Forest Ecology and Management 497 (2021) 119496

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Forest Ecology and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco

Eucalyptus growth recognition using machine learning methods and

spectral variables
Bruno Rodrigues de Oliveira a, *, Arlindo Ananias Pereira da Silva b,
Larissa Pereira Ribeiro Teodoro a, Gileno Brito de Azevedo a,
Glauce Taís de Oliveira Sousa Azevedo a, Fábio Henrique Rojo Baio a, Renato Lustosa Sobrinho d,
Carlos Antonio da Silva Junior c, Paulo Eduardo Teodoro a, b
a
Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Rodovia MS 306, Km. 305, 79560-000 Chapadão do Sul, MS, Brazil
b
Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Av. Brasil Sul, 56 – Centro, 15385-000 Ilha Solteira, SP, Brazil
c
Department of Geography, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Av. dos Ingas, 3001, Jardim Imperial, 78555-000 Sinop, MT, Brazil
d
Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Via do Conhecimento – Km 01, Pato Branco, PR, Brazil

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Growth and production models can help to simulate the growth of tree dimensions to predict forest productivity
Random forest at different levels. In this context, the following questions arise: (i) is it possible to recognize the growth pattern
Classification of eucalyptus species based on spectral features using machine learning (ML) for data modeling? (ii) what
Vegetation index
spectral features provides better accuracy? and (iii) what ML algorithms are most accurate for performing this
modeling? To answer these questions, the present study evaluated the use of ML techniques using breast height
and total plant height to classify the growth of five species of eucalyptus and Corymbria citriodora in an unsu­
pervised learning, and the obtained classes for induce ML algorithms to recognize the species with relation to
their growth using vegetation indices (VIs) and spectral bands (SBs). It were evaluated five eucalyptus species
(E. camaldulensis, E. uroplylla, E. saligna, E. grandis e E. urograndis) and C. citriodora in experimental design of
randomized blocks with four replicates, with 20 plants inside each experimental plot. The diameter at breast
height and total plant height at stand level were obtained by measuring five trees in each experimental unit in
seven measurements. During this same period, a flight was carried out using a remotely piloted aircraft for the
acquisition of spectral variables (SBs and VIs). For recognition of eucalyptus species in relation to their growth
two machine learning approaches were employed: supervised and unsupervised. The average accuracy obtained
from 10-fold cross-validation, employing Random Forest algorithm and 24 features, was 0.76. This result shows
that the proposed approach is appropriate to recognize different eucalyptus species based on their growth.

1. Introduction plasticity, in addition to presenting high growth rates and satisfactory

Clonal eucalyptus forestry is among the most productive forest crops
in the world (Binkley et al., 2017; Campoe et al., 2020; Elli et al., 2020a,
b). Brazil is the main world producer, housing one third of the planted
area, with an average productivity of 41 m3 ha− 1 year− 1 (Vahl de Paula
et al., 2020). Eucalyptus stands out on the world stage supplying raw
material for paper, wood, firewood, coal and biofuels (Rocha et al.,
2020). This genus is widely planted in tropical and subtropical regions,
presenting good environmental adaptation due to its phenotypic
wood density (Viera et al., 2016).
The productivity and quality of the wood of eucalyptus cultivated in
Brazil are the result of a continuous work of genetic improvement pro­
grams and improvement of silvicultural practices (Butler et al., 2018;
Collevatti et al., 2019). Eucalyptus growth is affected by climatic, ge­
netic and management factors (Binkley et al., 2020; Elli et al., 2017,
2019; Scolforo et al., 2017, 2019) and for high levels of productivity,
investments in genetic selection, soil preparation, fertilization, control
of pests, diseases and competing vegetation are necessary (Silva et al.,

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: bruno@editorapantanal.com.br (B.R. de Oliveira), arlindo.ananias@unesp.br (A.A.P. da Silva), larissa_ribeiro@ufms.br (L.P.R. Teodoro), glauce.
azevedo@ufms.br (G.B. de Azevedo), gileno.azevedo@ufms.br (G.T.O.S. Azevedo), fabiobaio@ufms.br (F.H.R. Baio), rsobrinho@alunos.utfpr.edu.br (R.L. Sobrinho),
carlosjr@unemat.br (C.A. da Silva Junior).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119496
Received 26 May 2021; Received in revised form 25 June 2021; Accepted 30 June 2021
Available online 9 July 2021
0378-1127/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
B.R. de Oliveira et al. Forest Ecology and Management 497 (2021) 119496

2019). Among the eucalyptus forests cultivated in the world and in Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Campus of Chapadão do Sul in January 2014. The
Brazil, 90% are made up of nine species and their hybrids: Eucalyptus soil is identified as medium-textured Red Oxisol and the climate is
camaldulensis Dehnh., E. grandis W.Hill ex Maiden, E. tereticornis Sm., tropical humid (Aw) with a rainy season from October to April and a dry
E. globulus Labill., E. nitens H. Deane & Maiden Maiden, E. urophylla S. T. season between May and September. Average rainfall varies from 750 to
Blake, E. saligna Sm., E. dunnii Maiden, E. pellita F. Muell. e Corymbia 1,800 mm/year, and average annual temperature varies from 20 to
citriodora Hook. (Binkley et al., 2017; Gallo et al., 2018; Campoe et al., 25 ◦ C.
2020; Carrijo et al., 2020). It were evaluated five eucalyptus species (E. camaldulensis,
E. grandis is a species that has excellent qualities, surpassing any E. uroplylla, E. saligna, E. grandis e E. urograndis) and Corymbria citriodora
other in increasing the volume of wood when the environmental con­ in experimental design of randomized blocks with four replicates, with
ditions are adequate, which is the cause of its great use (Chaín et al., 20 plants inside each experimental plot. All fertilization requirements
2020), in addition to having good wood for sawmills and excellent for were determined from soil chemical analysis. The following results were
cellulose (Mphahlele et al., 2020). C. citriodora is a species of moderate obtained: pH (CaCl2): 4.9; organic matter: 31.5 g dm− 3; phosphorus:
growth, usually ranging between 24–40 m in height and 60–120 cm in 13.6 mg dm− 3; hydrogen + aluminium (H + Al): 5.4; potassium: 0.29
diameter (Blackman et al., 2017), with excellent for sawmill, charcoal cmolc dm− 3; calcium: 2.8 cmolc dm− 3; magnesium: 0.5 cmolc dm− 3;
production, posts and sleepers (Souza et al., 2020). E. saligna provides cation exchange capacity (CEC): 9.0 cmolc dm− 3; base saturation:
light, low density wood, suitable for cellulose, firewood, coal, sawmill 39.9%. The proportions of clay, sand, and silt were 46%, 46%, and 8%,
and other purposes (Biazzon et al., 2019; Silva et al., 2020a,b,c). respectively. Crowning, weeding, ant control, and application of herbi­
E. urophylla has great morphological and phenological variations in cides (glyphosate) were performed when necessary.
Brazil, according to its altitudinal distribution (Lima Costa, 2020)and
stands out for its high resistance to eucalyptus cancer, in addition to the
2.2. Data acquisition
production of cellulose (Binkley et al., 2017). E. camaldulensis is a
preferred species for planting in tropical regions subject to periods of
The diameter at breast height (DBH) and total plant height (Ht) at
drought due to its tolerance to water deficiency in the soil (Asao et al.,
stand level were obtained by measuring five trees in each experimental
2020).
unit. These trees were the same in each measurement. To obtain the DBH
Thus, different genotypes respond differently to environmental
(cm), a tape measure was used to measure the circumference at breast
changes. The interaction between these factors can affect the perfor­
height, which was later converted to DBH. The Ht (m) was obtained with
mance and development of plants in different environments (Gallo et al.,
the aid of a Haglof hypsometer. Seven measurements were performed,
2018; Hakamada et al., 2020a,b). In this sense, recently, non-destructive
which occurred on the following dates: 2018-11-01, 2018-12-06, 2019-
methods are being proposed based on empirical models of crop pro­
01-22, 2019-03-29, 2019-05-10, 2019-10-30, and 2019-11-28. For each
ductivity estimation, for example, those that relate values of leaf area
measurement, the average of five trees was considered.
index (LAI) with vegetation indexes (VI) derived from sensors aerial and
The characteristics related to high-throughput phenotyping were
orbital remotes (Canavesi et al., 2010). VIs enhance the spectral
obtained on the same dates. Furthermore, the flights were carried out
reflectance component of vegetation through the combination, mainly,
with Sensefly eBee RTK fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), with
of the spectral bands of red (R) and near infrared (NIR), and are more
autonomous flight control. Further details on flight procedures and
sensitive to variations in the structure of the canopy than the analysis by
acquisition of wavelengths for calculating VIs can be obtained from Silva
individual bands (Borges et al., 2021; Silva et al., 2021).
et al. (2020a,b,c). The overflights were performed with 80% lateral and
Due to the easiness of acquiring spectral images, either by satellites
85% longitudinal overlap of the images, as well as the same area was
or by remotely piloted aircraft, some researches are being carried out
imaged twice using perpendicular flight lines. The overflight was per­
recently to relate these variables with the phenological behavior of
formed at 100 m altitude, allowing a spatial image resolution of 0.10 m.
different forest species (Sanchini and Grosjean, 2020; Vali et al., 2020;
The increase of the overlap between the images was necessary in order
Borges et al., 2021; Silva et al., 2021). Knowledge of the volumetric
to obtain a greater number of scenes containing the same control points,
production and the biomass of the stem of forest plantations is essential.
allowing greater accuracy in the mosaic of the images by the Pix4D­
It makes it possible to define the productive capacity of the place and
mapper software. This need occurs according to the plant height, which
specify the application of wood that is used as a raw material in the
is subject to the oscillations of the stem as a function of the wind,
forest products industry. In addition, this knowledge enables decision-
because regardless of its speed, it interferes in the mosaicking process.
making in forest improvement programs (Hakamada et al., 2020a,b;
The overflights were carried out near the zenith due to the minimization
Rocha et al., 2020).
of the shadows of the trees, at 11 a.m., given that the multispectral
Growth and production models can help to simulate the growth of
sensor is passive type, that is, dependent on the solar luminosity. A
tree dimensions (height and diameter) to predict forest productivity at
calibration reference plaque is also used, in the Pix4DMapper software,
different levels. In this context, the following questions arise: (i) is it
to convert the digital number of the pixels into reflectance values. The
possible to recognize the growth pattern of eucalyptus species based on
spectral regions registered by this sensor correspond to green (550 nm),
spectral features using machine learning (ML) for data modeling? ii)
red (660 nm), red-edge (735 nm), and near-infrared (NIR) (790 nm).
what spectral features provides better accuracy? and (iii) what ML al­
Table 1 presents all the VIs used in later experiments.
gorithms are most accurate for performing this modeling? To answer
A Pearson correlation analysis between the evaluated variables
these questions, the present study evaluated the use of ML techniques
(DBH, HT, SBs and VIs) was performed. The results were expressed
using breast height and total plant height to classify the growth of five
graphically, where positive correlations were expressed in gray circles,
species of eucalyptus and Corymbria citriodora in an unsupervised
while negative correlations were represented by black circles. The size of
learning, and the obtained classes for induce ML algorithms to recognize
the circle is proportional to the magnitude of the correlation.
the species with relation to their growth using spectral bands and VIs.

2. Materials and methods 2.3. Machine learning methods

2.1. Experiment conducting Due to the characteristics of the problem investigated, two machine
learning approaches were employed: supervised and unsupervised. In
The experiment was installed in the experimental area (18◦ 41′ 33′′ S, the supervised way are implemented algorithms for recognition of the
52◦ 40′ 45′′ W, with altitude is 820 m) of the Federal University of Mato patterns x ∈ RN labeled as y ∈ { − 1, +1}, wherexis a feature vector and

2
B.R. de Oliveira et al. Forest Ecology and Management 497 (2021) 119496

Table 1 Table 1 (continued )

The vegetation index used in the experiments. Index Equation
Index Equation √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
TNDVI (Rλnir − Rλred )/[(Rλnir + Rλred ) + 0.5]
ARVI2 (Atmospherically − 0.18 + 1.17 × ((Rλnir − Rλred )/(Rλnir +Rλred )) TVI
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
NDVI + 0, 5
Resistant Vegetation
WDRVI (0.1 × Rλnir − Rλred )/(0.1 × Rλnir + Rλred )
Index 2)
ATSAVI (Adjusted
1.22 × NIR = near-infrared; λ = wavelength.
Transformed soil-
adjusted VI) [ ]
(Rλnir − 1.22 × Rλred − 0.03) − 1 and +1 discriminates the classes (negative and positive) of patterns.
( )
1.22 × Rλnir + Rλred − 1.22 × 0.03 + 0.08(1+1.222 {( ) }M
For this, from a training set T = xm , ym m=1 , with M instances, the
BWDRVI (Blue-wide 0.1 × (Rλnir + Rλred )
dynamic range
recognition models are induced. These models can predict, with some
vegetation index) accuracy, the class of an unknown pattern in other set, called test set
CCCI (Canopy [(Rλnir − Rλrededge ) T’ = {(x’m , y’m ) }M’
m=1 , which is disjoint with the training set. Depending
Chlorophyll Content (Rλnir − Rλred )
(Rλnir + Rλrededge )]/[ ] on set chosen overfitting can happen, i.e., the induce model present
Index) (Rλnir + Rλred )
CIgreen (Chlorophyll Rλnir higher performance for the known sets but poor generalization perfor­
− 1
Index Green) Rλgreen mance. To avoid overfitting, the cross-validation approach is performed,
CIrededge (Chlorophyll Rλnir
− 1 where the sets are divided into disjoint subsets and each subset is used to
Index RedEdge) Rλrededge
training or test the models. Following, the algorithms used in both ap­
CVI (Chlorophyll Rλnir × Rλred
proaches are reported.
Vegetation Index) Rλgreen 2
DVI (Difference Rλnir /Rλred
k-Nearest-Neighbor (KNN) is an algorithm type instance-based that
Vegetation Index) recognize a pattern when comparing distances between the instances in
EVEI2 (Enhanced 2.5 × (Rλnir − Rλred )/(Rλnir + 2.4 × Rλred + 1) a neighborhood. Thus, a query instance is recognized as classα if thek
Vegetation Index 2) closest instances (or most of them – majority voting) belongs to classα. If
GDVI (Difference NIR/ Rλnir − Rλgreen
the class distribution is skewed, then to overcome this problem the
Green Difference
Vegetation Index) recognition can be weighted, such that the closer neighbors will have a
GEMI (Global 2 × (1 − 0.25 × 2) − ((Rλred − 0.125)/(1 − Rλred )) greater influence than neighbors which are further away (Kubat, 2015;
Environment Awad and Khanna, 2015).
Monitoring Index) Random Forest (RF) and Extremely Randomized Trees (ET) are al­
GNDVI (Green (Rλnir − Rλred )
Normalized Difference (Rλnir + Rλred )
gorithms that perform an ensemble approach combining weak models to
Vegetation Index) form a strong model (the ensemble), where each model is a tree structure
GRNDVI (Green-Red [Rλnir − (Rλgreen + Rλred )]/[Rλnir + (Rλgreen + Rλred ) (named here as virtual tree) and the final decision is obtained by fusion
NDVI) the prediction of the individual virtual trees by majority voting (Awad
GRVI (Green-Red (Rλgreen − Rλred )
and Khanna, 2015). Each virtual tree has nodes, leaves, and branches,
Vegetation Index) (Rλgreen + Rλred )
GSAVI (Green Soil [(Rλnir − Rλgreen )/(Rλnir + Rλgreen + 0.5)]*1.5 which characterizes the feature values, the classes and the partition of
Adjusted Vegetation the feature space, respectively. In order to build the trees from the
Index)
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
training set, it is used a function for measure the quality of a split. The
GTVI (Green Triangle (NDVI + 0.5)/(NDVI + 0.5) × [( NDVI + 0.5)] main differences between RF and ET are that last uses completely
Vegetation Index)
IPVI (Infrared Percentage Rλnir /((Rλnir +Rλred )/2) × (NDVI + 1)
learning instance to build the trees and the cut-points for split the nodes
Vegetation Index) are chosen at random (Geurts et al., 2006).
LogR (Log Ratio) Log(Rλnir /Rλred ) The Perceptron is an abstraction of a natural neuron proposed by
MSAVI (Modified Soil [2 × (Rλnir + McCulloch and Pitts based on nonlinear activation function (Haykin,
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
Adjusted Vegetation
1) − (2 × Rλnir + 1)2 − 8 × (Rλnir − Rλred )]/2 1999). A Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) is a fully connected network
Index)
composed by at least three layers, namely, input, hidden and output,
MSRNir_Red (Modified (Rλnir /Rλred − 1)
Simple Ratio NIR/
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ such that there may be many hidden layers and the artificial neurons are
(Rλnir /Rλred + 1
RED) arranged only in two last layers, since the first receive the feature vectors
NDRE (Normalized Rλnir − Rλrededge (Kubat, 2015). The number of artificial neurons and the layers define the
Difference Red-Edge λnir + Rλrededge complexity of the solution. A weight is assigned to each neuron-to-
Index)
neuron connection. To adjust these weights, the backpropagation algo­
NDVI (Normalized (Rλnir − Rλred )
Difference Vegetation (Rλnir + Rλred ) rithm on the training set is commonly used, where a learning rate de­
Index) termines how the weights are updated in each training epoch (Awad and
NGRDI (Normalized (Rλgreen − Rλred ) Khanna, 2015).
Green-Red Difference (Rλgreen + Rλred ) Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a neural network type but with
Index)
NormR1 (Normalized G) Rλgreen only one hidden layer (Haykin, 1999). The SVM algorithm seeks an
(Rλnir + Rλred + Rλgreen ) optimal hyperplane to separate classes using some instances of the
NormR2 (Normalized Rλnir
training set as support vectors, such that, the separation margin be
NIR) (Rλnir + Rλred + Rλgreen )
NormR3 (Normalized R) Rλred maximum. However, classes may overlap and therefore is need intro­
(Rλnir + Rλred + Rλgreen ) duce slack features, whose influence is controlled by a regularization
RGR (Red Green Ratio (Rλred parameter. To generate non-linear hyperplane and solve more complex
)
Index) Rλgreen
RI (Redness Index) Rλred − Rλgreen /Rλred + Rλgreen
recognition problems, the SVM algorithm employs kernel functions that
RRI 1 Rλnir
map the input space to higher dimensional space (Camastra and Vin­
Rλ rededge
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
̅
ciarelli, 2015).
SRQT_IR_R Rλnir /Rλred Gaussian Processes classifier (GP) is a non-parametric algorithm and
SRRed_NIR Rλred a type of kernel method, like SVM, but unlike SVM the GP is able to
Rλnir
predict highly calibrated probabilities. GP is based on a Bayesian
(continued on next page)
methodology, using posterior probabilities and a latent function serving

3
B.R. de Oliveira et al.
as measure of the degree of membership of classes.
For the unsupervised way, a clustering algorithm is performed for
classification, namely, K-means. This algorithm is based only two steps
that are repeated: (1) an instance is assigned to the clusters whose
centroid is closest to this instance; (2) the centroids are updated such
that the new centroids represent the mean center of assigned instances
(Awad and Khanna, 2015).
2.4. Proposed methodology
In order to recognize eucalyptus species in relation to its growth, it is
necessary to classify each instance, since the dataset is not labeled. For
this, the K-means clustering method is used to group the instances based
on the similarities of the samples in relation to the DAP and Ht values, in
an unsupervised approach. However, as the species were observed on
different dates, this approach must be done for each date separately.
After classifying (groups) the instances, ML methods for recognition
were implemented in a supervised manner. Since many VIs have been
measured and some of them are linear combination from others (see
Table 1), then a method for spectral feature selection based on F sta­
tistics, provided by analysis of variance (ANOVA), was performed. Thus,
for each feature subgroup, the ML methods are trained and tested. To
avoid overfitting when choosing data for training and testing, cross-
validation approach was performed using 10-fold and the average ac­
curacy calculated. Following, Fig. 1 illustrate the proposed
methodology.
In the “Features” block, the features of dataset are split to be used in
the algorithms that implement two approaches: unsupervised and su­
pervised learning. In the first approach, the K-means method groups the
instances based on their Euclidean distances from a cluster. As the
objective is to group the species in fast- and low-growth, two clusters are
used. As there is variability in species growth between data collection
dates, the clustering method is used for each date separately. Each group
corresponds to a class label which is after used for ML algorithms that
employing supervised approach. In this step, the best VI features are
selected, according to ANOVA statistical test, in relation to the variance.
For the best features, ML algorithms are induced and tested using
Fig. 1. Block diagram of the proposed methodology.
4
Forest Ecology and Management 497 (2021) 119496
distintic subsets provided by cross-validation. Then, average accuracy is
calculated for performance evaluation.
3. Results
Pearson’s correlations between the evaluated variables are shown in
Fig. 2. The growth variables (DBH and Ht) did not present a high
magnitude linear relationship with any spectral variable evaluated.
However, most of the spectral variables evaluated are positively corre­
lated (grey circles).
The first step of the proposed methodology is the instance classifi­
cation using K-means clustering method. For each measurement, in
different dates, this method is executed taking two clusters representing
low- and fast-growth. Figure shows the instances per date, represented
by growth features Ht and DBH, for only three first measurements. The
instances are limited by circles whose centers is the K-means clusters and
the radius is the distance between each center (marked with a red x) and
the most distant instance associated with this center.
From clustering shown in Fig. 3, the species 1 (E. camaldulensis), 4
(E. urophylla) and 6 (Corymbia citriodora) are assigned to slow growth
class and the others are assigned to fast growth class, taking into account
the distance from the center of the circle.
After classification, spectral features were selected from higher F-
score and lowest p-value using ANOVA statistical test. Table 2 shows
theses values for each feature. Through the results from Table 2, the
selection of the features for ML training was done, cumulatively, i.e., for
one feature it is used only NormR1, for two features, it is used NormR1
and Norm R2 and so on. The first three features selected were NormR1,
NormR2 and GSAVI. Of these, the first stood out for presenting a
negative correlation with most spectral variables, while the last two
presented positive correlations.
By varying the numbers of features and hyperparameters of ML al­
gorithms, several models were induced from subsets generated by 10-
fold cross-validation. To choose the best hyperparameters, the Grid
Search approach was implemented, which performs the training and
testing steps and selects those hyperparameters that provide higher
accuracy.
B.R. de Oliveira et al. Forest Ecology and Management 497 (2021) 119496

Fig. 2. Pearson correlation’s between the variables diameter at breast height (DBH) and total height (Ht) with the spectral variables described in Table 1. Positive
correlations were expressed in gray circles, while negative correlations were represented by black circles. The size of the circle is proportional to the magnitude of the
correlation.

Fig. 3. Clusters obtained for each date using K-means method based on diameter at breast height (DBH) and total plant height (Ht) of five species of eucalyptus and
C. citriodora. Grey circles grouped the instances. The colors and numbers of bullets mean the species. Red × is the center of circles (cluster). (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

The four best results of each ML algorithm and hyperparameter
configuration employed by scikit-learn library (Pedregosa et al., 2011)
are described in Table 3. It is possible to observe that the Random Forest
algorithm showed the best performance among the others evaluated.
The greatest accuracy was obtained with 24 features, weight class
balanced, entropy as measure of a split and number of trees equal to 10.
Considering the best algorithm (Random Forest) according Table 2,
Figure shows how the accuracy changes when we vary the number of
virtual trees, keeping the other hyperparameters fixed. As we can see,
the best result is achieved with 10 virtual trees. From this value, the

5
B.R. de Oliveira et al. Forest Ecology and Management 497 (2021) 119496

Table 2 Table 3
Selected spectral features according to analysis of variance (ANOVA), F-score Average accuracy obtained by 10-fold cross-validation for several algorithms
and p-value. taking into account different features, provided in Table 2.
Number of selected features Feature* F-score p-Value Number of features Algorithm (hyperparameters) Average accuracy

1 NormR1 10.807 0.0013 Random Forest

2 NormR2 5.6625 0.0186 (weight class, measure of a split, number of trees)
3 GSAVI 3.5990 0.0597 6 (balanced, Gini, 10) 0.7341
4 IPVI 2.7637 0.0985 24 (balanced, entropy, 10) 0.7604
5 NDVI 2.7622 0.0986 25 (balanced, entropy, 200) 0.7433
6 GNDVI 2.7622 0.0986 26 (balanced, Gini, 200) 0.7425
7 ARVI2 2.7622 0.0986
Extremely Randomized Trees
8 WDRVI 2.7622 0.0986
(weight class, measure of a split, number of trees)
9 green 2.7577 0.0989
4 (balanced, gini, 10) 0,7233
10 SRRed/NIR 2.7539 0.0991
5 (balanced, gini, 10) 0,7420
11 Norm R3 2.4848 0.1170
24 (balanced, gini, 100) 0,7100
12 ATSAVI 2.4636 0.1186
25 (balanced, gini, 200) 0,7170
13 EVEI2 1.8980 0.1703
14 GDVI 0.1740 0.1891 K-Nearest-Neighbor
15 CCCI 1.6744 0.1976 (search algorithm, number of neighbors, weight function)
16 NIR 1.0446 0.3084 21 (ball_tree,2, distance) 0.6837
17 SAVI 0.9164 0.3399 23 (ball_tree,10, distance) 0.7175
18 BWDRVI 0.7978 0.3732 24 (ball_tree,10, distance) 0.7175
19 red 0.7549 0.3863 25 (ball_tree,10, distance) 0.7241
20 NGRDI 0.4250 0.5155
21 Ciredge 0.4213 0.5173 Support Vector Machine
22 NDRE 0.3490 0.5556 (regularization, kernel coefficient, kernel)
23 RGR 0.3409 0.5602 23 (2.0, scale, rbf) 0.6741
24 rededge 0.1919 0.6620 24 (2.0, scale, rbf) 0.6741
25 SCCCI 0.1176 0.7321 25 (2.0, scale, rbf) 0.6616
26 EVI 0.0434 0.8352 27 (2.5, scale, rbf) 0.6679
27 GRNDVI 0.0097 0.9218 Multi-Layer Perceptron
*
Each row includes its feature and that of the previous row. Bold values (activation function, hidden layers and number of neurons)
24 (relu, (100, 200, 300)) 0.7158
highlight the three best spectral features.
25 (relu, (100, 200, 300)) 0.7287
26 (relu, (50, 100)) 0.7154
accuracy drops to 20 trees and stabilizes up to the maximum number of 27 (relu, (100, 50), constant) 0.7216
trees tested in the algorithm. As the 10-fold cross-validation approach Gaussian Process
was performed, the red line represents the average accuracy, and the (kernel)
gray area the interval between the maximum and minimum accuracy 21 RBF 0.7100
values obtained in the 10 executions (see Fig. 4). 23 RBF 0.7229
24 RBF 0.7229
25 RBF 0.7162
4. Discussion

The absence of a linear relationship between spectral variables and

growth variables in eucalyptus has already been reported in the litera­
ture (Borges et al., 2021; Silva et al., 2021). These results highlight the
need to investigate machine learning techniques to find relationships
between these groups of variables.
The analysis of the growth features Ht and DBH, through K-means
clustering method (Fig. 4) revealed that the clusters change over mea­
surement dates. These results are observed because eucalyptus trees are
developing over time. For this, it was necessary to manually label the
species according to the first groups, obtained by the first measurement,
discarding the others. Although, for second measurement, two instances
of species 3 – E. saligna belong to intersection among low-growth class
(bottom circle) and fast-growth class (top circle), these species were
assigned to the fast-growth class, since their distances to cluster related
to this class are shorter. Analogous procedure was carried for the mea­
surements on the date of 2019-01-22 with respect to an instance of
species 2 – E. urograndis. Fig. 4. Accuracy variation taking into account different number of virtual trees
From ANOVA statistical test, the results in Table 1 shows that the in Random Forest. Red line is the average. Grey area is the interval between the
best three features, in increase order, are Norm R1, Norm R2 and GSAVI, minimum and maximum accuracies. (For interpretation of the references to
and the worst, in decrease order, are GRNDVI, EVI and SCCCI. This colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of
choice is made according to the variance of the features, since when a this article.)
feature has a low variance, then it has little information about the
pattern. Even so, few features may not be enough to obtain a recognition average accuracy, since, from Table 2, the three worst features are used.
model with better accuracy. This is evidenced from results in Table 3, The same behavior is noted for the algorithms Extremely Randomized
where for Random Forest models the average accuracy for 6 and 24 Trees, Support Vector Machine and Gaussian Process.
features are around 0.73 and 0.76, respectively. Furthermore, for the Trees, even those within the same genus, may have distinct func­
Random Forest algorithm, using more than 24 features only worsens the tional traits and behaviors, including characteristics related to pigment

6
B.R. de Oliveira et al.
content and photosynthetic efficiency (Scolforo et al., 2019; Chen et al.,
2020; Reis et al., 2021), which can be observed in phenological attri­
butes such as stem diametric growth and plant height (Banks, 2018;
Pšidová et al., 2018). Unlike the empirical spectral variables (Lich­
tenthaler, 1987; Zhou et al., 2021), which are often developed at the leaf
level and can be species, location and time specific, a process modeling
approach may be responsible for varying other variables that affect
canopy reflectance, therefore providing a more accurate estimate of the
chlorophyll content, and consequently growth in various cultivated
species, time periods and in broader spatial extensions (Spafford et al.,
2021).
Due to the importance of pigments for photosynthesis, variations in
pigment levels can provide information on the physiological state of the
plant and therefore on its growth (Zargar et al., 2017; Santos et al.,
2019). Chlorophylls have strong absorbance peaks in the red and blue
regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (Sanchini and Grosjean, 2020),
however, the reflectance at these wavelengths was not as useful for
classifying the growth of species, since they are closely related to plant
development, as the reflectance at longer or shorter wavelengths. This is
because the relatively low chlorophyll contents are sufficient to saturate
the absorption in the 660–680 nm region, thus reducing the sensitivity
to high chlorophyll contents of spectral variables based on these wave­
lengths (Lichtenthaler, 1987; Oliveira et al., 2017).
The Norm 1, Norm 2 and GSAVI use green and near infrared as bands
of the electromagnetic spectrum in their models. In addition to these
characteristics, it is worth mentioning that GSAVI is a parameter that
seeks to mitigate the antecedent effects of soil through an adjustment
factor conditioned to the type of soil and coverage of the study area (Vali
et al., 2020), and the application of this index eases limitations imposed
by other indexes. These vegetation indices (Norm 1, Norm 2 and GSAVI)
proved to be more suitable among those tested, with greater precision,
minimizing atmospheric and soil effects, thus favoring a more accurate
spectral response of vegetation.
Analyzing all average accuracies in Table 3, it is clear that the
Random Forest with 10 virtual trees, 24 features, entropy as measure of
a split and balanced weight class has the best result. However, even
employing only 6 features, the Random Forest has a higher average
accuracy than other algorithms, except for the Extremely Randomized
Trees that achieve a higher accuracy using only 5 features. This is
important because the decision tree models with less features have di­
agram representation that is easy to understand, which can be very
useful for human analysis.
Fig. 3 shows how the accuracy changes when we vary the number of
virtual trees in the Random Forest, keeping the other hyperparameters
fixed. As we can see, the best result is achieved with 10 virtual trees. As
the 10-fold cross-validation approach is performed, the red line repre­
sents the average accuracy, and the gray area the interval between the
maximum and minimum accuracy values obtained in the 10 runs. We
also note that, depending on the data set chosen in the cross-validation,
it is possible to achieve a maximum accuracy, in this case using only two
virtual trees.
On the other hand, Support Vector Machine algorithm generate
models with inferior accuracy than all the others algorithms, whereas K-
Nearest-Neighbor, Multi-Layer Perceptron and Gaussian Process algo­
rithms generated close accuracy then Random Forest and Extremely
Randomized Trees. This implies that ML models based on the decision
tree structure are the best to recognize the growth of eucalyptus species,
considering the features selected.
As far as we know, this is the first study to test machine learning
techniques and vegetation indexes to recognize the growth of eucalyptus
species. The results obtained suggest that these indexes can be applied to
species without extensive calibration for each species. Since reflectance
measurements can be made quickly and non-destructively, this would
make it possible for large-scale surveys, in time and space, of plants
under field conditions, contributing to an improvement in the man­
agement processes of planted forests.
7
Forest Ecology and Management 497 (2021) 119496
5. Conclusion
Our results show that it is possible to recognize different eucalyptus
species in terms of slow- and fast-growth patterns. The best three fea­
tures were Norm R1, Norm R2 and GSAVI. Overall, all ML algorithms
had good accuracy (superior to 0.66), but the Random Forest using 24
features stand out by the highest accuracy (0.76). Therefore, the accu­
racy in recognizing growth patterns in eucalyptus species is dependent
on the ML algorithm and the number of features used in the model.
Our results show that ML algorithms applied to spectral data are an
appropriate approach to classify different eucalyptus species based on
growth and to recognize theses species using spectral variables. This
approach, supported by unsupervised and supervised learning, may be
an important strategy in monitoring and management of forest planta­
tions for providing good accuracy and saving time and labor.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
References
Asao, S., Hayes, L., Aspinwall, M.J., Rymer, P.D., Blackman, C., Bryant, C.J., Atkin, O.K.,
2020. Leaf trait variation is similar among genotypes of Eucalyptus camaldulensis
from differing climates and arises in plastic responses to the seasons rather than
water availability. New Phytol. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16579.
Awad, M., Khanna, R., 2015. Efficient learning machines: theories, concepts, and
applications for engineers and system designers. Springer Nature, p. 268. https://
doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20010-1.
Banks, J.M., 2018. Chlorophyll fluorescence as a tool to identify drought stress in Acer
genotypes. Environ. Exp. Bot. 155, 118–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
envexpbot.2018.06.022.
Biazzon, J.C., Lima Jr., M.P., Munis, R.A., De Araújo, V.A., Morales, E.A.M.,
Gonçalves, M.T.T., Valarelli, I.D.D., 2019. Shear strength of eucalyptus saligna wood
joints bonded with polyvinyl acetate adhesive. BioResources 14 (2), 4590–4602.
https://doi.org/10.15376/biores.14.2.4590-4602.
Binkley, D., Campoe, O.C., Alvares, C., Carneiro, R.L., Cegatta, Í., Stape, J.L., 2017. The
interactions of climate, spacing and genetics on clonal Eucalyptus plantations across
Brazil and Uruguay. For. Ecol. Manage. 405, 271–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foreco.2017.09.050.
Binkley, D., Campoe, O.C., Alvares, C.A., Carneiro, R.L., Stape, J.L., 2020. Variation in
whole-rotation yield among Eucalyptus genotypes in response to water and heat
stresses: The TECHS project. For. Ecol. Manage. 462 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foreco.2020.117953.
Blackman, C.J., Aspinwall, M.J., Tissue, D.T., Rymer, P.D., 2017. Genetic adaptation and
phenotypic plasticity contribute to greater leaf hydraulic tolerance in response to
drought in warmer climates. Tree Physiol. 37 (5), 583–592. https://doi.org/
10.1093/treephys/tpx005.
Borges, M.V.V., de Oliveira Garcia, J., Batista, T.S., Silva, A.N.M., Baio, F.H.R., da Silva
Junior, C.A., Teodoro, P.E., 2021. High-throughput phenotyping of two plant-size
traits of Eucalyptus species using neural networks. J. For. Res. 1–9. https://doi.org/
10.1007/s11676-021-01360-6.
Butler, J.B., Freeman, J.S., Potts, B.M., Vaillancourt, R.E., Grattapaglia, D., Silva-
Junior, O.B., Shepherd, M., 2018. Annotation of the Corymbia terpene synthase gene
family shows broad conservation but dynamic evolution of physical clusters relative
to Eucalyptus. Heredity 121 (1), 87–104. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-018-
0058-1.
Camastra, F., Vinciarelli, A., 2015. Machine Learning for Audio, Image and Video
Analysis: Theory and Applications. Springer.
Campoe, O.C., Alvares, C.A., Carneiro, R.L., Binkley, D., Ryan, M.G., Hubbard, R.M.,
Stape, J.L., 2020. Climate and genotype influences on carbon fluxes and partitioning
in Eucalyptus plantations. For. Ecol. Manage. 475 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foreco.2020.118445.
Canavesi, V., Ponzoni, F.J., Valeriano, M.M., 2010. Estimativa de volume de madeira em
plantios de Eucalyptus spp. utilizando dados hiperespectrais e dados topográficos.
Revista Árvore 34 (3), 539–549. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-
67622010000300018.
Carrijo, J.V.N., Ferreira, A.B.D.F., Ferreira, M.C., et al., 2020. The growth and production
modeling of individual trees of Eucalyptus urophylla plantations. J. For. Res. 31,
1663–1672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-019-00920-1.
Chaín, J.M., Tubert, E., Graciano, C., Castagno, L.N., Recchi, M., Pieckenstain, F.L.,
Baroli, I., 2020. Growth promotion and protection from drought in Eucalyptus grandis
seedlings inoculated with beneficial bacteria embedded in a superabsorbent
polymer. Sci. Rep. 10 (1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75212-4.
Chen, X., Zhao, P., Ouyang, L., Zhu, L., Ni, G., Schäfer, K.V., 2020. Whole-plant water
hydraulic integrity to predict drought-induced Eucalyptus urophylla mortality under
B.R. de Oliveira et al.
drought stress. For. Ecol. Manage. 468, 118179 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foreco.2020.118179.
Collevatti, R.G., Novaes, E., Silva-Junior, O.B., Vieira, L.D., Lima-Ribeiro, M.S.,
Grattapaglia, D., 2019. A genome-wide scan shows evidence for local adaptation in a
widespread keystone Neotropical forest tree. Heredity 123 (2), 117–137. https://doi.
org/10.1038/s41437-019-0188-0.
Elli, E.F., Sentelhas, P.C., Bender, F.D., 2020a. Impacts and uncertainties of climate
change projections on Eucalyptus plantations productivity across Brazil. For. Ecol.
Manage. 474 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118365.
Elli, E.F., Caron, B.O., Behling, A., Eloy, E., Queiróz De Souza, V., Schwerz, F., Stolzle, J.
R., 2017. Climatic factors defining the height growth curve of forest species. iForest-
Biogeosci. For. 10 (3), 547–553. https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2189-010.
Elli, E.F., Sentelhas, P.C., de Freitas, C.H., Carneiro, R.L., Alvares, C.A., 2019. Assessing
the growth gaps of Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil–magnitudes, causes and possible
mitigation strategies. For. Ecol. Manage. 451 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foreco.2019.117464.
Elli, E.F., Sentelhas, P.C., Huth, N., Carneiro, R.L., Alvares, C.A., 2020b. Gauging the
effects of climate variability on Eucalyptus plantations productivity across Brazil: A
process-based modelling approach. Ecol. Ind. 114 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
ecolind.2020.106325.
Gallo, R., Pantuza, I.B., dos Santos, G.A., de Resende, M.D.V., Xavier, A., Simiqueli, G.F.,
Valente, B.M.D.R.T., 2018. Growth and wood quality traits in the genetic selection of
potential Eucalyptus dunnii Maiden clones for pulp production. Ind. Crops Prod. 123,
434–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2018.07.016.
Geurts, P., Ernst, D., Wehenkel, L., 2006. Extremely randomized trees. Mach. Learn. 63
(1), 3–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10994-006-6226-1.
Hakamada, R.E., Hubbard, R.M., Moreira, G.G., Stape, J.L., Campoe, O., de Barros
Ferraz, S.F., 2020. Influence of stand density on growth and water use efficiency in
Eucalyptus clones. For. Ecol. Manage. 466, 118125 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foreco.2020.118125.
Hakamada, R.E., Hubbard, R.M., Stape, J.L., de Paula Lima, W., Moreira, G.G., de Barros
Ferraz, S.F., 2020. Stocking effects on seasonal tree transpiration and ecosystem
water balance in a fast-growing Eucalyptus plantation in Brazil. For. Ecol. Manage.
466, 118149 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118149.
Haykin, S., 1999. Neural Networks: A comprehensive Foundation, second ed. Prentice-
Hall Inc., New Jarsey.
Kubat, M., 2015. An Introduction to Machine Learning. Spinger, New York, p. 291p,
10.1007/978-3-319-20010-1.
Lima Costa, S.E., do Santos, R.C., Vidaurre, G.B., Castro, R.V.O., Rocha, S.M.G.,
Carneiro, R.L., et al., 2020. The effects of contrasting environments on the basic
density and mean annual increment of wood from eucalyptus clones. For. Ecol.
Manage. 458, 117807. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117807.
Lichtenthaler, H.K., 1987. Chlorophylls and carotenoids: pigments of photosynthetic
biomembranes. Methods Enzymol. 148, 350–382.
Mphahlele, M.M., Isik, F., Mostert-O’Neill, M.M., Reynolds, S.M., Hodge, G.R.,
Myburg, A.A., 2020. Expected benefits of genomic selection for growth and wood
quality traits in Eucalyptus grandis. Tree Genet. Genomes 16 (4), 1–12. https://doi.
org/10.1007/s11295-020-01443-1.
Oliveira, L.F.R.D., Oliveira, M.L.R.D., Gomes, F.S., Santana, R.C., 2017. Estimating foliar
nitrogen in Eucalyptus using vegetation indexes. Scientia Agricola 74 (2), 142–147.
https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-992x-2015-0477.
Pedregosa, F., Varoquaux, G., Gramfort, A., Michel, V., Thirion, B., Grisel, O.,
Blondel, M., Prettenhofer, P., Weiss, R., Dubourg, V., Vanderplas, J., Passos, A.,
Cournapeau, D., Brucher, M., Perrot, M., Duchesnay, E., 2011. Scikit-learn: Machine
Learning in Python. J. Mach. Learn. Res. 12, 2825–2830.
Pšidová, E., Živčák, M., Stojnić, S., Orlović, S., Gömöry, D., Kučerová, J., Kalaji, H.M.,
2018. Altitude of origin influences the responses of PSII photochemistry to heat
waves in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). Environ. Exp. Bot. 152, 97–106.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2017.12.001.
Reis, L.A.C., de Oliveira, J.A., dos Santos Farnese, F., Rosado, A.M., Reis, L.A.C., 2021.
Chlorophyll fluorescence and water content parameters are good biomarkers for
selecting drought tolerant eucalyptus clones. For. Ecol. Manage. 118682. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118682.
Forest Ecology and Management 497 (2021) 119496
Rocha, S.M.G., Vidaurre, G.B., Pezzopane, J.E.M., Almeida, M.N.F., Carneiro, R.L.,
Campoe, O.C., Figura, M.A., 2020. Influence of climatic variations on production,
biomass and density of wood in eucalyptus clones of different species. For. Ecol.
Manage. 473, 118290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118290.
Sanchini, A., Grosjean, M., 2020. Quantification of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and
pheopigments a in lake sediments through deconvolution of bulk UV–VIS absorption
spectra. J. Paleolimnol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-020-00135-z.
Santos, I.C., de Almeida, A.A.F., Pirovani, C.P., Costa, M.G.C., Da Conceição, A.S., dos
Santos Soares Filho, W., et al., 2019. Physiological, biochemical and molecular
responses to drought conditions in field-grown grafted and ungrafted citrus plants.
Environ. Exp. Bot. 162, 406–420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
envexpbot.2019.03.018.
Scolforo, H.F., Scolforo, J.R.S., Stape, J.L., McTague, J.P., Burkhart, H., McCarter, J.,
Sartorio, R.C., 2017. Incorporating rainfall data to better plan eucalyptus clones
deployment in eastern Brazil. For. Ecol. Manage. 391, 145–153. https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.foreco.2017.02.025.
Scolforo, H.F., McTague, J.P., Burkhart, H., Roise, J., Campoe, O., Stape, J.L., 2019. Yield
pattern of eucalypt clones across tropical Brazil: An approach to clonal grouping.
For. Ecol. Manage. 432, 30–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.08.051.
Silva, A.K.V., Borges, M.V.V., Batista, T.S., da Silva Junior, C.A., Furuya, D.E.G., Osco, L.
P., Pistori, H., 2021. Predicting Eucalyptus Diameter at Breast Height and Total
Height with UAV-Based Spectral Indices and Machine Learning. Forests 12 (5), 582.
Silva, E.E., Baio, F.H.R., Teodoro, L.P.R., da Silva Junior, C.A., Borges, R.S., Teodoro, P.,
2020. UAV-multispectral and vegetation indices in soybean grain yield prediction
based on in situ observation. Remote Sens. Appl.: Soc. Environ. 18, 100318 https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.rsase.2020.100318.
Silva, P.H.M., Junqueira, L.R., de Araujo, M.J., Wilcken, C.F., Moraes, M.L.T., de
Paula, R.C., 2020. Susceptibility of eucalypt taxa to a natural infestation by Leptocybe
invasa. New Forest. 51 (5), 753–763. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-019-09758-1.
Silva, V.E., Nogueira, T.A.R., Abreu-Junior, C.H., He, Z., Buzetti, S., Laclau, J.P.,
Capra, G.F., 2020. Influences of edaphoclimatic conditions on deep rooting and soil
water availability in Brazilian Eucalyptus plantations. For. Ecol. Manage. 455,
117673 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117673.
Silva, P.H.M.D., Marco, M., Alvares, C.A., Lee, D., Moraes, M.L.T.D., Paula, R.C.D., 2019.
Selection of Eucalyptus grandis families across contrasting environmental conditions.
Crop Breed. Appl. Biotechnol. 19 (1), 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-
70332019v19n1a07.
Souza, B.M., Freitas, M.L.M., Sebbenn, A.M., Gezan, S.A., Zanatto, B., Zulian, D.F., de
Aguiar, A.V., 2020. Genotype-by-environment interaction in Corymbia citriodora
(Hook.) KD Hill, & LAS Johnson progeny test in Luiz Antonio, Brazil. For. Ecol.
Manage. 460, 117855 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117855.
Spafford, L., Le Maire, G., MacDougall, A., de Boissieu, F., Féret, J.B., 2021. Spectral
subdomains and prior estimation of leaf structure improves PROSPECT inversion on
reflectance or transmittance alone. Remote Sens. Environ. 252, 112176 https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.112176.
Vahl de Paula, B., Squizani Arruda, W., Etienne Parent, L., Frank de Araujo, E.,
Brunetto, G., 2020. Nutrient diagnosis of Eucalyptus at the factor-specific level using
machine learning and compositional methods. Plants 9 (8), 1049. https://doi.org/
10.3390/plants9081049.
Vali, A., Ranjbar, A., Mokarram, M., Taripanah, F., 2020. Investigating the topographic
and climatic effects on vegetation using remote sensing and GIS: a case study of
Kharestan region, Fars Province, Iran. Theoret. Appl. Climatol. 140 (1), 37–54.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-019-03073-7.
Viera, M., Ruíz Fernández, F., Rodríguez-Soalleiro, R., 2016. Nutritional prescriptions for
Eucalyptus plantations: lessons learned from Spain. Forests 7 (4), 84. https://doi.
org/10.3390/f7040084.
Zargar, S.M., Gupta, N., Nazir, M., Mahajan, R., Malik, F.A., Sofi, N.R., Salgotra, R.K.,
2017. Impact of drought on photosynthesis: Molecular perspective. Plant Gene 11,
154–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plgene.2017.04.003.
Zhou, C., Ma, Q., Li, S., Zhu, M., Xia, Z., Yu, W., 2021. Toxicological effects of single and
joint sulfamethazine and cadmium stress in soil on pakchoi (Brassica chinensis L.).
Chemosphere 263, 128296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128296.