Assessing the efficiency of pixel-based and object-based image classification using deep learning in an agricultural Mediterranean plain.

Recent advancements in satellite technology have greatly expanded data acquisition capabilities, making satellite imagery more accessible. Despite these strides, unlocking the full potential of satellite images necessitates efficient interpretation. Image classification, a widely adopted for extracting valuable information, has seen a surge in the application of deep learning methodologies due to their effectiveness.

Modelling mixed crop-livestock systems and climate impact assessment in sub-Saharan Africa.

Climate change significantly challenges smallholder mixed crop-livestock (MCL) systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), affecting food and feed production. This study enhances the SIMPLACE modeling framework by incorporating crop-vegetation-livestock models, which contribute to the development of sustainable agricultural practices in response to climate change. Applying such a framework in a domain in West Africa (786,500 km) allowed us to estimate the changes in crop (Maize, Millet, and Sorghum) yield, grass biomass, livestock numbers, and greenhouse gas emission in response to future climate scenarios.

Modelling the relationship between industrial air pollution and perceived health effects of households in the three most air-polluted cities of Pakistan.

Industrialization contributes to economic growth; however, its negative impacts cannot be overlooked. The emission of toxic pollutants into the atmosphere by industries poses a serious threat to both environmental and human health. We conducted a field study in the top three most polluted cities of Pakistan to quantify the impacts of industrial air pollution on the perceived health effects of households.

Plant Species Richness and the Root Economics Space Drive Soil Fungal Communities.

Trait-based approaches have been increasingly used to relate plants to soil microbial communities. Using the recently described root economics space as an approach to explain the structure of soil-borne fungal communities, our study in a grassland diversity experiment reveals distinct root trait strategies at the plant community level. In addition to significant effects of plant species richness, we show that the collaboration and conservation gradient are strong drivers of the composition of the different guilds of soil fungi.

The older, the better: a comprehensive survey of soil organic carbon under commercial oil palm plantations.

Soil conditions of croplands are a frequent topic of scientific research. In contrast, less is known about large-scale commercial plantations of perennial crops such as oil palm. Oil palm is a globally important tropical commodity crop which contributes to both food and energy security due to its exceptional productivity.

Birch ( Ehrh.) Encroachment Alters Contribution of Plant Functional Groups to Ecosystem Carbon Cycling in a Rewetted Bog.

Rewetted bogs with high water levels (WL) and mire-specific vegetation are crucial carbon (C) sinks, but their function might be threatened by tree encroachment, a phenomenon widespread in the northern hemisphere that often coincides with low WL. This might impact C cycling both at the ecosystem and microform scale in multiple ways, but so far, data are lacking. We established two sites in the same former peat extraction area, one showing permanently high WL and mire-specific vegetation (open site, OS), while the other one has more fluctuating WL and a dense birch ( Ehrh.

Fertilizer Addition Modifies Utilization of Different P Sources in Upland Rice on Strongly P-fixing Andosols.

Aims: High Phosphorus (P) efficiencies such as internal P utilization efficiency (PUE) and P acquisition efficiency (PAE) are crucial for upland rice production, particularly on highly P-fixing soils like Andosols. While the effect of root traits associated with high PAE in upland rice has been studied intensively, less attention has been given to the origin of P (native soil-P versus fertilizer-P) taken up by plants when evaluating differences in P efficiency. Here we aim to evaluate the efficiency of different upland rice genotypes to acquire native soil-P and fertilizer-P.

Drivers of soil health across European Union - Data from the literature review.

Soil health in Europe has reached a critical point: it is estimated that 60-70% of European soils are unhealthy. Changes in land use, its intensity and the quality of management have significant impacts on soil health and soil related ecosystem services. A systems analysis of soil health dynamics requires an understanding of the drivers inducing changes in land use and management.

A GIS-toolbox for a landscape structure based Wind Erosion Risk Assessment (WERA).

The landscape structure influences the local wind field by lowering the wind speed and thus reducing the wind erosion risk. An important parameter is the height of each landscape element, as this determines the length of wind protection behind it. Further determining parameters are the wind speeds above a threshold value for initiating wind erosion and the corresponding wind directions.

Unleashing the synergistic effect of promising fungicides: a breakthrough solution for combating powdery mildew in pea plants.

Pea powdery mildew, caused by , is a major limitation to global pea production. The emergence of fungicide-resistant pathogen populations due to frequent and injudicious pesticide application highlights the importance of exploring the synergistic properties of fungicide combinations. This study investigated the efficacy of difenoconazole, thiophanate-methyl, and sulfur, both individually and in mixtures, against powdery mildew and assessed the interaction types between these fungicides.

A roadmap for a middleware as a federation service for integrative data retrieval of agricultural data.

Agriculture is confronted with several challenges such as climate change, the loss of biodiversity and stagnating productivity. The massive increasing amount of data and new digital technologies promise to overcome them, but they necessitate careful data integration and data management to make them usable. The FAIRagro consortium is part of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) in Germany and will develop FAIR compliant infrastructure services for the agrosystems science community, which will be integrated in the existing research data infrastructure service landscape.

Sustainable soil management practices provide additional benefit for energy use efficiency.

In light of recent fluctuations in energy prices, there has been a growing emphasis on energy efficiency within the agricultural sector. At the same time, ongoing soil degradation in intensive agricultural systems reinforced the need for soil health improving agricultural practices. This study combines the two aspects and examines the effects of sustainable soil management practices on total energy consumption, specifically focusing on fertilizer and pesticide energies, as well as economic indicators such as contribution margins.

Sustainable production of Pleurotus sajor-caju mushrooms and biocomposites using brewer's spent and agro-industrial residues.

Brazil is one of the world's largest beer producers and also a major food producer. These activities generate a large amount of residues which, if disposed of inappropriately, can have adverse effects on the environment. The objective of this research was to evaluate the potential of using these residues for both mushroom cultivation (traditional use) and the production of mycelium-based composites (innovative use).

Silica Accumulation in Potato ( L.) Plants and Implications for Potato Yield Performance-Results from Field Experiments in Northeast Germany.

The potato is the most important non-cereal food crop, and thus improving potato growth and yield is the focus of agricultural researchers and practitioners worldwide. Several studies reported beneficial effects of silicon (Si) fertilization on potato performance, although plant species from the family Solanaceae are generally considered to be non-Si-accumulating. We used results from two field experiments in the temperate zone to gain insight into silica accumulation in potato plants, as well as corresponding long-term potato yield performance.

Root exudation patterns of contrasting rice (Oryza sativa L.) lines in response to P limitation.

Rice exudation patterns changed in response to P deficiency. Higher exudation rates were associated with lower biomass production. Total carboxylate exudation rates mostly decreased under P-limiting conditions.

AEDES ALBOPICTUS IN-HOUSE WINTER BREEDING IN GERMANY-A CASE STUDY.

In February 2024, a resident of Mannheim, Germany, collected aggressively attacking mosquitoes in her home and forwarded them to the "Mueckenatlas" citizen science recording scheme. The specimens turned out to be Aedes albopictus. Upon discussing the situation and consultation on the biology of the Asian tiger mosquito, the submitter found numerous developmental stages in the water of a flowerpot with an orchid in her living room.

Long-term nitrogen deposition reduces the diversity of nitrogen-fixing plants.

Biological nitrogen fixation is a fundamental part of ecosystem functioning. Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition and climate change may, however, limit the competitive advantage of nitrogen-fixing plants, leading to reduced relative diversity of nitrogen-fixing plants. Yet, assessments of changes of nitrogen-fixing plant long-term community diversity are rare.

Impact of coupled input data source-resolution and aggregation on contributions of high-yielding traits to simulated wheat yield.

High-yielding traits can potentially improve yield performance under climate change. However, data for these traits are limited to specific field sites. Despite this limitation, field-scale calibrated crop models for high-yielding traits are being applied over large scales using gridded weather and soil datasets.

Number and dissimilarity of global change factors influences soil properties and functions.

Soil biota and functions are impacted by various anthropogenic stressors, including climate change, chemical pollution or microplastics. These stressors do not occur in isolation, and soil properties and functions appear to be directionally driven by the number of global change factors acting simultaneously. Building on this insight, we here hypothesize that co-acting factors with more diverse effect mechanisms, or higher dissimilarity, have greater impacts on soil properties and functions.

Deep learning image analysis for filamentous fungi taxonomic classification: Dealing with small datasets with class imbalance and hierarchical grouping.

Deep learning applications in taxonomic classification for animals and plants from images have become popular, while those for microorganisms are still lagging behind. Our study investigated the potential of deep learning for the taxonomic classification of hundreds of filamentous fungi from colony images, which is typically a task that requires specialized knowledge. We isolated soil fungi, annotated their taxonomy using standard molecular barcode techniques, and took images of the fungal colonies grown in petri dishes ( = 606).