A wearable camera typically used to record the daring feats of skydivers or other thrill-seekers could also be a practical tool down on the ground, University of Alberta research shows.
By capturing hundreds of images in a short time in a greenhouse experiment, a GoPro was able to monitor the growth of tree seedlings as reliably as humans, according to the study.
“This shows that the GoPro may be a viable alternative to manual measurements, which could provide several benefits to low-tech greenhouses serving the forestry industry,” says Sarun Khadka, who conducted the work to earn a master of science in forest biology and management from the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences.
Using the camera’s time-lapse mode, Khadka monitored germination, growth and survival of lodgepole pine seedlings in a commercial tree nursery. The images were captured over six months, then analyzed using software.
The results showed that the germination count from the GoPro in week seven of the growing cycle closely matched the final seedling count recorded in week 24, “indicating the reliability of the image-based counts,” Khadka notes.
Similarly, there was no significant difference recorded in height when 15-week-old seedlings were measured using the camera images, compared with manual measurements.
The study demonstrates how such “high-throughput” technology can help address challenges in low-tech, large-scale greenhouse operations faced with manual counting and measurements, Khadka suggests.
“Taking manual measurements is highly tedious and time-consuming, and as a result, nurseries often rely on a small sample size to estimate germination rates, which could fail to accurately represent the entire seedlot.”
As well, manually measuring the height is invasive to the tender plants, and tight bench space also makes it physically difficult, she adds.
While it would come with one-time costs to buy the equipment and train staff, using the technology would also likely be less expensive than installing a greenhouse-wide camera system, she notes.
Using GoPro technology could give commercial greenhouses and the forest industry a jump on providing the best estimates of plant performance in the early stages of growth, says Khadka, noting that constant monitoring and tracking of the entire greenhouse is important for a nursery working to meet the total seedling order for a forest company.
“Our results show that this technology can bring the value of big data, in terms of capturing a large volume of images that can be analyzed, to improve efficiency in low-tech nurseries.”
The research was funded through the Industrial Research Chair in Tree Improvement held by Barb R. Thomas, professor and associate dean (research) in ALES, and supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc., ANC Timber Ltd., West Fraser Mills Ltd. (Sundre Forest Products, Hinton Wood Products, Blue Ridge Lumber and Slave Lake Veneer), the Grande Prairie and Whitecourt divisions of Canfor Ltd., and Weyerhaeuser Company (Grande Prairie and Pembina Timberlands).
