MAppleT: simulation of apple tree development using mixed stochastic and biomechanical models

Evelyne Costes (1, 2) , Colin Smith (3) , Michael Renton (1) , Yann Guédon (1, 4) , Premyslaw Prusinkiewicz (5) , Christophe Godin (1, 4)

1 UMR DAP - Développement et amélioration des plantes
2 AFEF - Architecture et Fonctionnement des Espèces Fruitières [AGAP]
3 Plant - UC Davis - Department of Plant Sciences [Univ California Davis]
4 VIRTUAL PLANTS - Modeling plant morphogenesis at different scales, from genes to phenotype
5 CPSC - Department of Computer Science [Calgary]

Construction of architectural databases over years is time consuming and cannot easily capture the event dynamics, especially when both tr ee topology and geometry are considered. The present project aimed to bring together models of topology and geometry in a single simulation such that the architecture of an apple t ree may emerge from process interactions. This integration was performed using L-systems. A m ixed approach was developed based on stochastic models to simulate plant topology and me chanistic model for the geometry. The succession of growth units (GUs) along axes and the ir branching structure were jointly modeled by a hierarchical hidden Markov model. A bi omechanical model, derived from previous studies, was used to calculate stem form a t the metamer scale, taking into account the intra-year dynamics of primary, secondary and f ruit growth. Outputs consist of 3D mock- ups geometric models representing the progression o f tree form over time. To asses these models, a sensitivity analysis was performed and de scriptors were compared between simulated and digitized trees, including the total number of GUs in the entire tree, descriptors of shoot geometry (basal diameter, length), and des criptors of axis geometry (inclination, curvature). In conclusion, in spite of some limitat ions MAppleT constitutes a useful tool for simulating development of apple trees in interactio n with gravity.

Domaines: Modélisation et simulation

Evelyne Costes, Colin Smith, Michael Renton, Yann Guédon, Premyslaw Prusinkiewicz, et al.. MAppleT: simulation of apple tree development using mixed stochastic and biomechanical models. Functional Plant Biology, 2008, 35 (10), pp.936-950. ⟨hal-00831809⟩