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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Sustainable and Intelligent Phytoprotection
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1514580
Detection of the Stem-Boring Damage by Pine Shoot Beetle (Tomicus spp.) to Yunan Pine (Pinus yunnanensis Franch.) Using UAV Hyperspectral Data
Provisionally accepted- 1 Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- 2 Institute of Highland Forest Science, Chinese Academy of Forestry, China, China
The stem-boring damage caused by pine shoot beetle (PSB, Tomicus spp.) cuts off the transmission of water and nutrients. The aggregation of beetles during the stem-boring stage results in the rapid mortality of Yunnan pines (Pinus yunnanensis Franch.). Timely identification and precise localization of stem-boring damage caused by PSB are crucial for removing infected wood and preventing further spread of the infestation. Unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV) hyperspectral data demonstrate great potential in assessing pest outbreaks in forested landscapes. However, there is a lack of studies investigating the application and accuracy of UAV hyperspectral data for detecting PSB stem-boring damage. In this study, we compared the differences in spectral features of healthy pines (H level), three levels of shoot-feeding damage (E, M and S levels), and the stem-boring damage (T level), and then used the Random Forest (RF) algorithm for detecting stem-boring damage by PSB. The specific canopy spectral features, including red edge (such as Dr, SDr, and D711), blue edge (such as Db and SDb), and chlorophyll-related spectral indices (e.g., MCARI) were sensitive to PSB stem-boring damage. The results of RF models showed that the spectral features of first-order derivative (FD) and spectral indices (SIs) played an important role in the PSB stem-boring damage detection. Models incorporating FD bands, SIs and a combination of all variables proved more effective in detecting PSB stem-boring damage. These findings demonstrate the potential of canopy spectral features in detecting PSB stem-boring damage, which significantly contributed to the prevention and management of PSB infestations.
Keywords: Pine shoot beetle, Stem-boring damage, Hyperspectral data, random forest, Damage level, detection
Received: 21 Oct 2024; Accepted: 24 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Li, Shi, Li and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Lei Shi, Institute of Highland Forest Science, Chinese Academy of Forestry, China, 650233, China
Yaying Li, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
Huai Liu, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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