An Edge-assisted, Object-oriented Random Forest Approach for Refined Extraction of Tea Plantations Using Multi-temporal Sentinel-2 and High-resolution Gaofen-2 Imagery

As a consumed and influential natural plant beverage,tea is widely planted in subtropical and tropical areas all over the world.Affected by(sub)tropical climate characteristics,the underlying surface of the tea distribution area is extremely complex,with a variety of vegetation types.In addition,tea distribution is scattered and fragmentized in most of China.Therefore,it is difficult to obtain accurate tea information based on coarse resolution remote sensing data and existing feature extraction methods.This study proposed a boundary-enhanced,object-oriented random forest method on the basis of high-resolution GF-2 and multi-temporal Sentinel-2 data.This method uses multispectral indexes,textures,vegetable indices,and variation characteristics of time-series NDVI from the multi-temporal Sentinel-2 imageries to obtain abundant features related to the growth of tea plantations.To reduce feature redundancy and computation time,the feature elimination algorithm based on Mean Decrease Accuracy(MDA)was used to generate the optimal feature set.Considering the serious boundary inconsistency problem caused by the complex and fragmented land cover types,high resolution GF-2 image was segmented based on the MultiResolution Segmentation(MRS)algorithm to assist the segmentation of Sentinel-2,which contributes to delineating meaningful objects and enhancing the reliability of the boundary for tea plantations.Finally,the object-oriented random forest method was utilized to extract the tea information based on the optimal feature combination in the Jingmai Mountain,Yunnan Province.The resulting tea plantation map had high accuracy,with a 95.38%overall accuracy and 0.91 kappa coefficient.We conclude that the proposed method is effective for mapping tea plantations in high heterogeneity mountainous areas and has the potential for mapping tea plantations in large areas.

Spatial Variability of Soil Cation Exchange Capacity in Hilly Tea Plantation Soils Under Different Sampling Scales

Studies on the spatial variability of the soil cation exchange capacity （CEC） were made to provide a theoretical basis for an ecological tea plantation and management of soil fertilizer in the tea plantation. Geostatistics were used to analyze the spatial variability of soil CEC in the tea plantation site on Mengding Mountain in Sichuan Province of China on two sampling scales. It was found that, （1） on the small scale, the soil CEC was intensively spatially correlative, the rate of nugget to sill was 18.84% and the spatially dependent range was 1 818 m, and structural factors were the main factors that affected the spatial variability of the soil CEC; （2） on the microscale, the soil CEC was also consumingly spatially dependent, and the rate of nugget to sill was 16.52%, the spatially dependent range was 311 m, and the main factors affecting the spatial variability were just the same as mentioned earlier. On the small scale, soil CEC had a stronger anisotropic structure on the slope aspect, and a weaker one on the lateral side. According to the ordinary Kriging method, the equivalence of soil CEC distributed along the lateral aspect of the slope from northeast to southwest, and the soil CEC reduced as the elevation went down. On the microscale, the anisotropic structure was different from that measured on the small scale. It had a stronger anisotropic structure on the aspect that was near the aspect of the slope, and a weaker one near the lateral aspect of the slope. The soil CEC distributed along the lateral aspect of the slope and some distributed in the form of plots. From the top to the bottom of the slope, the soil CEC increased initially, and then reduced, and finally increased.

Tea Plantation Frost Damage Early Warning Using a Two-Fold Method for Temperature Prediction

As the source and main producing area of tea in the world, China has formed unique tea culture, and achievedremarkable economic benefits. However, frequent meteorological disasters, particularly low temperature frostdamage in late spring has seriously threatened the growth status of tea trees and caused quality and yield reduction of tea industry. Thus, timely and accurate early warning of frost damage occurrence in specific tea garden isvery important for tea plantation management and economic values. Aiming at the problems existing in currentmeteorological disaster forecasting methods, such as difficulty in obtaining massive meteorological data, largeamount of calculation for predicted models and incomplete information on frost damage occurrence, this paperproposed a two-fold algorithm for short-term and real-time prediction of temperature using field environmentaldata, and temperature trend results from a nearest local weather station for accurate frost damage occurrence leveldetermination, so as to achieve a specific tea garden frost damage occurrence prediction in a microclimate. Timeseries meteorological data collected from a small weather station was used for testing and parameterization of atwo-fold method, and another dataset acquired from Tea Experimental Base of Zhejiang University was furtherused to validate the capability of a two-fold model for frost damage forecasting. Results showed that comparedwith the results of autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and multiple linear regression (MLR),the proposed two-fold method using a second order Furrier fitting model and a K-Nearest Neighbor model(K = 3) with three days historical temperature data exhibited excellent accuracy for frost damage occurrence prediction on consideration of both model accuracy and computation (98.46% forecasted duration of frost damage,and 95.38% for forecasted temperature at the onset time). For field test in a tea garden, the proposed methodaccurately predicted three times frost damage occurrences, including onset time, duration and occurrence level.These results suggested the newly-proposed two-fold method was suitable for tea plantation frost damage occurrence forecasting.

Investigation on Species of Spiders in Tea Plantations in Enshi Region of China

The spider resources in tea plantations in Enshi region have been investigated and 51 species of spiders belonging to 22 families have been identified in the paper. The dominant species are clarified and their directory and distribution status are also listed in the paper.

Canopy Cultivation Technology and Benefit Analysis of Tea Tree Canopy in Preserved Tea Plantations

The present study introduced the concept and characteristics of preserved tea plantation,and analyzed application and benefit of stereoscopic trimming and pruning technology in the cultivation of tea tree canopy in preserved tea plantations.The results show that the stereoscopic trimming and pruning technology of tea trees has more advantages in production efficiency than other trimming and pruning techniques in terms of yield and output value,and can better exert the regeneration ability of tea branches.The grade of branching is increased from grade 3-4 before unpruning to grade 9-13(3-4 times higher),the length of internode is increased from 1-2 cm to 3-7 cm(increased 3-4 times),the picking area is increased from 0.9 m×1.1 m to 2.8 m×4.2 m(an increase of nearly 10 times),accordingly achieving the best production and economic benefits required in tea production.

Influence of Tea Plantations, Forest and Mixed Farming on Stream Flow and Sediment Loads, Case of Sondu Miriu River Basin, Kenya

The changing patterns of land cover and land use in the tropical river basin over time are critical. The hydrological phenomena at basin and sub basin scale are affected positively or negatively by dynamics of the land cover and land use patterns. Hence identifying causes and driving factors aid in taking appropriate measures to avert the impacts. This study determined the influences of sub basins dominated by tea plantations, forests and agricultural land uses in terms of streamflow and sediment flux variability in Sondu Miriu River Basin in Kenya, East Africa. Field-based investigations were conducted through sampling of flow velocities, turbidity and TSSC obtained from existing River Gauging Stations established within the three sub basins. The sub basin dominated by mixed farming land cover exhibits high turbidity approximately 620 NTU and high levels of total suspended sediment concentration (TSSC) of the order of 630 mg/l in wet seasons. The turbidity levels and TSSC were low in sub basins dominated by forest and tea plantations with approximately mean value of 17 - 29 NTU and 0.019 g/l. The sediment loads in sub basin dominated by mixed farming in the pre planting season in January to February were about 900 tonnes/day higher than that in crop growing season. In sub basins dominated by forest cover and tea plantations, sediment loads were low ranging between 2 - 7 tonnes/day. The relationship between stream flows and area under tea plantations, forests and mixed farming ranged between R2 of 0.025 and 0.16. Tea plantations and forests influence the stream flows and sediment yields in long term duration while in mixed farming variations were observed seasonally. The strong relationships between rainfall and stream flows at the sub basins ranging between R2 of 0.84 and 0.97 revealed the significance of rainfall in hydrologic response of the Sondu Miriu River Basin.

Exploiting push-pull strategy to combat the tea green leafhopper based on volatiles of Lavandula angustifolia and Flemingia macrophylla

Thirteen volatile compounds were identified from Flemingia macrophylla plants. Eight major components significantly attracted the tea green leafhoppers, Empoasca flavescens F. Based on their relative abundances, following synthetic blends were made for field experiments: 1) eight-component-attractant blend included Z-3-hexen-1-ol, Z-3-hexenyl acetate, Z-ocimene, Me SA, Z-3-hexenyl butyrate, dodecane, hexadecane and nonanal at 10, 10, 1, 11, 2, 6, 2 and 4 mg mL^-1 in n-hexane, respectively;2) four-component-attractant blend #1 contained hexadecane, Z-3-hexenyl acetate, Z-3-hexen-1-ol and nonanal at 2, 10, 10 and 4 mg mL^-1 in n-hexane, respectively;3) four-component-attractant blend #2 contained hexadecane, Z-3-hexenyl acetate, Z-3-hexen-1-ol and Me SA at 2, 10, 10 and 11 mg mL^-1 in n-hexane, respectively. Thymol and 1-methoxy-4-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl)-benzene, identified from Lavandula angustifolia aeration samples, significantly repelled the leafhopper as strong repellents when tested alone or in combination at 10 mg mL^-1. For field bioassays, each attractant lure was attached to a bud green sticky board hung from a bamboo stick at above tea plant level for catching the leafhoppers, whereas the repellent dispenser was tied to a tea branch inside tea clump for pushing the leafhoppers away from tea clumps. The results showed that the eight-component-attractant blend caught similar numbers of the leafhopper as did the four-component-attractant blend #1 at about 53–79 leafhoppers/trap/day, which were significantly higher than those on the hexane-control bud green sticky boards. Average leafhopper catches from un-baited sticky boards were about 51–73 leafhoppers/trap/day when pushed by the repellents placed inside tea plants, with the two-component-repellent blend being more effective than their single components. When the two-component-repellent blend was further tested with the three attractant blends in a push-pull fashion, average trap catches ranged from 62 to 92 leafhoppers/trap/day. Control efficacy on the leafhoppers within the push-pull zones increased progressively from day 1(43%) to day 5(73%). This push-pull approach might have a great potential as a green control strategy for combating the tea green leafhoppers.

Assessment of soil degradation and chemical compositions in Rwandan tea-growing areas

This study has focused on the processes of soil degradation and chemical element concentration in tea-growing regions of Rwanda,Africa.Soil degradation accelerated by erosion is caused not only by topography but also by human activities.This soil degradation involves both the physical loss and reduction in the amount of topsoil associated with nutrient decline.Soil samples were collected from eleven tropical zones in Rwanda and from variable depth within each collecting site.Of these,Samples from three locations in each zone were analyzed in the laboratory,with the result that the pH of all soil samples is shown to be less than 5（pH〈5） with a general average of 4.4.The elements such as iron（Fe）, copper（Cu）,manganese（Mn）,and zinc（Zn） are present in high concentration levels.In contrast calcium （Ca） and sodium（Na） are present at low-level concentrations and carbon（C） was found in minimal concentrations.In addition,elements derived from fertilizers,such as nitrogen（N）,phosphorous（P）,and potassium（K） which is also from minerals such as feldspar,are also present in low-level concentrations. The results indicate that the soil in certain Rwandan tea plantations is acidic and that this level of pH may help explain,in addition to natural factors,the deficiency of some elements such as Ca,Mg,P and N.The use of chemical fertilizers,land use system and the location of fields relative to household plots are also considered to help explain why tea plantation soils are typically degraded.

Some Biogeochemical Characteristics of Tea Soils

Characteristics of the element abundance, material cycling, element budget in tea soils were discussed based on investigations of six tea plantations and the adjacent waste lands in the Three Gorges region.The plantations have different soil-forming parent materials, but similar landforms, and the same tea variety and close ages. The results showed that tea growing could increased the contents of organic matter,total and available N, P, Al and Mn; the elements enriched by tea trees were in the following descending Sequence: P > Ca> K > Mn > Mg > Zn > Al > Fe; elements returned through litter of tea were in the sequence of Ca> Mn > P > Zn > Mg > K > Al > Fe; in the nutrient budget of the soil-tea system, P and K were in deficit,whereas Al, Ca, Fe and Mn in surplus.

The effect of tea plantation age on soil water-stable aggregates and aggregate-associated carbohydrate in southwestern China

Soil carbohydrates constitute an important component of soil organic matter(SOM),and substantially contribute to the stabilization of soil aggregates.Here,we aimed to investigate the distribution of water-stable aggregates and carbohydrates within water-stable aggregates of soil in tea plantations located in Zhongfeng Township of Mingshan County,Sichuan,which is in southwest China.Samples were collected from tea plantations of different ages(18,25,33,and 55 years old)and an area of abandoned land was used as a control(CK).We also examined correlations between soil carbohydrates fractions and aggregate stability.The results showed that the mean weight diameter(MWD)of soil aggregates in the tea plan-tations was significantly higher than that the control.Furthermore,the soil aggregate stability was significantly enhanced in tea plantations,with the 25-year-old plantation showing the most pronounced effect.Soils in the plantations were also characterized by higher concentrated acid-extracted carbohy-drate content,and carbohydrate content in both surface and sub-surface layers were higher in the 25-year-old plantation.We also detected a significant positive correlation between the carbohydrate con-tent of soil and MWD after tea plantation(P<0.01).Notably,the association between dilute-acid extracted carbohydrate and the aggregate stability showed the highest correlation,indicating this car-bohydrate fraction could be used as an index to reflect changes in soil quality during tea plantation development.We should develop a potential fertilisation programme to maintain SOM-Carbohydrates within aggregates and the appropriate pH for preventing soil structure degradation after 25 years of tea planting.

Development of synthetic volatile attractant for male Ectropis obliqua moths

The tea geometridEctropis obliquais one of the most serious leaf-feeding insect pests in tea （Camelia sinensis） in East Asia. Although several volatile chemicals emitted from tea plants have been reported to be attractive toE. obliqua moths, no synthetic attractants for E. obliqua moths have been developed. By measuring the behavioral responses of the moth to a series of chemicals in the lab, we found that a blend containing a ternary mixture containing （Z）-3-hexenal, （Z）-3-hexenyl hexanoate and benzyl alcohol clearly attracted toE. obliqua moths of both sex and that （Z）-3-hexenyl acetate could enhance the attractiveness of the ternary blend. Moreover, we found that the volatiles emitted from the plant-E. obliqua larva com-plex have the same attractiveness as： 1） the blend of volatiles containing the ternary mixture and 2） the blend containing （Z）-3-hexenyl acetate plus the ternary mixture to both male and female moths. In a ifeld bioassay, more male moths were observed on traps that were baited with the blend containing （Z）-3-hexenyl acetate plus the ternary mixture than on control traps. Our study raises the tantalizing possibility that synthetic blends could be deployed as attractants for pests in the ifeld.

APPLICATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ‘GREEN’ PREVENTIVE AND CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES IN GUIZHOU TEA PLANTATIONS

The application and development of ‘green’ preventive technologies in teaplantations is an important means of ensuring tea quality and ecologicalsafety. Ecological, agronomic and biological controls are the main preventivemeasures used in Guizhou Province. This paper summarizes the ‘green’preventive technologies being applied in Guizhou tea plantations, including theuse of plant defense inducers to regulate tea plant responses to pathogens,natural enemies to control pest species causing damage to shoots andTrifolium repens to control the main weed species. In addition, it summarizesthe integrated ‘green’ preventive technologies being used in Guizhou andprovides a foundation for the ecological maintenance of tea plantations.

Soil respiration under three different land use types in a tropical mountain region of China

Soil respiration (SR) Wis one of the largest contributors of terrestrial CO_2 to the atmosphere.Environmental as well as physicochemical parameters influence SR and thus, different land use practices impact the emissions of soil CO_2. In this study, we measured SR, bi-monthly, over a one-year period in a terrace tea plantation, a forest tea plantation and a secondary forest, in a subtropical mountain area in Xishuangbanna, China. Along with the measurement of SR rates, soil characteristics for each of the land use systems were investigated. Soil respiration rates in the different land use systems did not differ significantly during the dry season, ranging from2.7±0.2 μmol m^(-2) s^(-1) to 2.8±0.2 μmol m^(-2) s^(-1). During the wet season, however, SR rates were significantly larger in the terrace tea plantation(5.4±0.5 μmol m^(-2)s^(-1)) and secondary forest(4.9±0.4 μmol m^(-2)s^(-1)) than in the forest tea plantation(3.7±0.2 μmol m^(-2) s^(-1)).This resulted in significantly larger annual soil CO_2 emissions from the terrace tea and secondary forest,than from the forest tea plantation. It is likely that these differences in the SR rates are due to the 0.5times lower soil organic carbon concentrations in thetop mineral soil in the forest tea plantation, compared to the terrace tea plantation and secondary forest.Furthermore, we suggest that the lower sensitivity to temperature variation in the forest tea soil is a result of the lower soil organic carbon concentrations. The higher SR rates in the terrace tea plantation were partly due to weeding events, which caused CO_2 emission peaks that contributed almost 10% to the annual CO_2 flux. Our findings suggest that moving away from heavily managed tea plantations towards low-input forest tea can reduce the soil CO_2 emissions from these systems. However, our study is a casestudy and further investigations and upscaling are necessary to show if these findings hold true at a landscape level.

Assessing heavy metal pollution and potential ecological risk of tea plantation soils

Accumulation of heavy metals in agricultural soils tends to increase crop uptake of heavy metals,and can adversely impact human health through food chains.This study assessed the heavy metal pollution status and the potential ecological risk of tea plantation soils in southern Shaanxi Province,China.A total of 330 topsoil samples were collected to analyze the concentrations of seven heavy metals(Pb,Zn,Cu,Cr,Hg,As and Cd)and the pH level.The Hakanson potential ecological risk index was used based on the background levels of soil heavy metals in Shaanxi.Results showed that the averaged concentrations of soil Pb,Zn,Cu,Cr,Hg,As,and Cd were 10.0,87.6,16.4,12.4,0.2,6.9 and 0.1 mg/kg,respectively.Cd and Hg concentrations exceeded level II of China’s Soil Environment Quality Standard(GB 15618-2009)in 9.3%and 7.0%of the total samples,respectively.The coefficient of variation ranged from 29.2%to 52.2%for different elements,and was 49.3%for Cd and 48.6%for Hg.The averaged comprehensive potential ecological risk index was 95.4,and the overall potential ecological risk was low,with 82.4%of the total samples at a low level of potential ecological risk.Cd and Hg contributed most to the potential ecological risk(35.5%and 46.5%,respectively),and the risks associated with other elements were relatively minor.This study suggested that soil Cd and Hg pollution should be controlled to ensure the safe production of tea in the study area.

Soil microbial communities as potential regulators of N2O sources in highly acidic soils

●Soil pH was a key driver of N2O emission and sources in acidic soils.●N2O emission was significantly positively associated with the ratio of ITS to 16S.●N2O was significantly correlated with bacterial and fungal community composition.●Fungi contributed to N2O in highly acidic tea plantations and vegetable fields.Acidic soil is a main source of global nitrous oxide(N2O)emissions.However,the mechanism behind the high N2O emissions from acidic soils remains a knowledge gap.The objective of this microcosm incubation study was to pin-point the microbial mechanisms involved in N2O production processes in acidic soils.For that purpose,the isotopic signatures and microbial community structure and composition of four soil samples were examined.The results showed that highly acid soils(pH=3.51)emitted 89 times more N2O than alkaline soils(pH=7.95)under the same nitrogen(N)inputs.Fungal denitrification caused high N2O emissions in acidic soils.ITS to 16S abundance ratio was positively correlated with cumulative N2O emissions from the tested soils.The highly acid soils(pH<4.5)showed greater fungal nirK gene abundance and lower abundance of AOA-amoA,AOB-amoA,nirK,nosZ I and nosZ II genes.The unclassified Aspergillaceae fungi(63.65%)dominated the highly acidic soils and was the most strongly correlated genus with N2O emissions.These findings highlight that soil microbial community structures,denitrifying fungi in particular,shaped by low pH(pH<4.5)lead to high N2O emissions from acidic soils.