Artificial intelligence is here, and it’s coming for your job. So promising are the tool’s capabilities, Microsoft — amid laying off 10,000 people — has announced a “multiyear, multi-billion dollar investment” in the revolutionary technology, which is growing smarter by the day. And the rise of the machines leaves many well-paid workers vulnerable, experts warn. “AI is replacing the white-collar …
Early EOI to present at ForestTECH 2023
In 2021 and 2022, the ForestTECH series, like many other meetings and events, was disrupted by Covid. In saying that, over 300 delegates from 15 different countries were involved with an on-line ForestTECH event run for the industry in February last year. Having not met up for three years in Australia, the end of year ForestTECH series also ran in-person …
Harnessing laser technology to measure native forests
The results of a recently completed, FWPA-supported collaborative research project have demonstrated the potential of using dense, 3D point cloud data to link tree and plot-level measurements in native forests, gathered using a mobile laser scanner (MLS), alongside airborne laser scanning (ALS) data. Laser scanning native forests Over the last two decades, the need for effective plantation forest resource management …
23% of the U.S. forest inventory could be lost
A study led by a North Carolina State University researcher found that under more severe climate warming scenarios, the inventory of trees used for timber in the continental United States could decline by as much as 23% by 2100. The largest inventory losses would occur in two of the leading timber regions in the U.S., which are both in the …
NEON adds drone-based Leaf Sampling Protocol
Treetop leaf sampling ( canopy foliar sampling) at forested NEON (The National Science Foundation’s National Ecological Observatory Network ) field sites just got a whole lot easier. We’ve added a new tool to our kit: an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone. Drone-based foliar sampling has been added as an official NEON protocol for forested sites. The UAV will also …
Engineered magic: wooden seed carriers
Geometric design and engineering of biodegradable materials could improve versatility, efficiency of aerial seeding How seeds implant themselves in soil can seem magical. Take some varieties of Erodium, whose five-petalled flowers of purple, pink or white look like geraniums. The seed of these plants is carried inside a thin, tightly wound stalk. During rain or high humidity, the corkscrew-like stalk …
Future proofing our forestry sector
Future-proofing New Zealand’s radiata pine plantations against climate challenges and a rapidly changing economic environment has become a whole lot easier with a world-leading application of Genomic Selection (GS), a tool to accelerate conventional tree breeding. A partnership between the Radiata Pine Breeding Company (RPBC), New Zealand’s specialist radiata pine breeding company, and Scion, a Crown Research Institute formerly known …
Rotorua to host international remote sensing conference
Rotorua and Whakarewarewa Forest will be the backdrop to a global forestry conference that is set to attract up to 500 remote sensing specialists to the city in just over 18 months’ time. Scion has successfully secured a bid to host ForestSAT 2024, the most prestigious international conference on the application of remote sensing technologies for forest monitoring and modelling. …
Plantma planting trials and expansion ongoing
After a long time of preparation and transportation, a PlantMax X2 Planting unit is operating in Brazil. In collaboration with partners at Timber in Curitiba Plantma Forestry has done a successful trial/demo in Pine plantations in Paraná as well as Eucalyptus in Minas Gerais and they are now in Três Lagoas. The conditions are different from anything Plantma Forestry has …