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Measurement of the mycorrhizal hyphal turnover through soil imaging: Resolving the image analysis bottleneck with AI

Research Project

Project/Area Number 22K20595
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Review Section 0603:Forestry and forest products science, applied aquatic science, and related fields
Research InstitutionForest Research and Management Organization

Principal Investigator

SCHAEFER Holger  国立研究開発法人森林研究・整備機構, 森林総合研究所, 研究員 (80897231)

Project Period (FY) 2022-08-31 – 2024-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2023)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
Keywords森林炭素循環 / 土壌微生物 / 菌根菌 / 菌糸 / 土壌断面撮影 / 画像分析 / 人工知能 / 森林物質循環 / 土壌炭素 / 菌糸生産・分解 / mycorrhizal fungi / hyphae / soil imaging / image analysis / artificial intelligence
Outline of Research at the Start

In forests, mycorrhizal fungi (菌根菌) receive up to 20% of the carbon assimilated by plants. Measuring how fast the hyphae (菌糸) of mycorrhizal fungi grow and decompose in the soil is, hence, important for understanding the forest carbon cycle. A promising method for measuring the amount of hyphae in soil is image analysis. However, manual soil image analysis is time-intensive and prone to human error. In the proposed research, automated soil image analysis using artificial intelligence is developed, to help advance our understanding of how mycorrhizal fungi affect the forest carbon cycle.

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research project, an AI-based method for the automated measurement of the amount of hyphae on soil profile images was developed. For this, high-resolution images of a soil profile were taken with a self-developed imaging device. On part of the taken images, hyphae were marked manually. An AI was, then, trained with the manually marked im-ages to differentiate between hyphal pixels and soil background pixels. By using the trained AI, the time to analyze soil profile images was reduced from several days (manual analysis) to only a few minutes (automated analysis). Further-more, the amount of hyphae on soil profile images was estimated with high accuracy.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

殆どの樹木は菌根菌と共生し、炭素を糖類として菌根菌に供給するため、森林土壌における菌糸バイオマスの変動を明らかにすることが、森林炭素循環の動態の理解・予測に向けて重要である。本研究では、人工知能を活用して土壌断面画像における菌糸量変動を手動分析より十分に速く、正確に自動測定できる手法を開発した。開発した手法は森林土壌における炭素循環を定量化する今後の研究に役立つと考えられる。

Report

(3 results)
  • 2023 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2022 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (5 results)

All 2024 2023 2022

All Presentation (5 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 1 results,  Invited: 1 results)

  • [Presentation] 森林土壌中の菌糸ターンオーバー:土壌断面撮影とAI画像分析で追いつけるか2024

    • Author(s)
      SCHAEFER Holger
    • Organizer
      第135回日本森林学会大会
    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Development of a low-cost high-resolution imaging device for the observation of hyphae in field soils2023

    • Author(s)
      SCHAEFER Holger
    • Organizer
      British Ecological Society Annual Meeting 2023
    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] コンピュータ制御の顕微鏡を活用した土壌内菌糸の高解像度撮影の実現2023

    • Author(s)
      SCHAEFER Holger
    • Organizer
      日本生態学会第70回全国大会
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] 菌根菌タイプが異なる林分における菌根菌糸の生産動態2023

    • Author(s)
      SCHAEFER Holger
    • Organizer
      日本生態学会第70回全国大会
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Production and decomposition of mycorrhizal hyphae in Japanese cypress plantations2022

    • Author(s)
      SCHAEFER Holger
    • Organizer
      The 2nd International Conference On Agricultural Science & Research, Chungnam National University
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited

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Published: 2022-09-01   Modified: 2025-01-30  

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