TreeVibes: Modern tools for Global Monitoring of Trees Against Borers

Abstract

Is there a wood-feeding insect inside a tree or wooden structure? We investigate several ways on how deep learning approaches can massively scan recordings of vibrations stemming from probed trees to infer their infestation state with wood-boring insects that feed and move inside wood. The recordings come from remotely controlled devices that sample the internal soundscape of trees on a 24/7 basis and wirelessly transmit brief recordings of the registered vibrations to a cloud server. We discuss the different sources of vibrations that can be picked up from trees in urban environments and how deep learning methods can focus on those originating from borers. Our goal is to match the problem of the accelerated—due to global trade and climate change— establishment of invasive xylophagus insects by increasing the capacity of inspection agencies. We aim at introducing permanent, cost-effective, automatic monitoring of trees based on deep learning techniques, in commodity entry point as well as in wild, urban and cultivated areas in order to effect large-scale, sustainable pest-risk analysis and management of wood boring insects such as those from the Cerambycidae family (longhorn beetles).

Automated Applications of Acoustics for Stored Product Insect Detection, Monitoring, and Management

“…Apart from stored grain pests, bioacoustic methods also have been applied for detection of other cryptic wood-boring insects [ 97 , 121 , 160 , 239 ]. For example, detection of the red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae), a major pest of various palm species, has been achieved in Israel by a piezoelectric sensor inserted in the fibrous palm tissue.…”

“…Acoustic emissions produced by very small wood-boring larvae (1–2 mm length) in wooden objects were measured with piezo-electric sensor and two amplifiers [ 97 ]. A novel system called TreeVibes has been recently developed for the automated, real-time, and continuous detection of woodborers inside trees [ 160 , 239 ]. The main parts of the device are an accelerometer and an electronic board that transduces vibrations into audio signals that are stored, compressed and wirelessly transmitted.…”

“…The capabilities of a second new device, TreeVibes [ 160 , 239 ], were tested for this report. The TreeVibes was connected to a metal probe inserted into three sets of four glass jars, each containing approximately 300 mL of wheat grains artificially infested with 0 (control)–50 S. oryzae adults, or with larvae from eggs laid by 0–50 adults in grain over a 1-week period.…”