Increasing dominance of large lianas in Amazonian forests

Ecological orthodoxy suggests that old-growth forests should be close to dynamic equilibrium, but this view has been challenged by recent findings that neotropical forests are accumulating carbon and biomass, possibly in response to the increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide. However, it is unclear whether the recent increase in tree biomass has been accompanied by a shift in community composition. Such changes could reduce or enhance the carbon storage potential of old-growth forests in the long term. Here we show that non-fragmented Amazon forests are experiencing a concerted increase in the density, basal area and mean size of woody climbing plants (lianas). Over the last two decades of the twentieth century the dominance of large lianas relative to trees has increased by 1.7-4.6% a year. Lianas enhance tree mortality and suppress tree growth, so their rapid increase implies that the tropical terrestrial carbon sink may shut down sooner than current models suggest. Predictions of future tropical carbon fluxes will need to account for the changing composition and dynamics of supposedly undisturbed forests.     

Field testing ofcis-11-tetradecenal as attractant or synergist in tortricinae

Summary Field studies have shown thatcis-11-tetradecenal is an effective attractant for maleChoristoneura conflictana, a pest of aspen. These studies also indicate thatcis-11-tetradecenal is probably a secondary component in the sex pheromone systems ofChoristoneura rosaceana andChoristoneura fumiferana.Christoneura conflictana (Wlk.),C. rosaceana (Harris) andC. fumiferana (Clemens) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Tortricinae).Contribution No. IPRI 296.     

Field testing of cis-11-tetradecenal as attractant or synergist in Tortricinae.

Field studies have shown that cis-11-tetradecenal is an effective attractant for male Choristoneura conflictana, a pest of aspen. These studies also indicate that cis-11-tetradecenal is probably a secondary component in the sex pheromone systems of Choristoneura rosaceana and Choristoneura fumiferana.     

非均匀光照下的人脸表情多状态检测与分类

提出了一个用改进的不易受光照影响的ASM(Illum ination Insensitive-Active Shape Model,简称I2-ASM方法)进行眼睛和嘴巴轮廓检测以及用组合方法进行眼睛和嘴巴状态分类的算法。对有丰富表情的人脸图像进行实验,结果表明,提出的算法即使在非均匀光照下也能取得较好的轮廓检测和状态分类结果。     

ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURE AND FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

1. Introduction Majority of financial information are disseminated through the Internet, every day, huge amount of financial information are generated but the utilization is not good enough: according to the 10th WWW User Survey by the Graphics, Visualization, and Usability Centre (GVU 1998), more than 45 percent of the respondents felt that they were not able to find the information they needed. A study of the Internet demography showed that searching, retrieving, and utilizing the avail…     

Altered performance of forest pests under atmospheres enriched by CO2 and O3

Human activity causes increasing background concentrations of the greenhouse gases CO2 and O3. Increased levels of CO2 can be found in all terrestrial ecosystems. Damaging O3 concentrations currently occur over 29% of the world's temperate and subpolar forests but are predicted to affect fully 60% by 2100 (ref. 3). Although individual effects of CO2 and O3 on vegetation have been widely investigated, very little is known about their interaction, and long-term studies on mature trees and higher trophic levels are extremely rare. Here we present evidence from the most widely distributed North American tree species, Populus tremuloides, showing that CO2 and O3, singly and in combination, affected productivity, physical and chemical leaf defences and, because of changes in plant quality, insect and disease populations. Our data show that feedbacks to plant growth from changes induced by CO2 and O3 in plant quality and pest performance are likely. Assessments of global change effects on forest ecosystems must therefore consider the interacting effects of CO2 and O3 on plant performance, as well as the implications of increased pest activity.     

非均匀光照下人脸眼睛的定位方法

考虑非均匀光照下人脸眼睛的检测问题，提出了一种利用高频信息模板匹配方法从复杂图像中定位人脸眼睛的方法。选取80幅光线较好的人脸图像，对它们做光线规范化，提取Gabor高频特征，构造模板。利用统计模式识别的原理，在眼睛的大致区域进行模板匹配，突出眉毛与眼睛这一整体的大致位置，然后进行二值投影，最终确定人眼的准确位置。大量实验表明，该算法具有很高的精度和很强的鲁棒性。     

光照自适应的人脸肤色检测方法

从3个方面入手提出了一种抗光照噪声强的人脸肤色检测方法:①从常用的颜色空间中选择出对光照因素稳健的肤色子空间;②提出了基于该子空间的光照自适应的肤色检测方法;③进一步采用小波边缘检测的方法精确定位人脸区域.实验结果表明,该方法对抗灯光、太阳光、荧虹灯光,光的阴影等的影响都有好的效果.