Search Results (89)

Bombus haematurus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), which arrived from the Balkan Peninsula, was first reported in Italy in 2020 in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region (FVG) (northeastern Italy) near the border with Slovenia. To study the spread and biology of the species, a survey was conducted at several sites of the FVG in the period 2023–2025. Bombus haematurus was recorded at 22 new sites across all four districts of the FVG (Trieste, Gorizia, Udine, and Pordenone), indicating its expansion towards the west. Bumblebees of this species were detected in plain and hilly areas at sites between 10 and 364 m a.s.l. They were observed more frequently at forest edges, undergrowth paths or clearings and meadows adjacent to woods, confirming the species is hylophilous. The activity of adults from February to July confirms that the bumblebee is an univoltine spring species. Specimens were observed foraging on the flowers of 19 wild and ornamental plants belonging to 12 families (in particular, Lamiaceae), confirming that the species is polylectic. The data collected indicate that B. haematurus are permanently established in the FVG and that a further spread of the species towards the west in the neighbouring Veneto region is likely. Full article

Habitat degradation poses a critical threat to the Malabar slender loris (Loris lydekkerianus malabaricus), yet little is known about its microhabitat requirements in intact forest. In Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary, we combined nocturnal trail surveys (337 loris sightings) with plotless sampling of 2830 trees (86 species from 35 families) to characterize both vegetation structure and loris presence. Our results show that lorises occur almost exclusively in mildly degraded wet evergreen and secondary moist deciduous subcanopies, where understory trees and climber networks provide continuous pathways. Individuals are most often encountered at heights of 5–15 m—ascending into higher strata as the night progresses—reflecting a balance between foraging access and predator avoidance. Substrate analysis revealed strong preferences for twigs ≤ 1 cm (36.98%) and small branches 2–5 cm in diameter, oriented obliquely to minimize energetic costs and maintain stability during slow, deliberate arboreal locomotion. Day-sleeping sites were overwhelmingly located within dense tangles of lianas on large-girth trees, where intertwined stems and thorny undergrowth offer concealment from both mammalian and avian predators. Vegetation surveys documented a near-equal mix of evergreen (50.6%) and deciduous (49.4%) species—including 26 endemics (18 restricted to the Western Ghats)—with Aporosa cardiosperma emerging as the most abundant riparian pioneer, suggesting both ecological resilience and potential simplification in fragmented patches. Complementing field observations, our recent habitat-suitability modeling in Aralam indicates that broad-scale climatic and anthropogenic factors—precipitation patterns, elevation, and proximity to roads—are the strongest predictors of loris occupancy, underscoring the interplay between landscape-level processes and microhabitat structure. Together, these findings highlight the imperative of multi-strata forest restoration—planting insect-hosting native trees, maintaining continuous canopy and climber networks, and integrating small “mini-forest” modules—to recreate the structural complexity vital for slender loris conservation and the broader resilience of Western Ghats biodiversity. Full article

Climate models have predicted changes in woody plant growth, vitality, and species distribution. Those changes are expected mainly within the boundaries of species ranges. We studied the influence of changing hydrothermal and burning-rate regimes on relict pine stands at the southern edge of the Pinus sylvestris range in Siberia. We hypothesize that (1) warming has stimulated pine growth under conditions of sufficient moisture supply, and (2) increased burning rate has threatened forest viability. We found that the increase in air temperature, combined with the decrease in soil and air drought, stimulated tree growth. Since the “warming restart” around 2000, the growth index (GI) of pines has exceeded its historical value by 1.4 times. The GI strongly correlates with the GPP and NPP of pine stands (r = 0.82). Despite the increased fire rate, the GPP/NPP and EVI index of both pine stands and surrounding bush–steppes are increasing, i.e., the pine habitat is “greening” since the warming restart. These results support the prediction (by climatic scenarios SSP4.5, SSP7.0, and SSP8.5) of improvement in tree habitat in the Siberian South. Meanwhile, warming has led to a reduction in the fire-return interval (up to 3–5 y). Although the post-fire density of seedlings on burns (ca. 10,000 per ha) is potentially sufficient for pine forest recovery, repeated surface fires have eliminated the majority of the undergrowth and afforestation. In a changing climate, the preservation of relict pine forests depends on a combination of moisture supply, burning rate, and fire suppression. Full article

Woody debris (WD) is an important element in forest ecosystems. It provides critical habitats for plants, animals, and insects. It is also a source of fuel contributing to fire propagation and sometimes leads to catastrophic wildfires. WD inventory is usually conducted through field surveys using transects and sample plots. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) point clouds are emerging as a valuable source for the development of comprehensive WD detection strategies. Results from previous LiDAR-based WD detection approaches are promising. However, there is no general strategy for handling point clouds acquired by different platforms with varying characteristics such as the pulse repetition rate and sensor-to-object distance in natural forests. This research proposes a general and adaptive morphological WD detection strategy that requires only a few intuitive thresholds, making it suitable for multi-platform LiDAR datasets in both plantation and natural forests. The conceptual basis of the strategy is that WD LiDAR points exhibit non-planar characteristics and a distinct intensity and comprise clusters that exceed a minimum size. The developed strategy was tested using leaf-off point clouds acquired by Geiger-mode airborne, uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), and backpack LiDAR systems. The results show that using the intensity data did not provide a noticeable improvement in the WD detection results. Quantitatively, the approach achieved an average recall of 0.83, indicating a low rate of omission errors. Datasets with a higher point density (i.e., from UAV and backpack LiDAR) showed better performance. As for the precision evaluation metric, it ranged from 0.40 to 0.85. The precision depends on commission errors introduced by bushes and undergrowth. Full article

This article proposes a time-synchronized fault-tolerant convergence control method for n-degree-of-freedom robotic manipulators. The main challenge lies in driving the tracking errors of all joints to converge simultaneously, especially in the presence of system faults, external disturbances, and model uncertainties. We introduce a normalized sign function that guarantees the property of ratio persistence for all joints and plays a crucial role in time-synchronized convergence control. A time-synchronized convergence observer is proposed that not only adopts a time-synchronized convergence control framework but also overcomes the lumped uncertainty term, which includes the system fault components, external disturbances, and system uncertainties. A salient feature of this method is that, regardless of the initial state and various uncertainties, each component of the robot manipulator system can simultaneously converge to an equilibrium point. Simulations conducted on a two-link robotic manipulator demonstrate the notable benefits of the designed time-synchronized control method, as evidenced by the comparative results. Full article

In recent years, extensive research has been conducted on pesticide application technology using unmanned aerial spraying systems (UASS) due to their efficiency and ability to overcome terrain obstacles. However, the coupling effect between the operational parameters of UASS and their influence on droplet deposition has not been sufficiently studied. A thorough and methodical analysis is essential to assess the deposition performance and drift risk of UASS. This study evaluated the spraying performance of an electric six-rotor UASS in wheat fields in Zibo between 2021 and 2022, focusing on three operational modes determined by flight speed and flow rate. Furthermore, the individual effects of these two parameters on droplet deposition quality and drift risk were explored. Based on the deposition quality of in-swath droplets and the drift degree after application, the results demonstrate that the optimal comprehensive characteristics of droplet deposition occur at a flight speed of 4.5 m/s, a flow rate of 2.025 L/min, and a spray amount of 1 L/ha. The increase in spray flow rate (2.475 L/min) results in a 3.92-fold enhancement in the deposition rate within the spray area compared with that of group of the minimum spray flow rate (1.575 L/min). A higher flight speed (5.5 m/s) improves the uniformity of droplet deposition, with the coefficient of variation decreases by 25.2% compared with that of the minimum flight speed (3.5 m/s), and this higher flight speed leads to a drift distance of 28.8 m. Full article

Intensive forest management has promoted an increase in deer (Cervidae) population density. Various silvicultural activities, such as pre-commercial thinning, can change the feeding conditions for deer species, therefore impacting browsing pressure on target tree species. In this study, we analyzed how several factors, including the density of the main tree species, admixture, undergrowth, and forest type, affect deer damage intensity in pine stands, considering deer densities and regional aspects in hemiboreal Latvia. GLMM analysis, based on data from 1238 sample plots, showed that the probability of browsing damage decreases with an increase in the density of undergrowth in young (<20 years) pine stands with a dominant height below 3 m. Also, the probability of pines being damaged by deer was significantly (p = 0.001) higher in stands with fresh pre-commercial thinning than in those with no thinning. However, differences in deer density between regions also determined browsing pressure. Results indicated that undergrowth density, pre-commercial thinning, and deer density may be important drivers of damage levels, especially in the winter browsing of young pine stands on wet mineral soils. Therefore, future research should continue to evaluate applied forest management strategies in hemiboreal forests that provide additional natural food base in the form of woody plants and shrubs in winter forage to ensure more deer-adapted practices. Full article

Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. is an important undergrowth species in southern China. The fruits of A. oxyphylla are recognized as one of “the four famous south medicines” and are also used in the production of preserved fruit. However, as non-medicinal parts, their stems and leaves are unutilized. In order to promote resource recycling, the chemical components of such stems and leaves were investigated, and we evaluated their melanin inhibitory potential through DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging, tyrosinase inhibition, and melanin production inhibition in B16 cells. Five new compounds, aloxy A (1), kaempferol 3-O-α-L-rhamnosyl-(1 → 2)-(3″,4″-diacetyl-β-D-glucuronate methyl ester) (2), quercetin 3-O-α-L-rhamnosyl-(1 → 2)-(3″,4″-diacetyl-β-D-glucuronate methyl ester) (3), kaempferol 3-O-α-L-rhamnosyl-(1 → 3)-(4″-acetyl-β-D-glucuronate methyl ester) (4), and kaempferol 3-O-α-L-rhamnosyl-(1 → 2)-(3″-acetyl-β-D-glucuronate methyl ester) (5), and seventeen known ones (6–22) were isolated and identified from the stems and leaves of A. oxyphylla. Among these compounds, 19 compounds presented tyrosinase inhibitory activities, among which aloxy A (1), hexahydrocurcumin (7), gingerenone A (8) and 4,4′-dimethoxy-3′-hydroxy-7,9′:7′,9-diepoxylignan-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (22) showed strong inhibitory activity, with IC₅₀ values between 6.26 ± 0.42 and 22.04 ± 1.09 μM, lower than the positive control (Kojic acid, IC₅₀ = 37.22 ± 1.64 μM). A total of 15 compounds exhibited varying degrees of DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities. In addition, 1, 2, and 7 showed melanin production inhibition activity in B16 cells, and the effects presented as concentration-dependent. The above results indicate that the stems and leaves of A. oxyphylla are rich with phenolic compounds, and display tyrosinase inhibition and antioxidant activities, which could lead to potential applications related to melanin production inhibition such as in the development of cosmetics. Full article

Background: Maternal phenylketonuria (PKU) syndrome, leading to severe psychomotor retardation, microcephaly, cardiac defects and undergrowth, affects the unborn children of mothers with PKU with insufficient metabolic control during pregnancy. To improve long-term outcomes, a specific prevention program was developed. Methods: We designed a group training program for young women with PKU (>14 years) and their partners. Knowledge regarding PKU therapy and pregnancy was evaluated by a specifically developed multiple-choice questionnaire. In addition, scores of anxiety and depression were evaluated. Results: Patients (n = 20) and their partners (n = 13) significantly improved their knowledge after participation (correct answers: patients—86% vs. 90%, p = 0.003; partners—78% vs. 89%, p = 0.012). Females significantly improved their knowledge about diet (90% vs. 100%, p = 0.035) and metabolism (91% vs. 100%, p = 0.016), but not concerning gynecological topics. Patients’ median depression scores were within the normative range, with a slight decrease over time (6 points vs. 4 points, p = 0.836). Patients’ anxiety score remained stable over time (5.5 vs. 5, p = 0.247). Of trained mothers with PKU, four pregnancies with ideal metabolic control and healthy offspring could be observed. Conclusion: We suggest the inclusion of specific training programs in the standard care of female young adults with PKU, including for their partners. Full article

The inherent complexity of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contributes to the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass, resulting in a low conversion efficiency and high cost of bioethanol conversion. Pretreatment methods that disrupt the plant cell structure of lignocellulose, such as straw, can significantly enhance the conversion efficiency. In this study, we utilized an acid-assisted mechanocatalytic depolymerization technique to pretreat rice straw, and the results demonstrated a significant disruption of the cellulose structure of the straw. Compared to the untreated straw, the particle size of pretreated straw reduced from 279 μm to 11.8 μm, the crystallinity of cellulose decreased from 43.05% to 22.71%, the specific surface area increased by 177%, and the surface oxygen-to-carbon ratio (O/C) ratio was enhanced by 75%. The changes in microstructure enabled the pretreated straw to achieve a total sugar yield of over 95% within 12 h of enzymatic hydrolysis, significantly superior to the 36.24% yield from untreated straw, the 45.20% yield from acid impregnated straw, and the 73.25% yield from ball milled straw. Consequently, acid-assisted mechanocatalytic depolymerization emerges as a highly effective pretreatment strategy to enhance both the enzymatic hydrolysis and the overall conversion efficiency of rice straw. Full article

This study presents an enhanced exploration path planning for unmanned aerial vehicles. The primary goal is to increase the chances of survival of missing people in forest environments. Exploration path planning is an essential methodology for exploring unknown three-dimensional spaces. However, previous studies have mainly focused on underground environments, not forest environments. The existing path planning methods for underground environments are not directly applicable to forest environments. The reason is that multiple open spaces exist with various obstacles, such as trees, foliage, undergrowth, and rocks. This study mainly focused on improving the safety and efficiency to be suitable for forests rather than underground environments. Paths closer to obstacles are penalized to enhance safety, encouraging exploration at a safer distance from obstacles. A potential field function is applied based on explored space to minimize overlapping between existing and new paths to increase efficiency. The proposed exploration path planning method was validated through an extensive simulation analysis and comparison with state-of-the-art sampling-based path planning. Finally, a flight experiment was conducted to verify further the feasibility of the proposed method using onboard real hardware implementation in a cluttered and complex forest environment. Full article

This study aimed to compare the socio-environmental benefits of one of the most widely planted forest species, i.e., Pinus roxburghii (Sarg., hereafter ‘Pine’ or ‘Pinus’) with naturally regenerated mixed forests in two community forests of Nepal. By analyzing tree rings, we estimate biomass production, carbon accumulation, and growth enhancement in both forest types using regression models, offering insights into sustainable forest management. Pinus forests exhibit instant social benefits through direct economic conversion and a higher rate of carbon sequestration. However, the lack of perpetuated production, due to unimodal stand structures, necessitates anthropogenic interventions for long-term sustainability. Challenges such as the absence of natural regeneration, frequent fires, limited undergrowth, limited species diversity, and likely soil erosion hinder long-term sustainability in Pinus forests. In contrast, natural regenerated mixed forests offer slow carbon sequestration with less opportunity for immediate economic conversion, yet they maintain a proportional age-class distribution and experience minimal fire incidence, abundant regeneration, higher biodiversity, and lower regeneration costs. Although no abrupt environmental disasters were observed through the dendrochronological assessment, a significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) was found between age and girth at breast height, biomass, and volume of the forests. This study underscores the crucial role of human intervention beyond conventional management focusing on the protection motive to production-oriented forests in optimizing the socio-economic and environmental benefits of both forest types in the changing socio-environmental challenges through informed management planning. Full article

Karstic sinkholes are peculiar structures hosting specific biological communities. Birds are still little studied in this regard. This note reports, for the first time, original data relating to the density of breeding species occurring within a sinkhole in central Italy obtained with a fine-grained and time-expensive sampling technique (mapping method). The results were compared with data sampled with the point counts method carried out in the same phenological period. We recorded 22 breeding species, all typical of meso-thermophilous forests and ecotonal habitats of hilly central Italy. Among them, two species (Turdus merula and Troglodytes troglodytes), typical of shady, undergrowth habitats, were recorded in the deepest part of the sinkhole (−70 m from the top). No significant differences emerged between the relative frequencies of the species obtained with the two methods, except for Luscinia megarhynchos (overestimated with the mapping method) and Aegithalos caudatus (underestimated). At the community level, the comparison of the two methods revealed similar values in univariate diversity metrics, Whittaker plots did not show a significant difference (ANCOVA test), and ordinary least squares regression between the frequencies showed a highly significant correlation. Therefore, in these peculiar habitats, data obtained from the two methods are comparable: since the point counts method needs lower sampling effort, it appeared to be more effective when compared to the mapping method to study these peculiar habitats. Full article

Mechanomyography (MMG) is an important muscle physiological activity signal that can reflect the amount of motor units recruited as well as the contraction frequency. As a result, MMG can be utilized to estimate the force produced by skeletal muscle. However, cross-talk and time-series correlation severely affect MMG signal recognition in the real world. These restrict the accuracy of dynamic muscle force estimation and their interaction ability in wearable devices. To address these issues, a hypothesis that the accuracy of knee dynamic extension force estimation can be improved by using MMG signals from a single muscle with less cross-talk is first proposed. The hypothesis is then confirmed using the estimation results from different muscle signal feature combinations. Finally, a novel model (improved grey wolf optimizer optimized long short-term memory networks, i.e., IGWO-LSTM) is proposed for further improving the performance of knee dynamic extension force estimation. The experimental results demonstrate that MMG signals from a single muscle with less cross-talk have a superior ability to estimate dynamic knee extension force. In addition, the proposed IGWO-LSTM provides the best performance metrics in comparison to other state-of-the-art models. Our research is expected to not only improve the understanding of the mechanisms of quadriceps contraction but also enhance the flexibility and interaction capabilities of future rehabilitation and assistive devices. Full article

To address the ecological challenges arising from pure forest plantations and the wood supply–demand imbalance, implementing sustainable forest management is paramount. Accordingly, we studied crop trees at three densities (100, 150, and 200 N/ha) in a subtropical Pinus massoniana plantation. Our study revealed that the dominant phyla and genera within the fungal community remained largely consistent, with Basidiomycota and Ascomycota occupying prominent positions. Notably, the β diversity of the fungal community exhibited significant changes. Ectomycorrhizal and saprophytic fungi emerged as crucial functional guilds, and crop-tree thinning contributed to increased complexity within the fungal network, with a prevalence of positive rather than negative correlations among genera. The significant roles played by Camphor plants and ferns were evident in the fungal networks. Additionally, under crop-tree thinning, plant diversity experienced a significant boost, fostering interactions with the fungal community. Herb diversity played a vital role in the fungal community, affecting it either directly or indirectly, by altering the content of total phosphorus or organic matter in the soil. This study underscores the relationship between undergrowth plants and soil fungal communities, offering a scientific basis for evaluating the sustainability of restoring inefficient forest-plantation ecosystems. Full article