We present a novel system for surveying apple orchards by counting apples and estimating apple diameters. Existing surveying systems resort to active sensors, or high-resolution close-up images under controlled lighting conditions. The main novelty of our system is the use of a traditional low resolution stereo-system mounted on a small aerial vehicle. Vision processing in this set up is challe...

climate changes and global warming are considered as very important challenges of sustainable development. carbon sequestration is the easiest and cheapest way to reduce the greenhouse gases, especially carbon which constitutes the largest portion of them. in the present study, the potential of carbon sequestration in four plant species of atriplex canescens, haloxylon persicum, artemisia siebe...

Severity of Verticillium wilt in olive trees in Andalusia, southern Spain is associated with the spread of a highly virulent, defoliating (D) Verticillium dahliae pathotype of vegetative compatibility group 1A (VCG1A) but the extent of this spread and the diversity of the pathogen population have never been documented. VCG typing of 637 V. dahliae isolates from 433 trees in 65 orchards from fiv...

Three neonicotinyl insecticides, acetamiprid, thiacloprid and clothianidin, were evaluated for their impact on four species of lepidopteran pests of apple in Washington, the codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), the Pandemis leafroller, Pandemis pyrusana Kearfott, and the obliquebanded leafroller, Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris), and Lacanobia subjuncta (Grote & Robinson). None of the neonicotin...

Pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch.] kernel necrosis is a malady characterized by development of a dark necrotic area at the basal end of the kernel. This problem is particularly severe on ‘Pawnee’ at some locations during certain years. Currently, the cause of kernel necrosis is not known. Initially, this problem appeared confined to certain cultivars in a north Texas orchard in the...

With the continued social and economic development of northern China, landscape fragmentation has placed increasing pressure on the ecological system of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region. To maintain the integrity of ecological processes under the influence of human activities, we must maintain effective connections between habitats and limit the impact of ecological isolation. In this pap...

Studies of community assembly have emphasized snapshot comparisons of spatially replicated samples from "natural" assemblages. Agro-ecosystems are characterized by relatively little habitat heterogeneity and no dispersal barriers for actively flying insects. Therefore, dynamic patterns of species segregation and aggregation are more likely to reflect the direct or indirect effects of species in...

To control problematic vole species in organic orchards farmers can choose between different measures. Some methods like gassing, trapping and even the support of natural vole antagonists target to reduce vole population by killing individuals. Other methods like protective guards or migration barriers exclude voles from single trees or whole orchards. Recent combinations of the two approaches ...

To improve biological control of Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) (Hemiptera: Miridae), the European parasitoid Peristenus digoneutis Loan (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was introduced into the US in the 1980's and has become established in forage alfalfa, strawberries and apples. The objective of this study was to determine how four different insecticide management regimes affected parasitism...