Low-cost UAV LiDAR reconstructs poplar branch architecture for high-throughput breeding
· newswise.com · popularity 18/100 · 0 similar stories today · Engineering & How Things Work (Discovery & Research)
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Summary
<img src="https://www.newswise.com/legacy/image.php?image=https://media.newswise.com/pio/articles/858173/6af05962c6336_26_858173.jpg&width=100&height=150" alt="Newswise image" />Researchers have developed a new way to reconstruct the branching architecture of poplar trees from low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point clouds, turning dense point clouds into detailed branch skeletons and measurable traits. The work focuses on first- and second-order branches, using material transport flux and object-level geometric features to identify branch tips, trace branch paths and estimate branch length and angle. Applied to a 5-hectare breeding plot, the method captured structural variation across 248 poplar genotypes and revealed links among branch traits. The approach is designed to support high-throughput phenotyping, helping breeders assess complex tree architecture at scale without destructive sampling. This offers a practical route toward faster, architecture-driven selection in tree breeding.
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