Tree species identity and interaction determine vertical forest structure in young planted forests measured by terrestrial laser scanning

Vertical forest structure is closely linked to multiple ecosystem characteristics,such as biodiversity,habitat,and productivity.Mixing tree species in planted forests has the potential to create diverse vertical forest structures due to the different physiological and morphological traits of the composing tree species.However,the relative importance of species richness,species identity and species interactions for the variation in vertical forest structure remains unclear,mainly because traditional forest inventories do not observe vertical stand structure in detail.Terrestrial laser scanning(TLS),however,allows to study vertical forest structure in an unprecedented way.Therefore,we used TLS single scan data from 126 plots across three experimental planted forests of a largescale tree diversity experiment in Belgium to study the drivers of vertical forest structure.These plots were 9–11years old young pure and mixed forests,characterized by four levels of tree species richness ranging from monocultures to four-species mixtures,across twenty composition levels.We generated vertical plant profiles from the TLS data and derived six stand structural variables.Linear mixed models were used to test the effect of species richness on structural variables.Employing a hierarchical diversity interaction modelling framework,we further assessed species identity effect and various species interaction effects on the six stand structural variables.Our results showed that species richness did not significantly influence most of the stand structure variables,except for canopy height and foliage height diversity.Species identity on the other hand exhibited a significant impact on vertical forest structure across all sites.Species interaction effects were observed to be site-dependent due to varying site conditions and species pools,and rapidly growing tree species tend to dominate these interactions.Overall,our results highlighted the importance of considering both species identity and interaction effects in choosing suitable species combinations for forest management practices aimed at enhancing vertical forest structure.

Tree structure and diversity shape the biomass of primary temperate mountain forests

Primary forests are spatially diverse terrestrial ecosystems with unique characteristics,being naturally regenerative and heterogeneous,which supports the stability of their carbon storage through the accumulation of live and dead biomass.Yet,little is known about the interactions between biomass stocks,tree genus diversity and structure across a temperate montane primary forest.Here,we investigated the relationship between tree structure(variability in basal area and tree size),genus-level diversity(abundance,tree diversity)and biomass stocks in temperate primary mountain forests across Central and Eastern Europe.We used inventory data from726 permanent sample plots from mixed beech and spruce across the Carpathian Mountains.We used nonlinear regression to analyse the spatial variability in forest biomass,structure,and genus-level diversity and how they interact with plot-level tree age,disturbances,temperature and altitude.We found that the combined effects of genus and structural indices were important for addressing the variability in biomass across different spatial scales.Local processes in disturbance regimes and uneven tree age support forest hete rogeneity and the accumulation of live and dead biomass through the natural regeneration,growth and decay of the forest ecosystem.Structural complexities in basal area index,supporte d by genus-level abundance,positively influence total biomass stocks,which was modulated by tree age and disturbances.Spruce forests showed higher tree density and basal area than mixed beech forests,though mixed beech still contributes significantly to biomass across landscapes.Forest heterogeneity was strongly influenced by complexities in forest composition(tree genus diversity,structure).We addressed the importance of primary forests as stable carbon stores,achieved through structure and diversity.Safeguarding such ecosystems is critical for ensuring the stability of the primary forest,carbon store and biodiversity into the future.

Optimization models of stand structure and selective cutting cycle for large diameter trees of broadleaved forest in Changbai Mountain

The optimum models of harvesting yield and net profits of large diameter trees for broadleaved forest were developed, of which include matrix growth sub-model, harvesting cost and wood price sub-models, based on the data from Hongshi Forestry Bureau, in Changbai Mountain region, Jilin Province, China. The data were measured in 232 permanent sample plots. With the data of permanent sample plots, the parameters of transition probability and ingrowth models were estimated, and some models were compared and partly modified. During the simulation of stand structure, four factors such as largest diameter residual tree （LDT）, the ratio of the number of trees in a given diameter class to those in the next larger diameter class （q）, residual basal area （RBA） and selective cutting cycle （C） were considered. The simulation results showed that the optimum stand structure parameters for large diameter trees are as follows： q is 1.2, LDT is 46cm, RBA is larger than 26 m^2 and selective cutting cycle time （C） is between 10 and 20 years.

Probabilistic method and its application for evaluating carbonation life of newly-built concrete structures

In order to evaluate the carbonation life of newly-built concrete structures,two kinds of nondestructive methods are adopted to test the thickness of the concrete cover and the ultrasonic velocity of two newly-built tunnel structures.Simultaneously a probabilistic method is proposed based on the relationship between the accelerated carbonation rate and the ultrasonic velocity.This proposed method is applied to evaluate the carbonation related lives of two newly-built tunnels and the results indicate that even under nearly the same environment and CO2 combining conditions,there exits a big difference in the probabilistic carbonation lives between the two tunnels;i.e.,the probabilistic lives of Tunnel A and Tunnel B are 94.0% and 82.3% and the corresponding maximum discrepancies are 11.6% and 27.0%,respectively.Thus,it can be concluded that the scattered quality of the concrete cover is attributed to the differences in construction technique,which eventually leads to the diversity in the evaluated probabilistic carbonation lives of the two tunnels.

Analysis on the Composition and Structure of Branches of Two Kinds of Tree Shapes in Korla Fragrant Pear

ObjectiveThe thesis aims at investigating the distribution and structural characteristics of various branches in canopy of Korla fragrant pear. MethodStatistic work and analysis were conducted on the numbers and distribution characteristics of various branches in each cubic lattice by using the canopy cellular method. ResultThe results showed that： The total number of scaffold branches of evacuation layered tree shape was 97, which mainly distributed in the lower layer and middle part of the canopy; the total number of scaffold branches of open-center tree shape was 94, which mainly distributed in the lower layer and middle part of the canopy. The total number of annual branches of evacuation layered tree shape was 3 920, which mainly distributed in the middle layer and outer part of the canopy; and the total number of annual branches of the open-center tree shape was 3 183, which mainly distributed in middle layer and outer part of the canopy. The total number of perennial branches of evacuation layered tree shape was 2 184, which mainly distributed in lower layer and outer part of the canopy; the total number of perennial branches of open-center tree shape was 1 444, which mainly distributed in middle layer and outer part of the canopy. ConclusionThe total number and the distribution positions of scaffold branches in the canopy of each tree shape were basically the same. The total numbers of annual branches of the two kinds of tree shapes were different, but the distribution positions were basically the same. The total numbers and the distribution positions of perennial branches in the canopy of the two kinds of tree shapes were different.

Analysis on Fuji Apple Tree Structures and Related Factors under Different Pruning Modes

To determine the correlations between the tree structuresof Fuji apple with different pruning modes and each factor, the data about 3 tree structures which were free spindle short shoot, free spindle long shoot and slenderspindle short shoot in Xingtang County of Hebai Province were investigated, then by SPSS anal- ysis, the correlations between the taperingness and each growth factor of inserted small branch were compared. The results showed that the taperingness of central trunk of free spindle dwarf-shoot Fuji apple treeshad negative correlations with each factor of inserted small branch, while the taperingness of central trunk of free spin- dle long-shoot Fuji apple treeshad positive correlations with each factor of inserted small branch, the taperingness of central trunk of slenderspindle short-shootFuji ap- ple treeshad negative correlation with total thickness of inserted small branch, but had positive correlations with other factors. This study can provide a scientifictheo- retical basis for the pruning technology of high-density planting trees grafting by dwarfing self-rooted rootstock.

Functional Equilibrium Between Photosynthetic and Above-ground Nonphotosynthetic Structures of Plants: Evidence from a Pruning Experiment with Three Subtropical Tree Species

It is well known that plants have functional equilibrium between their above-ground parts (shoots) and below-ground parts (roots), but whether the above-ground parts of plants have functional equilibrium between their photosynthetic structures (leaves) and non-photosynthetic structures (branches and stem) is unknown. The purpose of this study is to test the hypotheses that: (1) the above-ground parts of plants have functional equilibriums between their photosynthetic structures and non-photosynthetic structures; (2) the maintenance of the equilibriums is guaranteed by the alteration of biomass partitioning to photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic structures. To test these hypotheses, a pruning experiment with four pruning intensities (0%, 20%, 50%, and 70%) were carried out with three subtropical Chinese tree species ( Ficus microcarpa, Ficus virens, Cinnamomum camphora). Pruning treatments were conducted in two successive years. The results were in conformity with the hypothesis, i.e. above-ground parts of trees had functional equilibriums between photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic structures. Pruning decreased instantaneously the mass ratios of photosynthetic structures to non-photosynthetic structures (P/NP) of all three tree species, the reduction in P/NP was strengthened with pruning intensity. However, one year after pruning, the P/NP of all pruned trees increased and were not smaller than those of unpruned trees. In agreement with the expectation, the biomass partitioning of pruned trees was altered, more newly produced above-ground biomass was partitioned to leaf growth and less to branch and stem growth, thus enabled the damaged trees to restore their functional equilibrium between photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic structures. It is clear that the maintenance of functional equilibrium between photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic structures guaranteed by the alteration of biomass partitioning provides plants a good strategy to resist external disturbance and damage.

Remaining Useful Life Prediction Method for Multi-Component System Considering Maintenance:Subsea Christmas Tree System as A Case Study

Maintenance is an important technical measure to maintain and restore the performance status of equipment and ensure the safety of the production process in industrial production,and is an indispensable part of prediction and health management.However,most of the existing remaining useful life(RUL)prediction methods assume that there is no maintenance or only perfect maintenance during the whole life cycle;thus,the predicted RUL value of the system is obviously lower than its actual operating value.The complex environment of the system further increases the difficulty of maintenance,and its maintenance nodes and maintenance degree are limited by the construction period and working conditions,which increases the difficulty of RUL prediction.An RUL prediction method for a multi-omponent system based on the Wiener process considering maintenance is proposed.The performance degradation model of components is established by a dynamic Bayesian network as the initial model,which solves the uncertainty of insufficient data problems.Based on the experience of experts,the degree of degradation is divided according to Poisson process simulation random failure,and different maintenance strategies are used to estimate a variety of condition maintenance factors.An example of a subsea tree system is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Corrosion Fatigue Life Prediction of Aircraft Structure Based on Fuzzy Reliability Approach

Material performance of LY12CZ aluminum is greatly degraded because of corrosion and corrosion fatigue, which severely affect the integrity and safety of aircraft structure, especially those of lbe navy aircraft structure. The corrosion and corrosion fatigue failure process of aircraft structure are directly concerned with many factors, such as load, material characteristics, corrosive environment and so on. The damage mechanism is very complicated, and there are both randomness and fuzziness in the failure process. With consideration of the limitation of those conventional probabilistic approaches for prediction of corrosion fatigue life of aircraft structure at present, and based on the operational load spectrum obtained through investigating service status of the aircraft in naval aviation force, a fuzzy reliability approach is proposed, which is more reasonable and closer to the fact. The effects of the pit aspect ratio, the crack aspect ratio and all fuzzy factors on corrosion fatigue life of aircraft structure are discussed. The results demonstrate that the approach can be applied to predict the corrosion fatigue life of aircraft structure.

Combine S-N curve and fracture mechanics for fatigue life analysis of welded structures

Based on the evolution of fatigue cracks in welded structures,the fatigue life of welded structures was defined as the sum of the crack initiation life Ni and the crack propagation life Np.Correspondingly,a fatigue-life analysis method combining S-N curves and fracture mechanics theory was proposed.The equivalent structural stress method and the lower 99%boundary of the master S-N curve were used to evaluate Ni,and cracks at the end of the initiation stage were considered as semi-elliptical surface cracks.Moreover,Paris equation and the stress intensity factor range of the cracks were used to evaluate Np.Furthermore,the fatigue test results obtained from the running girder of cranes were used as a reference for comparison and verification of the results.The results revealed that the equivalent structural stress is a good indicator for the crack initiation behavior of complex welded structures.In addition,the predicted fatigue life corresponded closely to the testing life.

Tree species diversity and stand structure along major community types in lowland primary and secondary moist deciduous forests in Tripura,Northeast India

Tree species diversity and population structure at different community types were described and analyzed for primary and secondary lowland moist deciduous forests in Tripura. Overall 10,957 individual trees belonging to 46 family, 103 genera and 144 species were counted at ≥30 cm DBH （diameter at breast height） using 28 permanent belt transects with a size of 1 ha （10 m × 1000 m）. Four different tree communities were identified. The primary forests was dominated by Shorea robusta （mean density 464.77 trees.ha^-1, 105 species） and Schima wallichii （336.25 trees.ha^-1, 82 species）, while the secondary forests was dominated by Tectona grandis （333.88 trees.ha^-1, 105 species） and Hevea brasiliensis （299.67 trees.ha^-1, 82 species）. Overall mean basal area in this study was 18.01m2.ha^-1; the maximum value was recorded in primary Shorea forest （26.21 m2.ha^-1）. Mean density and diversity indices were differed significantly within four different communities. No significant differences were observed in number of species, genera, family and tree basal cover area. Significant relationships were found between the species richness and different tree population groups across the communities. Results revealed that species diversity and density were increased in those forests due to past disturbances which resulted in slow accumu- lation of native oligarchic small tree species. Seventeen species were recorded with 〈2 individuals of which Saraca asoka （Roxb.） de Wilde and Entada phaseoloides （L.） Men＇. etc. extensively used in local ethnomedicinal formulations. The present S. robusta Gaertn dominated forest was recorded richer （105 species） than other reported studies. Moraceae was found more speciose family instead of Papilionaceae and Euphorbiaceae than other Indian moist deciduous forests. Seasonal phenological gap in such moist deciduous forests influenced the population of Trachypithecus pileatus and capped langur. The analysis of FIV suggested a slow trend of shifting the population of Lamiaceae group by Moraceae species in secondary T. grandis L. dominated community.

Ecological network analysis reveals complex responses of tree species life stage interactions to stand variables

Tree interactions are essential for the structure,dynamics,and function of forest ecosystems,but variations in the architecture of life-stage interaction networks(LSINs)across forests is unclear.Here,we constructed 16 LSINs in the mountainous forests of northwest Hebei,China based on crown overlap from four mixed forests with two dominant tree species.Our results show that LSINs decrease the complexity of stand densities and basal areas due to the interaction cluster differentiation.In addition,we found that mature trees and saplings play different roles,the first acting as“hub”life stages with high connectivity and the second,as“bridges”controlling information flow with high centrality.Across the forests,life stages with higher importance showed better parameter stability within LSINs.These results reveal that the structure of tree interactions among life stages is highly related to stand variables.Our efforts contribute to the understanding of LSIN complexity and provide a basis for further research on tree interactions in complex forest communities.

Impact of cattle density on the structure and natural regeneration of a turkey oak stand on an agrosilvopastoral farm in central Italy

On an agrosilvopastoral farm in central Italy where Maremmana cattle graze in Turkey oak forests,we evaluated the impact of different livestock densities on stand structure,tree diversity and natural regeneration in four types of grazed areas based on the grazing regime adopted:calf-grazed,high-intensity-grazed,low-intensity-grazed,ungrazed control.For each area,we set up three permanent circular plots(radius of 15 m)to survey the structural and dasometric characteristics of the overstorey,understorey,and regeneration layer.The results showed that grazing negatively affected the complexity of the forest structure and its potential to regenerate and maintain a high level of biodiversity.The differences in stand structure observed between the grazing areas were closely related to livestock density.The most sensitive components of the system were the understorey and the regeneration layers.Contrarily,the current grazing management did not affect the dominant tree structure or its composition.Our findings identified medium-term monitoring and regeneration management as the two significant aspects to consider when assessing sustainable livestock.New forests can be established by excluding graz-ing for about 20–25 years.

Graph Convolutional Networks Embedding Textual Structure Information for Relation Extraction

Deep neural network-based relational extraction research has made significant progress in recent years,andit provides data support for many natural language processing downstream tasks such as building knowledgegraph,sentiment analysis and question-answering systems.However,previous studies ignored much unusedstructural information in sentences that could enhance the performance of the relation extraction task.Moreover,most existing dependency-based models utilize self-attention to distinguish the importance of context,whichhardly deals withmultiple-structure information.To efficiently leverage multiple structure information,this paperproposes a dynamic structure attention mechanism model based on textual structure information,which deeplyintegrates word embedding,named entity recognition labels,part of speech,dependency tree and dependency typeinto a graph convolutional network.Specifically,our model extracts text features of different structures from theinput sentence.Textual Structure information Graph Convolutional Networks employs the dynamic structureattention mechanism to learn multi-structure attention,effectively distinguishing important contextual features invarious structural information.In addition,multi-structure weights are carefully designed as amergingmechanismin the different structure attention to dynamically adjust the final attention.This paper combines these featuresand trains a graph convolutional network for relation extraction.We experiment on supervised relation extractiondatasets including SemEval 2010 Task 8,TACRED,TACREV,and Re-TACED,the result significantly outperformsthe previous.

Generalized Artificial Life Structure for Time-dependent Problems

In recent years, more attention has been paid on artificial life researches. Artificial life（AL） is a research on regulating gene parameters of digital organisms under complicated problematic environments through natural selections and evolutions to achieve the final emergence of intelligence. Most recent studies focused on solving certain real problems by artificial life methods, yet without much address on the AL life basic mechanism. The real problems are often very complicated, and the proposed methods sometimes seem too simple to handle those problems. This study proposed a new approach in AL research, named ＂generalized artificial life structure（GALS）＂, in which the traditional ＂gene bits＂ in genetic algorithms is first replaced by ＂gene parameters＂, which could appear anywhere in GALS. A modeling procedure is taken to normalize the input data, and AL ＂tissue＂ is innovated to make AL more complex. GALS is anticipated to contribute significantly to the fitness of AL evolution. The formation of ＂tissue＂ begins with some different AL basic cells, and then tissue is produced by the casual selections of one or several of these cells. As a result, the gene parameters, represented by ＂tissues＂, could become highly diversified. This diversification should have obvious effects on improving gene fitness. This study took the innovative method of GALS in a stock forecasting problem under a carefully designed manipulating platform. And the researching results verify that the GALS is successful in improving the gene evolution fitness.

Effects of thinning on stand structure and tree stability in an afforested oriental beech(Fagus orientalis Lipsky) stand in northeast Turkey

We studied relationships between stand structure and stand stability according to thinning intensity in an afforested oriental beech stand. Various thinning intensities were applied in sample stands. We sampled eight plots in stands that were lightly thinned, eight plots in heavily thinned stands and eight plots in unthinned stands as a control. Height and diameter distributions of the stands were measured to assess stand structure. We quantified individual tree stability and collective stability. Heavy thinning during the first thinning operation damaged the storied structure of the stand in thicket stage and affected collective structuring ability. While most control plots had multi-storied stands, after light and heavy thinning two-storied structure became more common.Large gaps occurred in the canopy after heavy thinning. On average, nine tree collectives were formed per sampling plot in the untreated stand, seven collectives after thinning in 2008 and four collectives after thinning in 2009. Stable trees accounted for 17 % of trees in control plots, 24 % in lightly thinned plots, and 15 % in heavily thinned plots. Collective stability values were 83 % in control plots, 82 % in lightly thinned plots and 36 % in heavily thinned plots. We conclude that it is necessary to retain collective structuring capacity during thinning operations for sustaining stand stability.

Tailoring Mg^(2+)Solvation Structure in a Facile All-Inorganic[Mg_(x)Li_(y)Cl2_(x+y)·nTHF]Complex Electrolyte for High Rate and Long Cycle-Life Mg Battery

A high-performance all-inorganic magnesium-lithium chloride complex(MLCC)electrolyte is synthesized by a simple room-temperature reaction of LiCl with MgCl_(2) in tetrahydrofuran(THF)solvent.Molecular dynamics simulation,density functional theory calculation,Raman spectroscopy,and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy reveal that the formation of[Mg_(x)Li_(y)Cl_(2x+y)·nTHF]complex solvation structure significantly lowers the coordination number of THF in the first solvation sheath of Mg^(2+),which significantly enhances its de-solvation kinetics.The MLCC electrolyte presents a stable electrochemical window up to 3.1 V(vs Mg/Mg^(2+))and enables reversible cycling of Mg metal deposition/stripping with an outstanding Coulombic efficiency up to 99%at current densities as high as 10 mA cm^(-2).Utilizing the MLCC electrolyte,a Mg/Mo_(6)S_(8) full cell can be cycled for over 10000 cycles with a superior capacity retention of 85 mA h g^(-1) under an ultrahigh rate of 50 C(1 C=128.8 mA g^(-1)).The facile synthesis of highperformance MLCC electrolyte provides a promising solution for future practical magnesium batteries.

INVESTIGATIONS ON LASER SHOCK-PROCESSING (LSP) TO IMPROVE FATIGUE LIFE OF SMALL HOLE IN AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES

Laser shock-processing (LSP) is of particular advantage for improving fa-tigue behavior of small holes and blind holes. Because there are not good accessibility andpassage, these holes cannot be treated by shot peening or cold extrusion. The fatigue livesof aircraft aluminum alloy 2024-T62 are increased greatly by means of optimization oflaser shocking parameters. With 95 % confidence, the mean fatigue life of LSP specimensis 4. 35~7, 75 times larger than that of the un-shocked ones.

An Efficient Information Hiding Scheme Based on Closest Paired Tree Structure Vector Quantization

Information hiding schemes based on vector quantization （VQ） usually require lengthy VQ encoding and decoding processes. In this paper, we propose an efficient information hiding method based on closest paired tree structure vector quantization （CPTSVQ）. The simulation result shows that the execution time of the proposed scheme is much shorter than that attained by previous approaches.

Review on Artificial Intelligence-aided Life Extension Assessment of Offshore Wind Support Structures

The primary objective of the present literature review is to provide a constructive and systematical discussion based on the relevant development,unsolved issues,gaps,and misconceptions in the literature regarding the fields of study that are building blocks of artificial intelligence-aided life extension assessment for offshore wind turbine support structures.The present review aims to set up the needed guidelines to develop a multi-disciplinary framework for life extension management and certification of the support structures for offshore wind turbines using artificial intelligence.The main focus of the literature review centres around the intelligent risk-based life extension management of offshore wind turbine support structures.In this regard,big data analytics,advanced signal processing techniques,supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods are discussed within the structural health monitoring and condition-based maintenance planning,the development of digital twins.Furthermore,the present review discusses the critical failure mechanisms affecting the structural condition,such as high-cycle fatigue,low-cycle fatigue,fracture,ultimate strength,and corrosion,considering deterministic and probabilistic approaches.