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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Accurate tree species identification through bark characteristics is essential for effective forest management, but traditionally requires extensive expertise. This study leverages artificial intelligence (AI), specifically the EfficientNet-B3 convolutional neural network, to enhance AI-based tree bark identification, focusing on northern red oak (Quercus rubra), hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), and bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) using the CentralBark dataset. We investigated three environmental variables—time of day (lighting conditions), bark moisture content (wet or dry), and cardinal direction of observation—to identify sources of classification inaccuracies. Results revealed that bark moisture significantly reduced accuracy by 8.19% in wet conditions (89.32% dry vs. 81.13% wet). In comparison, the time of day had a significant impact on hackberry (95.56% evening) and northern red oak (80.80% afternoon), with notable chi-squared associations (p < 0.05). Cardinal direction had minimal effect (4.72% variation). Bitternut hickory detection consistently underperformed (26.76%), highlighting morphological challenges. These findings underscore the need for targeted dataset augmentation with wet and afternoon images, alongside preprocessing techniques like illumination normalization, to improve model robustness. Enhanced AI tools will streamline forest inventories, support biodiversity monitoring, and bolster conservation in dynamic forest ecosystems.

Details

Title
Environmental Sensitivity in AI Tree Bark Detection: Identifying Key Factors for Improving Classification Accuracy
Author
Warner, Charles 1 ; Wu Fanyou 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Gazo Rado 1 ; Benes Bedrich 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Fei Songlin 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA; [email protected] (C.W.); [email protected] (F.W.); [email protected] (S.F.) 
 Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA; [email protected] 
First page
417
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
19994893
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3233032082
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.