P. peruviana and P. vulgaris) had the highest plant height, while TF (tree tomato and bean) showed the best stem perimeter development. The incidence of pests was also significant, with Trialeurodes vaporarioum being most prevalent in the P. peruviana companion. These findings support companion cropping as a viable and promising strategy for more efficient and sustainable agriculture, offering both environmental and economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juglans regia L. is an edible fruit tree cultivated worldwide for its fruits and wood and as an urban tree. Globally, there is growing concern for preserving the genetic diversity of trees with high economic and ecological value. This study investigates the genetic diversity of J. regia in urban landscapes and assesses the quality of its walnut kernels as a local food product. An inventory of 150 trees from five populations in public green spaces in Lugoj, Caransebeș and Jupa, as well as two semi-natural hilly ecosystems in the Banat Region, was conducted. Molecular analyses showed that Directed Amplification of Minisatellite-region DNA (DAMD) markers were more effective than Start Codon Targeted (SCoT) markers, with a higher average polymorphism of 56.26%, compared to 49.44%. DAMD07 achieved 100% polymorphism and DAMD05 showed a strong balance between P.I.C. (0.35) and polymorphism (54.54%). Chemical analysis revealed the following contents in walnut kernels: protein (12.81% to 16.80%), lipids (60.39% to 69.08%), total polyphenols (5484.66 to 10,788.4 mg GAE/kg), copper (3.655 to 8.532 mg/kg), manganese (14.408 to 28.618 mg/kg), zinc (19.813 to 46.583 mg/kg), lead (1.204 to 2.27 mg/kg) and cadmium (0.03451 to 0.08065 mg/kg). These findings are critical for conservation efforts, urban forestry management and ensuring the quality and safety of walnut products derived from J. regia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenology models are widely used in Decision Support Systems to predict the phenology of pests. Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), a polyphagous pest, has a high prevalence in apple trees (Malus domestica Borkh.) (Rosales: Rosaceae) in certain areas, despite the fact that apple trees are considered secondary hosts. Its natural behavior of feeding inside plant tissue at the larval stage makes monitoring and planning methods of control critical for Integrated Pest Management. The development times and survival rates of two field populations of G. molesta larvae on apple cultivars 'Gala', 'Golden', and 'Fuji' were determined under different temperature (constant versus field fluctuation) and feeding conditions (diet versus apples attached to the tree and detached from the tree). The results showed that G. molesta fitness in apples is affected by fluctuating temperature regimes in the field, the condition of the fruit, whether or not the fruit is attached to the tree, and the cultivar. The temperature was the main cause of the differences in the studied parameters. Larvae developme–nt time was delayed due to fluctuating field temperatures. Larvae had a shorter development time in fruits detached from the tree compared to attached fruits, and apple cultivars influenced development time in both laboratory and field conditions, with the 'Golden' cultivar having better fitness and a higher rate of larvae survival in the fruits attached to the tree. These factors need to be considered to properly adjust the phenology models and improve the Integrated Pest Management system of apples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the activity concentration of artificial and natural radionuclides such as 137Cs, 40K, 226Ra, and 232Th was measured in the soil under the roots; leaves; and fruits of six different fruit trees namely mulberry, fig, apricot, olive, black and white grapes in Koya district, Erbil province, Iraq. For this purpose, a high-resolution gamma spectroscopy consisting of a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector was used. In addition, the associated radiological risks from soil and fruits were assessed by calculating several radiological indices such as radium equivalent (Raeq.s), absorbed dose (Ds), indoor (AEDEsindoor) and outdoor annual effective doses (AEDEsoutdoor), internal and external hazard indices, gamma index and the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELRCs). The results show that consuming these fruits is radiologically safe because they can cause an annual effective dose of about 61.72 μSv y−1 and excess lifetime cancer risk of 0.06 × 10−3 Sv y−1. On the other hand, transfer factors of radionuclides from soil to leaves; and from soil to fruits were studied. The transfer factor analysis revealed that among the studied fruits and radionuclides, apricot and mulberry exhibited the highest transfer factors for 40K, with values of 1.85 and 1.87, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing has demonstrated validity in determining the planting year of deciduous fruit trees; however, its effectiveness in ascertaining the planting year of evergreen fruit trees remains unverified. Furthermore, the sources of error associated with using remote sensing to determine the planting year of fruit trees remain unclear. This study investigates several cultivated sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) varieties, which are extensively cultivated throughout subtropical China. We analyzed Landsat time series data from 132 navel orange orchards in Gannan, covering the period from 1993 to 2021. For each orchard, Google Earth Engine was employed to extract three vegetation indices—Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR)—for each available date, thereby generating three distinct vegetation index time series. The planting year of navel orange trees was identified based on abrupt changes observed in these time series. The principal sources of error in determining the planting year were investigated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Spearman's correlation analysis, and Kruskal-Wallis H test. Key findings include: (1) Following the planting of navel orange trees, EVI, NDVI, and NBR exhibited fluctuations and a gradual increase over time, peaking approximately 10 to 15 years later. (2) The vegetation index time series derived from Landsat imagery effectively determined the planting year of evergreen navel orange trees in orchards, even within highly fragmented landscapes. Among these indices, NDVI and NBR time series outperformed the EVI time series. Specifically, the average determination errors for EVI, NDVI, and NBR time series were 6.4, 1.8, and 2.8 years, respectively. (3) Major sources of error included the methods used to construct the time series, the selection of vegetation indices, and the orchard management practices. Overall, this study provides a viable method for determining the planting year of evergreen navel orange trees in fragmented landscapes and offers insights into factors contributing to uncertainty in planting year determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of fruit tree seedlings generates waste wood biomass, which results from the pruning of budded rootstocks in the first year of the two-year production cycle. This study proposes a new method of managing this biomass by recycling the wood chips (2, 3 and 5 t ha−1) back into the soil. The impact of different wood chip doses on selected physicochemical soil properties after the production process (especially soil organic carbon content (SOC), as well as the quantity and quality of the produced Malus domestica fruit tree seedlings, was determined. The recycling of waste biomass contributed to enriching the soil with additional components, mainly organic carbon with the potential for biotransformation into humic substances. The applied doses of wood chips, in amounts of 2, 3, and 5 t ha−1, resulted in an increase in SOC content compared to the control by 21.5%, 22.5%, and 35.8%, respectively. Additionally, the recycling of waste biomass introduced other compounds important for plant growth and development into the soil, particularly iron, zinc, magnesium, and manganese. It should be noted that the proposed method of managing waste biomass generated during the apple tree seedling production stage resulted in reduced production costs while maintaining high production indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 'Hass' avocado (Persea americana), fruit presence reduces next season flowering. Recent fruit tree studies proposed that heavy fruit load (HFL) generates an auxin (indole-3-acetic acid, IAA) signal in the buds that represses flowering. However, the nature of this signal remains unknown. Here, we investigated the effect of avocado HFL on bud IAA accumulation and flowering transition. We found that IAA–aspartate and IAA–glutamate conjugate levels were significantly higher in buds from fully loaded ('on') than low-loaded ('off') trees, hinting that free IAA levels were higher in the former. Expression analysis showed that coinciding with flowering reduction, HFL induced the floral repressor PaTFL1 , and suggested that accumulation of IAA in buds as imposed by HFL was associated with its conjugation to aspartate and glutamate and resulted both from de novo IAA synthesis and from reduced IAA export. Accordingly, experiments involving radiolabelled [14C]IAA demonstrated that HFL reduced shoot basipetal IAA transport. Finally, we confirmed the negative effects of IAA on flowering, showing that IAA and polar auxin transport blocker (2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid) treatments delayed 'off' trees' inflorescence development, reducing their inflorescence axis and inducing PaTFL1 expression. Together, our data indicate that avocado HFL generates IAA signalling in buds that induces PaTFL1 , leading to repression of inflorescence development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe role of some Colletotrichum species is uncertain in crops of economic importance for Colombia such as mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Azúcar. Eight Colletotrichum isolates from asymptomatic plant tissues were characterized by their pathogenicity on fruits and identified by phylogenetic analysis of the sequences of the ITS, GADPH, Tub2, CHs-1 and Act genomic regions. Colletotrichum asianum, C. gloeosporioides and C. tropicale of the C. gloeosporioides species complex and C. karstii of the C. boninense species complex were identified. The highest virulence was observed for isolates of C. asianum, that was the most prevalent species, and for C. tropicale, that showed high and intermediate virulence levels, indicating diversity in pathogenicity within the same species. The isolate of C. karstii, which displayed intermediate virulence, is the first report on mango in Colombia. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides presented intermediate virulence and was isolated at a low frequency in the present research. The mycelial growth rate did not show differences between species and ranged between 6.1 and 8.3 mm per day. Colletotrichum asianum recorded higher values of conidia germination and appressoria formation than other species, at 77% and 79%, respectively (p < 0.001). The shape and size of conidia did not vary between species. Appressoria exhibited different shapes between isolates and the largest average diameter was for C. karstii with 7.6 µm (p < 0.001). There was a diversity of Colletotrichum species associated with mango cv. Azúcar in Colombia, with differential virulence among isolates of the same species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tegolophus guavae (Boczek), Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes), and Tetranychus urticae Koch are plant-feeding mite pests that cause severe damage to the foliage and fruits of guava trees in Egypt. The phytoseiid mite, Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor), was released at three densities (100, 200, and 300 predators/tree). The results indicated that the efficiency of N. californicus was significantly influenced by the release rate. The highest mean reduction percentage after six months of release for T. guavae, B. phoenicis, and T. urticae was, respectively, at 300 predators/tree (64.90, 81.15, and 81.11%) in 2021 and (74.89, 83.76, and 83.07%) in 2022. The mean fruit yields (kg/treatment) in the released plots were substantially greater than those in the control (ranging from 8–16%). The current result suggests that releasing N. californicus is a viable option for biological guava mite pest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

: Accurate detection of immature green citrus fruits in trees is one of the most critical steps for production decisions, such as early yield prediction, precise water and fertilizer management, and regulation of number of fruits hanging. However, the large model has been confined to identifying the immature citrus, due to the similar green citrus to the canopy background. Great challenges have been brought to rapidly and accurately detect the fruits, even to deploy the model. In this study, an improved model, YOLO-GC (You Only Look Once-Green Citrus) was proposed to detect the green citrus fruits using YOLOv5s. The improved model was also deployed into the edge mobile devices, in order to achieve the real-time and convenient detection of green citrus fruits in trees. Firstly, the original backbone network was replaced with a lightweight GhostNet one, because the YOLOv5s network model was large and difficult to deploy. Meanwhile, the attention was then improved to the green citrus features. Accuracy degradation was reduced after the model was lightweight. Global Attention Mechanism (GAM) was embedded in the backbone network and the feature fusion layer, in order to extract the fruit features in complex environments. Secondly, a BiFPN (Bi-directional Feature Pyramid Network) architecture was introduced into the feature fusion layer for the multi-scale weighted feature fusion, in order to improve the dense and small-targeted fruits. Finally, the GIoU (Generalized Intersection over Union) loss function combined with Soft-NMS (Soft-Non-Maximum Suppression) was used to optimize the bounding box regression, in order to reduce the omission caused by the occlusion and overlapping of fruits and branches. The experimental results showed that the weight model memory of YOLO-GC was reduced by 53.9%, compared with the YOLOv5s. The number of parameters and the average inference time were reduced by 55.2% and 46.2%, respectively, whereas, the average precision (AP0.5) was improved by 1.2 percentage points. There was a lower amount of fruit leakage and misdetection in a variety of complex natural environments. The comprehensive performance of the YOLO-GC model was superior to that of CenterNet and seven commonly used network models, such as the YOLOv5s, YOLOv7, YOLOX, YOLOv8, CenterNet, Faster R-CNN, and RetinaNet target networks. The average accuracy of the YOLO-GC model was improved by 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 0.9, 1.7, 4.6, and 3.9 percentage points, respectively, only 6.69 MB of weighted memory, thus achieving 97.6%, 90.3%, 97.8%, and 97.0% for the precision, recall, average precision, and F1 score, respectively. The YOLOGC model was then deployed to the Android mobile App for testing. The detection accuracy reached 97.2%, which was 2.4 percentage points higher than that of the YOLOv5s. Furthermore, the inference duration (103ms) was reduced by 85.8%. The IC model fully met the requirements of high-accuracy recognition and real-time inference of green citrus on the Android phone side. The finding can provide technical support to detect the green-like fruits in complex environments. The improved model was also deployed in the edge intelligent devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context of increasing pressure on water resources and severe aridity; expansion in the reuse of naturally treated wastewater can be a viable and low-cost solution particularly for irrigation forests, green non-fruit trees, fabric crops, industrial oils, and non-edible raw crops. Wastewater treatment is increasingly recognized as a potential means in El-Wahat El-Bahariya in Egypt. However, investment decisions concerning the reuse of treated wastewater in irrigation needs to be justified in terms of financial and economic feasibility and profitability. Therefore, this research study aims to conduct a cost–benefit analysis (CBA) of an investment project "reuse treated wastewater in irrigation compared to other modes of water irrigation projects. The CBA results revealed that the cost of the initial investment for the production of treated water used for irrigating green non-fruit trees, Bamboo trees, and Cactus in Sekem El-Wahat, is economically efficient with 88% compared to the exploitation of aquifer groundwater for irrigating the same crops. That project allows for an economic gain of about 4,428.5 €/ha compared to the cost of producing aquifer ground water in Sekem Farm El-Wahat is estimated at 10,800 €/year. Substituting the use of aquifer ground water for irrigating crops with reuse of treated wastewater helps reducing energy consumption and offers great financial benefits to the beneficial communities. A net benefit of the reuse of treated wastewater project is largely positive with NPV equivalent to 4599 €/year with a medium economic efficiency (BCR) of about 0.44. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the influence of Lehi's dream and Nephi's vision on Alma's sermon in Alma 5, drawing parallels between the symbolic imagery and narrative structure of the early revelations and Alma's address to the church in Zarahemla. The references to the "tree of life" and the "great and spacious building" in Alma's sermon echo the themes and symbols found in Lehi's dream and Nephi's vision. Through an intertextual analysis, the article suggests that Alma structures his sermon using the three-part pattern of the early revelations, inviting his people to repent, be born again, and partake of the redeeming love of Christ. [Extracted from the article]

In a long-term monoculture with fruit trees and tree nurseries, it is necessary to regenerate the soil due to the risk of apple replant disease (ARD). The occurrence of ARD is manifested in the structure of the mycobiome. The assumption of our experiment was that the use of oil radish (Raphanus sativus var. oleifera), white mustard (Sinapis alba), and marigold (Tagetes patula L.) as phytosanitary plants for biofumigation would provide crops with nutrients, improve soil physicochemical properties, and influence the diversity of microbiota, including fungal networks, towards a beneficial mycobiome. Metagenomic analysis of fungal populations based on the hypervariable ITS1 region was used for assessing changes in the soil mycobiome. It showed that biofumigation, mainly with a forecrop of marigold (Tagetes patula L.) (R3), caused an improvement in soil physicochemical properties (bulk density and humus) and the highest increase in the abundance of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of the Fungi kingdom, which was similar to that of agriculturally undegraded soils, and amounted to 54.37%. In this variant of the experiment, the most OTUs were identified at the phylum level, for Ascomycota (39.82%) and Mortierellomycota beneficial fungi (7.73%). There were no such dependencies in the soils replanted with forecrops of oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus var. oleifera) and white mustard (Sinapis alba). Biofumigation with marigold and oil radish contributed to a reduction in the genus Fusarium, which contains several significant plant-pathogenic species. The percentages of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of Fusarium spp. decreased from 1.57% to 0.17% and 0.47%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to accurately identify apple targets and achieve segmentation and the extraction of branch and trunk areas of apple trees, providing visual guidance for a picking robot to actively adjust its posture to avoid branch trunks for obstacle avoidance fruit picking, the spindle-shaped fruit trees, which are widely planted in standard modern apple orchards, were focused on, and an algorithm for apple tree fruit detection and branch segmentation for picking robots was proposed based on an improved YOLOv8s model design. Firstly, image data of spindle-shaped fruit trees in modern apple orchards were collected, and annotations of object detection and pixel-level segmentation were conducted on the data. Training set data were then augmented to improve the generalization performance of the apple detection and branch segmentation algorithm. Secondly, the original YOLOv8s network architecture's design was improved by embedding the SE module visual attention mechanism after the C2f module of the YOLOv8s Backbone network architecture. Finally, the dynamic snake convolution module was embedded into the Neck structure of the YOLOv8s network architecture to better extract feature information of different apple targets and tree branches. The experimental results showed that the proposed improved algorithm can effectively recognize apple targets in images and segment tree branches and trunks. For apple recognition, the precision was 99.6%, the recall was 96.8%, and the mAP value was 98.3%. The mAP value for branch and trunk segmentation was 81.6%. The proposed improved YOLOv8s algorithm design was compared with the original YOLOv8s, YOLOv8n, and YOLOv5s algorithms for the recognition of apple targets and segmentation of tree branches and trunks on test set images. The experimental results showed that compared with the other three algorithms, the proposed algorithm increased the mAP for apple recognition by 1.5%, 2.3%, and 6%, respectively. The mAP for tree branch and trunk segmentation was increased by 3.7%, 15.4%, and 24.4%, respectively. The proposed detection and segmentation algorithm for apple tree fruits, branches, and trunks is of great significance for ensuring the success rate of robot harvesting, which can provide technical support for the development of an intelligent apple harvesting robot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights Integrating RGB values and 3D coordinates of fruit trees provided phenotype-related data. The use of point clouds projection in tree rows segmentation has been confirmed. Using geometric features increased the accuracy of removing poles in an orchard. Segmenting fruit trees after removing poles on a single tree row was more accurate than traditional segmentation method. UAV equipped with LiDAR and a camera is promising for orchard high-throughput phenotyping. High-throughput phenotyping (HTP) of fruit trees is important for providing crop geometrical information to evaluate their high yield genotypes. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is suitable for HTP by obtaining remote sensing data of large modern apple orchards, where each tree row needs to be segmented before segmenting a single tree. This study aims to develop a method for segmenting each row without noise (ERWON) of apple trees based on integrating RGB values and three-dimensional coordinates by UAV. A robust, real-time, RGB-colored, and LiDAR-inertial-visual tightly-coupled state estimation network was used to form a dense map of the orchard, which provided datasets of colored point clouds. Supporting poles were removed from the point clouds based on the consistent number of half upper parts and lower parts. Random sampling and an effective local feature aggregator were trained to segment ERWON after pole segmentation. Results showed that a precision of 0.971, a recall of 0.984, and an intersection-over-union of 0.817 for ERWON segmentation were achieved. This method proposed a potential solution for addressing the challenge of accurately and efficiently segmenting ERWON in large orchards. It is expected to be helpful for obtaining general parameters, such as geometric, morphological, and textural characteristics, as well as more specific parameters relevant to a particular phenotyping task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water relation strategy is a key issue in climate change. Given the difficulty of determining water relations strategy, there is a need for simple traits with a solid theoretical basis to estimate it. Traits associated with resource allocation patterns along a 'fast-slow' plant economics spectrum are particularly compelling, reflecting trade-offs between growth rate and carbon allocation. Avocado (Persea americana), fig tree (Ficus carica), mandarin (Citrus reticulata), olive (Olea europaea), pomegranate (Punica granatum), and grapevine (Vitis vinifera) were characterised in terms of iso-anisohydric strategy through stomatal behaviour, water potential at the turgor loss point (TLP), and hydroscape area. Additionally, the association of these metrics with leaf mass per area (LMA) and wood density (WDen) was explored. We observed high coordination between LMA and WDen, and both traits were related to metrics of water relation strategy. More anisohydric species tended to invest more carbon per unit leaf area or unit stem volume, which has implications for hydraulic efficiency and water stress tolerance. WDen and TLP were the most powerful traits in estimating the water relation strategy for six fruit species. These traits are easy to measure, time-cost efficient, and appear central to coordinating multiple traits and behaviours along the water relations strategies. Water relations strategy of plants is a complex but important trait in selecting cultivars and design management for adaptation to climate change. Among the possible estimating traits, those associated with the 'fast-slow' plant economics spectrum are interesting, regarding this, we observed an association between the water deficit tolerance of six fruit tree species and their leaf and wood density. These traits are easy to measure, time-cost efficient, and appear central to coordinating traits and behaviours along the water relations strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, tree species identification has gained in popularity in the silviculture field. As a result, recent works have focussed on recognition of adult evergreen forest trees based on leaves, branching style, bark texture, and, more often, a combination of these features. In this paper, we deal with a new issue: the identification of 2-years-old deciduous fruit-tree varieties within a species, which is a challenging task since we rely exclusively on undistinguishable young bark images. This work is realized to respond to a real need of small farmers interested in planting bare root cultivars. To this purpose, we have built a dataset called AlmBark containing 567 almond bark images with brightness variation and labelled according to the 3 varieties considered (Lauranne, Mazzetto and Independence) which have a high demand in the Tunisian market. We propose a solution combining the Wavelet Transform (WT) technique with a Deep Learning (DL) model for a classification based on almond bark photographs. We investigate the model performances with and without natural background image removal for a mobile implementable solution. Experimentations show that with a background removal step, we obtain an excellent accuracy of 99 % while we obtain a satisfying accuracy of 96.46 % using the original photographs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid climate change affects the supply of goods and services needed for a growing world population, reducing crop yields and threatening biodiversity, with potentially catastrophic effects on ecosystems. Particularly at risk are plant species with long life cycles, such as woody species. To address this crisis, there is an urgent need to accelerate breeding pipelines for these species to withstand new environmental conditions and mitigate the effects of climate change. In this article, we highlight examples of genetic engineering in woody species that have the potential to contribute not only to economic development, but also to the conservation and sustainable use of genetic biodiversity, including: the introgression of traits into ecologically important threatened species for large-scale forest restoration, the reduction of air pollution from foliar emissions from bioenergy crops, the acceleration of biomass production to increase CO2 sequestration, the improvement of bioenergy crops to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and the induction of flowering to reduce the time and resources needed to develop fruit and forest trees varieties with greater resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. These examples are examined not only for their economic potential but also for their environmental and social impacts. This compilation of biotechnological applications in woody species, aims to enrich the debate on the adoption of genetic engineering in these species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted in the six municipalities of Apayao Province, namely, Luna, Pudtol, Flora, Conner, Kabugao, and Calanasan. This aimed to survey and characterize the edible fruit and ethnomedicinal trees in the forest landscape of Apayao province. It determined the geographical location, morphological characteristics, ecological status, DNA sequencing, phytochemical contents, uses, and threats of the edible and ethnomedicinal trees in the forests of Apayao. The methods used were qualitative and quantitative research. Fifteen (15) edible and 10 ethnomedicinal trees were surveyed with sixteen (16) families were identified. Out of 25 edible and ethnomedicinal trees, the conservation status is endangered, threatened, rare, vulnerable, and least concerned. Out of 25 edible and ethnomedicinal fruit trees, most are with identity results that range from 93 to 100% identity. Flavonoids, tannins, and sapotin compounds are mostly present in edible and ethnomedicinal trees. The community members are using 15 different ethnomedicinal trees to address 32 health-related conditions. The results of the phytochemical analyses provide support evidence to support the traditional uses of ethnomedicinal trees. All surveyed trees are susceptible to pests, diseases, and destruction brought by natural phenomena such as the effect of climate change. A policy recommendation for the conservation and protection of edible and ethnomedicinal trees is then proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern orchard systems, the tree canopy is designed to ensure homogeneity in fruit quality. However, even in those crops there are some variables that affect the fruit maturation process and fruit quality properties. The aim of this work was to determine if canopy layer (upper vs. lower), fruit shoot position (grouped vs. individual) and orientation (west vs. east) affect fruit quality attributes of 'Sanguinelli' blood oranges. Thus, different quality traits, such as weight, internal colour (IC), external colour (EC), total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA) and maturity index (MI) were determined for this purpose. Results showed that fruit weight, internal colour, TA and MI were influenced by the number of fruits per shoot. In this sense, the highest values of weight, IC and MI were found in the grouped fruits, while the highest values in TA were in the individual fruits. Regarding the EC and TSS, they were strongly related to the canopy layer, since the highest values were found in fruit located at the upper parts of the canopy. On the contrary, the orientation did not have a significant effect on fruit quality properties. Therefore, consistent differences in quality traits of 'Sanguinelli' blood oranges fruits were observed depending on canopy layer and number of fruits per shoot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foraging for wild resources links urban citizens to nature and biodiversity while providing resources important for local livelihoods and culture. However, the abundance and distributional (in)equity of forageable urban tree resources have rarely been examined. Consequently, this study assessed the abundance of forageable street trees and their distribution in Lagos metropolis, Nigeria. During a survey of 32 randomly selected wards across 16 local government areas (LGAs) in the metropolis, 4017 street trees from 46 species were enumerated. The LGA with the highest number of street trees was Ikeja, with 818 trees, while Lagos Island had the lowest count, with two trees. This disparity in tree numbers could be attributed to variations in human population density within each LGA. Ninety‐four percent of the street trees surveyed had at least one documented use and 76% had two, making them potentially forageable. However, the most common species had relatively low forageability scores. Only 5.6% of the total street tree population was rated as highly forageable, with a usability score of at least 11 out of 15. The most forageable street trees were fruit trees and non‐native species. The forageable street trees in the LGAs showed a significant disparity in their distribution, as evidenced by a Gini coefficient of 0.81. Overall, richer neighborhoods had a higher street tree abundance, richness, and forageability potential. To meet greening and foraging goals and address the current inequitable distribution, we suggest allocating more funds for greening, particularly in low‐income neighborhoods. Further research should evaluate forageable species from other sites to acquire a detailed understanding of the distribution and abundance of forageable resources in Lagos metropolis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) forests in the Mediterranean region are facing increasing abandonment due to a combination of factors, ranging from climate change to socioeconomic issues. The recovery of chestnut ecosystems and their preservation and valorization are key to ensuring the supply of the wide spectrum of ecosystem services they provide and to preventing detrimental environmental shifts. The study's objective was to provide evidence on the effects of different management options on the ecophysiology of chestnut forests, with diverse pruning intensities (low, medium, and high intensity versus no pruning) tested in an abandoned chestnut stand in central Italy with the aim of recovering and rehabilitating it for fruit production. Innovative Internet of Things (IoT) 'Tree Talker' devices were installed on single trees to continuously monitor and measure ecophysiological (i.e., water transport, net primary productivity, foliage development) and microclimatic parameters. Results show a reduction in water use in trees subjected to medium- and high-intensity pruning treatments, along with a decrease in the carbon sequestration function. However, interestingly, the results highlight that trees regain their usual sap flow and carbon sink activity at the end of the first post-pruning growing season and fully realign during the following year, as also confirmed by the NDVI values. As such, this paper demonstrates the efficacy of recovering and managing abandoned chestnut forests, and the initial setback in carbon sequestration resulting from pruning is rapidly remedied with the advantage of reviving trees for fruit production. Additionally, the reduced water demand induced by pruning could represent a promising adaptation strategy to climate change, bolstering the resilience of chestnut trees to prolonged and intensified drought periods, which are projected to increase under future climate scenarios, particularly in the Mediterranean region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the climate change, pest proliferation and inappropriate species composition, the forests’ health is deteriorating. When new plantings are being planned, a care must be taken to carefully select suitable tree species in order to guarantee a resistance of the forest to adverse biotic and abiotic environmental factors. Besides native species, some introduced ones also appear to be promising; however, their introduction into forest mixtures must always be preceded by a thorough evaluation of their habitat requirements, resistance to pathogens, competitiveness and invasion potential. Fruit trees such as walnuts (both Persian and black), chestnut and Turkish hazel also belong to the species discussed in this context. The walnuts provide excellent timber, but their applicability can be limited by allelopathy. The chestnut might have difficulty to compete in a mixture. The most promising hazel shows a good tolerance with other species and also withstands extreme conditions.

The occurrence of frugivorous bird species is strongly associated with the occurrence of fruit tree species in natural environments. However, the presence of a similar relationship in urban areas has not been explored. In this study, we used citizen science and field data to test for the existence of this relationship in 24 urban parks in Beijing, China. We compared the species richness and species composition of the two groups after accounting for park area, differences in diet among bird species, and differences in phenology between the two groups. We also constructed an interaction network between frugivorous bird and fruit tree species to evaluate the importance of each fruit tree species. Our results showed a significant positive relationship between the species richness of frugivorous birds and fruit trees. This relationship was significant year-long except during the summer for 133 bird-tree pairs. Park areas did not significantly affect the relationship. However, we found the interaction effect of the park area and the richness of fruit tree species mediated the relationship in certain months. We did not detect significant relationships in species composition between frugivorous birds and fruit trees. Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), Chinese Juniper (Sabina chinensis), and Oriental persimmon (Diospyros kaki) played a central role in the network of frugivorous bird and fruit tree species. Our results provide evidence for cross-trophic interactions between frugivorous bird species and fruit tree species, justifying planting fruit trees to enhance bird diversity and resilience in urban areas. However, this objective should focus on maximizing fruit production by planting key fruit tree species rather than increasing the total number of fruit tree species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indicators for predicting the quality and vigor of fruit tree seedlings can be worthwhile if they are conveniently and visually assessable in various climatic regions. Since allometric relationships exist between plum seedling vigor index and morphological traits, this study evaluated morphological features in plum seedlings while determining their quality and vigor. The samples were of major commercial varieties from several regions of Iran, and the assessments followed path analysis and multiple linear regression. Plum seedlings of 8 commercial cultivars were harvested in three replicates from 11 nurseries in four provinces. Morphological indicators included seedling height, diameter above the graft line (DAGL) and at root-collar (RCD), root length, number of roots and branches, seedling vigor, dry weights of aerial parts and roots (ADW and RDW, respectively), and ratio of height to DAGL and seedling height to ADW. Simple correlations among these variables appeared diverse, and the correlation coefficients broke down into direct and indirect effects through path analysis, with vigor as the dependent variable. This variable increased with some of its components, including DAGL and dry weight. However, the ratio of height to DAGL decreased when the accumulated growing degree-days (AGDD) increased from 2700 to about 4500 °C per day in the various regions. Average vigor values of certified and uncertified seedlings were 11.7 and 19.2, respectively. Among the visually assessable traits in the nursery, DAGL showed a higher correlation with the vigor variable and other morphological features, thus making it the most important index for plum seedling evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orange peel, a physiological disorder, has been reported in Chilean sweet cherries (Prunus avium (L.) L.) after 35-45 d under modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). The ontogeny of the disorder is unknown, and preharvest factors have not been thoroughly investigated. This study involved two experiments to elucidate the association between environmental factors and the incidence of the orange peel disorder. In the first experiment, plant water potential, fruit position on the tree, relative humidity (RH), and radiation of sweet cherry trees were studied in 'Regina', 'Kordia', and 'Lapins'. The second experiment focused on the interaction effect of heat during fruit development and the RH during storage in 'Lapins'. The first experiment showed no clear response of orange peel incidence to natural variations in air temperature, vapor pressure deficit, and transmitted solar radiation (PPFD) within trees. However, significant differences in the incidence, severity, and timing of the disorder detection were observed among cultivars. In 'Lapins', orange peel disorder began before harvest in the green stage, 33.7 %, while 'Regina' and 'Kordia' showed negligible incidences of 1.25% and 0%, respectively. At postharvest, no differences were found among tree sections, either in incidence or severity of the disorder. For the second experiment, no differences in incidence were found in heated fruit during preharvest or postharvest RH treatments. However, it was observed that the higher the RH (100%), the lower the severity index (3.6) was for the orange peel disorder. The high incidence of the disorder during postharvest under natural or induced environmental conditions in the three cultivars evaluated demonstrates that RH mainly affects the orange peel disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The district of Maçka in Trabzon, in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey, frequently experiences landslides, resulting in the highest number of disaster victims. In this study, Landslide Susceptibility Maps (LSMs) were generated via the Statistical-based Frequency Ratio (FR) and Modified Information Value (MIV) models using 10 factors. Out of the 150 landslides in the region, 105 (70%) were utilized in creating the maps, and the remaining 45 (30%) were reserved for validation. The models demonstrated success rates of 87.5% and 84.9%, along with prediction rates of 84.8% and 83.1%, respectively, as determined by the receiver operating characteristics curve and area under the curve values. While both models achieved acceptable levels of accuracy, MIV outperformed FR. Additionally, the risk status of 5413 buildings and forested areas was examined. The results showed that 78.64% (FR) and 80.79% (MIV) of the buildings were situated in high landslide risk areas. Regarding forest areas, 39.30% (FR) and 41.35% (MIV) were observed in high-risk landslide areas. In the next step, neighborhood landslide risk statuses were examined, revealing risks ranging from 90 to 100% in some areas. The final step concentrated on risk analyses for construction plans in a chosen pilot neighborhood using two criteria. 88.75% of all parcels were observed in high-risk areas, with hazelnut groves at 79.67% in high-risk zones. Conversely, 71.89% of fruit trees were in low-risk areas. The results align with the literature, indicating that LSMs can serve as a versatile base map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Shlor-Tsiran' (literally called 'Plum-Apricot') is an old black apricot cultivar, which is traditionally cultivated in Armenia. Taxonomically, it belongs to Prunus × dasycarpa Ehrh., which is a spontaneous hybrid of apricot and cherry plum (P. armeniaca L. × P. cerasifera Ehrh.). Currently, 'Shlor-Tsiran' is considered to be very rare in Armenia and it occurs as single trees in old home orchards of the Ararat Valley. It is characterised by high frost and disease resistance, late flowering and fruiting compared with other cultivated apricots, and is of interest for the development of apricot cultivars displaying delayed fruit ripening and enhanced frost resistance. This study aims to phenotype the cv. 'Shlor-Tsiran' taking into consideration 67 quantitative and qualitative characteristics of vegetative and generative organs, growth and development. Morphological description of the cv. 'Shlor-Tsiran', comparing with its parent species, P. armeniaca and P. cerasifera, was performed. Data on fertility and viability of pollen grains, biochemical and nutritional properties of fruits and tree productivity are provided. The data obtained should contribute to a wider use and conservation of the black apricot cv. 'Shlor-Tsiran' gene pool, which can be used for breeding purposes as well. The article is illustrated with tables and original photographs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract [Objective] The study aims to investigate the chemosensory effect of fading leaves of Ziziphus jujuba, Juglans regia, and Malus pumila in northern Shaanxi, and to provide theoretical guidance for the selection of suitable grass species under economic forests. [Methods] Outdoor potting forage Lolium perenne and Medicago sativa were set up with different concentrations of Z. jujuba, J. regia, and M . pumila withered leaf extracts (0.1, 0.05, 0.025, 0.012 5 g/mL) treatments to determine the growth and physiological indexes of the forage. [Results] (1) The dry mass of forage monocultures was significantly lower than the control in most of the three types of withered leaves treated with each concentration of leachate, and the decrease was smaller in the Z. jujuba leachate. (2) Forage malondialdehyde content was higher than the control under all three types of leachate treatments, while the increase in Z. jujuba leachate was smaller, and the changes in its chlorophyll content, ascorbic acid content and antioxidant enzyme activity differed significantly among the three types of leachates, and the variability of L. perenne was significantly greater than that of M . sativa. (3) There were significant differences in the effects of the three types of extracts on the root traits of the forages, all of which inhibited their root length growth, significantly inhibited the number of L. perenne root tips, and promoted the number of M . sativa root tips. [Conclusion] Three kinds of fruit tree leaf extract showed significant inhibition on the growth of two kinds of forage grasses, and the inhibitory effect of Z. jujuba extract was the smallest, and the growth of L. perenne was less inhibited than that of M . sativa.

Mechanized harvesting of fruit has been the ever-increasing trend in smart agriculture. However, the picking quality has been confined to the commonly-used unstructured planting for fruit trees. The robots can easily encounter the collisions with the dense branches and leaves during harvesting. The random spatial distribution of orchard obstacles can be highly influenced by the variation in the lighting conditions. It is very challenging on the real-time reconstruction of obstacles. In this study, a real-time reconstruction of orchard obstacles was proposed to combine the semantic segmentation and 3D point cloud analysis. Firstly, taking guava orchard as an example, the image acquisition was carried out using Intel RealSense D435i depth camera at a distance of about 15-50 cm from the guava fruit trees with a resolution of 640×480 in the orchard of Haiou Island Jiashuo Farm, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China. Data enhancement was performed to improve the generalization and robustness of the model, according to the mirroring, luminance enhancement, luminance attenuation, adding Gaussian noise and pretzel noise. A total of 1,250 samples were obtained to randomly divided into the training, the validation and the test set in a ratio of 6:3:1, where there were 750 samples in the training set and 375 samples in the validation set; The test set was 125 samples. Then, a real-time semantic segmentation model was built using DeepLabV3+. The CoT module was introduced on the low-level feature map and high-level feature map of the encoder, with the MobileNetV3-large as the backbone network. The segmentation accuracy was improved on the thin obstacles like twig groups. The detail information of feature maps was strengthened to suppress the useless information. Furthermore, an edge-assisted loss function was proposed using the Sobel operator. Laplace edge loss function was used to further increase the accuracy of semantic segmentation, in order to improve the accuracy of picture edge segmentation. Next, the intrinsic parameters of the depth camera were combined to transform the semantic map of obstacles into a 3D point cloud. Statistical analysis was applied to remove the outliers. The voxelization was used to approximate the reconstruction of tree trunks and branches. Moreover, Euclidean clustering was employed to identify the individual 3D fruits. Among them, the minimum bounding box of the fruit was served as the reconstruction. Finally, the pose change matrix between the camera and the robot was obtained using the hand-eye calibration with a chessboard pattern. The minimum bounding box of the fruit and the voxelized cubes of branches and tree trunks were transformed into the working space of robot picking. The experimental results show that the MIoU (mean intersection over union) of obstacles in MobileNetV3-large-DeepLabV3+ was improved from 69.7% to 74.3% after the introduction of the CoT block, indicating an increase of 4.6 percentage points; The Sobel algorithm also considered both horizontal and vertical gradient information, indicating some anti-noise performance. The MIoU of the obstacle was further improved from 74.3% to 77.2%, indicating an improvement of 2.9 percentage points. The overall MIoU of the improved model was 7.0 percentage points, 0.6 percentage points, and 1.0 percentage points higher than those of Xception-DeepLabV3+, BranchNet, and LRASPP, respectively. There was 1.7 percentage points lower than BiSeNetV3; The ACC was 3.1 percentage points, 0.5 percentage points, and 0.6 percentage points higher than those of Xception-DeepLabV3+, BranchNet, and LRASPP, respectively, while there was 2.2 percentage points lower than BiSeNetV3; The FPS of the improved model was as high as 78.8 frames per second, which was faster than the comparison; The number of parameters was 4.4 M, which is 8% and 31% of Xception-DeepLabV3+ and BiSeNetV3, respectively, while BranchNet and LRASPP are 68% and 73% of the parameters in this paper, respectively. Besides, the IoU (intersection over union) values of the voxelized cubes for the fruit and branches were 65.7% and 56.6%, respectively, and the voxelization time was 0.34 s and 0.84 s, respectively. The better robustness and real-time performance can fully meet the obstacle avoidance requirements of guava picking robots. The real-time semantic segmentation of irregular obstacles was optimized to utilize more sophisticated attention modules or backbone networks. The finding can provide the better ways to enhance the effects of obstacle reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of individual protective covers (IPCs) to protect newly planted citrus trees from Huanglongbing (HLB) infection is being widely adopted in Florida, an HLB-endemic citrus-producing area. It is known that IPCs positively influence most horticultural traits, increasing tree growth, flush expansion, and leaf size, enabling trees to sustain balanced carbohydrate metabolism by preventing Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) infection, and inducing higher leaf chlorophyll levels. This may result in more productive trees. However, as the tree grows, IPCs eventually are removed, typically between 2 and 3 years after their initial installation. Once IPCs are removed, trees become exposed to the Asian citrus psyllid (ACPs) and ultimately become infected. In this work, we covered Valencia sweet orange trees with IPCs for 30 months, until the trees entered fruit-bearing age. We investigated how the IPC protection of newly planted trees for 30 months influenced the fruit quality and yield of "Valencia" trees for three consecutive seasons after IPC removal compared to non-covered trees. The use of IPCs kick-started the newly planted citrus trees, resulting in higher yields and fruits with better internal and external quality. After 30 months of IPC protection, tree canopies were larger and denser, supporting more fruit per tree than non-protected trees for three consecutive seasons, even though by the end of the first season after IPC removal, the trees were HLB-positive. Tree height, scion diameter, canopy volume, and leaf area were significantly improved compared to non-covered trees. Additionally, fruit quality was significantly improved in the three seasons following IPC removal compared to non-covered trees. However, a decline in quality was measurable in fruit from IPC trees after the second harvesting season, with trees affected by HLB. Based on the results from this study, we conclude that the benefits from IPC protection may last for at least three consecutive seasons once trees enter the productive age, despite CLas infection within 12 months after IPC removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In northwestern Mexico, the agricultural sector is related to a logic of intensive vegetable production aligned with agri-food globalization processes. However, despite the implementation for decades of public policies and private investment aimed at promoting such productive specialization, there are regions such as Magdalena-Imuris, Sonora where fruit trees cultivation for local consumption has been preserved through the transmission of intergenerational know-how. These are a historical process of cultural hybridization, socio-ecological adaptation and adoption of plant species introduced from Europe; they are underexplored as spaces of conservation and resistance and as reservoirs of biodiversity. This study aimed to characterize historically, ethnobotanically and bioculturally the quince agroecosystems in this region. Through a mixed research approach, documentary research and biocultural transects were conducted; the productive spaces were georeferenced and semi-structured interviews were conducted. A total of 95 conservation refuges for quince (Cydonia oblonga Miller) were identified: 12 corresponding to the "commercial orchards" agroecosystem that vary between 100-3,400 quince trees; and 83, to "backyard orchards" agroecosystem with 1-40 quince trees coexisting with another 90 plant species, among which a diversity of fruit trees stands out. These agroecosystems have biological, social, and cultural importance and preserve a three-centennial tradition of fruit production that, processed into artisanal preserves, have allowed the positioning of quince as a regional emblem. The above acknowledges Magdalena-Imuris, Sonora, as in situ conservation refuge, biocultural resistance and a genetic reservoir, which allow the assessment of fruit tree cultivation as a regional biocultural heritage and livelihood for the rural families that have guarded this tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is one of the significant fruit trees cultivated in Iraq. During 2018-2019, severe leaf spot symptoms were observed commonly on grapevine in Al-Hussainiya district, Karbala province, Iraq. In order to identify the etiology of this disease, symptomatic leaf samples were collected randomly. The associated fungus was isolated, purified and identified as Alternaria alternata according to its morphological characteristics and sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA). The pathogenicity assay using Koch's postulates approved that the isolated A. alternata was pathogenic on grapevine leaves. The current study represents the first record of A. alternata causing leaf spots on grapevine in Karbala province, Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]