To examine how the major elements of global change affect herbivory in agroecosystems, a multifactorial experiment was conducted where soybeans were grown at two levels of carbon dioxide and temperature, including those predicted for 2050, under otherwise normal field conditions. Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica Newman) were enclosed on foliage for 24 h, after which the beetle survivorship, ...

A foundational study assessed effects of biochemical pathway introduction into poplar to produce eugenol, chavicol, p-anol, isoeugenol and their sequestered storage products, from potentially available substrates, coniferyl and p-coumaryl alcohols. At the onset, it was unknown whether significant carbon flux to monolignols vs. other phenylpropanoid (acetate) pathway metabolites would be kinetic...

Larvae of Manduca sexta are facultative specialists on plants in the family Solanaceae. Larvae reared on solanaceous foliage develop a strong preference for their host; otherwise, they remain polyphagous. The host-specific recognition cue in potato foliage for Manduca larvae is the steroidal glycoside, indioside D. Two pairs of galeal taste sensilla, the lateral and medial sensilla styloconica,...

Forest managers need accurate biomass equations to plan thinning for fuel reduction or energy production. Estimates of carbon sequestration also rely upon such equations. The current allometric equations for ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) commonly employed for California forests were developed elsewhere, and are often applied without consideration potential for spatial or temporal variability...

Measurements of chlorothalonil residue on tomato foliage are expensive and time consuming, yet knowledge of chlorothalonil persistence would assist in fungicide application scheduling. The objective of this study was to calibrate an existing chlorothalonil persistence model for processing tomatoes, and to incorporate the predictions of chlorothalonil residue into TOM-CAST. The Bruhn and Fry (19...

In this section we consider the problem of radar detection of stationary targets obscured by foliage clutter. This is a classical detection problem for which the usual solution approach is to reduce the radar centre frequency as far as possible, so minimising scattering by the foliage while hopefully maintaining a significant target response. These approaches are based on backscatter intensity ...

In the present study, aqueous extract of eight plants, namely Azadirachta indica A. Juss, Melia azedarach Linn., Lantana camara L. Moldenke., Cannabis sativa Linn., Nerium indicum Mill., Eucalyptus sp., Ricinus communis Linn. and Solanum nigrum Linn. were tested for antifeedant and toxic effects against Pieris brassicae (Linn.). The ethanol extract of four potential plants were further tested f...

If the carbon dioxide (CO(2)) concentration in the atmosphere changes in the future, as predicted, it could influence crops and insect pests. The growth and development of the tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera), reared on peanut (Arachis hypogea L.) foliage grown under elevated CO(2) (550 ppm and 700 ppm) concentrations in open top chambers at Central Re...

Interactive and realistic rendering of forest is a challenge due to a huge amount of tiny geometric detail. We present an approach to construct continuous level of detail (LOD) models for coniferous foliage geometry. The models are defined with multi-resolution cylinders and semi-transparent lines. When a coniferous leaf is wider than one pixel on the image space, cylinder is used to represent ...

Real-time rendering of vegetation is currently a problem in need of a solution. The lack of plants and trees reduces the realism of outdoor scenes. The large number of polygons that form this kind of objects implies that current hardware cannot achieve interactive rendering of outdoor scenes. This paper deals with this problem and it presents a multiresolution scheme that allows us to represent...