{"id":{"repo_id":"sask","oai_identifier":"oai:harvest.usask.ca:10388/14703"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/sask/oai:harvest.usask.ca:10388/14703","repository":{"repo_id":"sask","name":"University of Saskatchewan","base_url":"https://harvest.usask.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Quantifying the Diversity of Agronomic Traits of Cicer Milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.) Germplasm Collections Using UAV-Based Imagery","abstract":"Cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.) is a non-bloat perennial forage legume well suited for stockpile grazing because of its persistence, high late season quality and yield in the moist areas of the Canadian Prairies. Remote sensing via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has the potential to accurately phenotype forage germplasm with less manual labour. The objectives of this study were: 1) Evaluate the diversity and relationship among 27 populations of cicer milkvetch using agro-morphological traits, 2) Differentiate a sub-set of cicer milkvetch populations from June to mid-October using UAV-based multispectral imaging, and 3) Identify UAV-based traits with significant correlations to the forage DMY and growth of cicer milkvetch. Near Clavet Saskatchewan, a completely randomized nursery of 27 cicer milkvetch populations was characterized nine times from June to mid-October in 2020 and 2021. Measurements included the agro-morphological traits maximum stem length, leaf number per stem, stem density, rhizome spread and plant area scores, and the UAV-based traits NDVI green area and NDVI canopy volume. The first forage harvest occurred in late June and the stockpile harvest in mid-October. Excluding leaf number per stem (first harvest) and plant area (stockpile harvest), significant differences (p<0.05) were identified between populations at both harvest times for the agro-morphological traits. Based on the agro-morphological traits at both harvest times, the first three principal components described 89% of the variation in the data. NDVI green area and NDVI canopy volume were able to differentiate (p<0.05) high and low vigour populations across the growing season. Among the agro-morphological traits, maximum stem length had the highest correlation with forage DMY at the first (r 0.74) and stockpile (0.83) harvests. NDVI green area had the highest correlation with forage DMY among the UAV-based traits at the first harvest (r 0.91) and the correlation with stockpiled forage DMY was improved when NDVI green area was recorded in mid-September (r 0.92). Across the growing season, NDVI green area accurately modelled changes in maximum stem length (r2 0.42-0.60). With a more user-friendly image analysis process, UAV measurements could be an accurate tool for the precision phenotyping of forage germplasm.","abstract_html":"Cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.) is a non-bloat perennial forage legume well suited for stockpile grazing because of its persistence, high late season quality and yield in the moist areas of the Canadian Prairies. Remote sensing via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has the potential to accurately phenotype forage germplasm with less manual labour. The objectives of this study were: 1) Evaluate the diversity and relationship among 27 populations of cicer milkvetch using agro-morphological traits, 2) Differentiate a sub-set of cicer milkvetch populations from June to mid-October using UAV-based multispectral imaging, and 3) Identify UAV-based traits with significant correlations to the forage DMY and growth of cicer milkvetch. Near Clavet Saskatchewan, a completely randomized nursery of 27 cicer milkvetch populations was characterized nine times from June to mid-October in 2020 and 2021. Measurements included the agro-morphological traits maximum stem length, leaf number per stem, stem density, rhizome spread and plant area scores, and the UAV-based traits NDVI green area and NDVI canopy volume. The first forage harvest occurred in late June and the stockpile harvest in mid-October. Excluding leaf number per stem (first harvest) and plant area (stockpile harvest), significant differences (p<0.05) were identified between populations at both harvest times for the agro-morphological traits. Based on the agro-morphological traits at both harvest times, the first three principal components described 89% of the variation in the data. NDVI green area and NDVI canopy volume were able to differentiate (p<0.05) high and low vigour populations across the growing season. Among the agro-morphological traits, maximum stem length had the highest correlation with forage DMY at the first (r 0.74) and stockpile (0.83) harvests. NDVI green area had the highest correlation with forage DMY among the UAV-based traits at the first harvest (r 0.91) and the correlation with stockpiled forage DMY was improved when NDVI green area was recorded in mid-September (r 0.92). Across the growing season, NDVI green area accurately modelled changes in maximum stem length (r2 0.42-0.60). With a more user-friendly image analysis process, UAV measurements could be an accurate tool for the precision phenotyping of forage germplasm.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["MacTaggart, David Robert"],"institution":"University of Saskatchewan","degree_name":"Master of Science (M.Sc.)","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Plant Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Biligetu, Bill"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Sharbel, Timothy F","Beattie, Aaron D","Lardner, Herbert (Bart) A","Shirtliffe, Steve J","Asselin, Sean R"],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-05-26","date_published":"2023-05-26","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:26:59Z","subjects":["Genetic diversity, forage breeding, phenotyping, gene bank, multi-spectral imaging, extended grazing, drone, biomass, NDVI"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10388/14703","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Biligetu, Bill"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Sharbel, Timothy F","Beattie, Aaron D","Lardner, Herbert (Bart) A","Shirtliffe, Steve J","Asselin, Sean R"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["MacTaggart, David Robert"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2023-05-26T18:24:03Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2023-05-26"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Plant Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (M.Sc.)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Saskatchewan"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Genetic diversity, forage breeding, phenotyping, gene bank, multi-spectral imaging, extended grazing, drone, biomass, NDVI"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10388/14703"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.) is a non-bloat perennial forage legume well suited for stockpile grazing because of its persistence, high late season quality and yield in the moist areas of the Canadian Prairies. Remote sensing via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has the potential to accurately phenotype forage germplasm with less manual labour. The objectives of this study were: 1) Evaluate the diversity and relationship among 27 populations of cicer milkvetch using agro-morphological traits, 2) Differentiate a sub-set of cicer milkvetch populations from June to mid-October using UAV-based multispectral imaging, and 3) Identify UAV-based traits with significant correlations to the forage DMY and growth of cicer milkvetch. Near Clavet Saskatchewan, a completely randomized nursery of 27 cicer milkvetch populations was characterized nine times from June to mid-October in 2020 and 2021. Measurements included the agro-morphological traits maximum stem length, leaf number per stem, stem density, rhizome spread and plant area scores, and the UAV-based traits NDVI green area and NDVI canopy volume. The first forage harvest occurred in late June and the stockpile harvest in mid-October. Excluding leaf number per stem (first harvest) and plant area (stockpile harvest), significant differences (p<0.05) were identified between populations at both harvest times for the agro-morphological traits. Based on the agro-morphological traits at both harvest times, the first three principal components described 89% of the variation in the data. NDVI green area and NDVI canopy volume were able to differentiate (p<0.05) high and low vigour populations across the growing season. Among the agro-morphological traits, maximum stem length had the highest correlation with forage DMY at the first (r 0.74) and stockpile (0.83) harvests. NDVI green area had the highest correlation with forage DMY among the UAV-based traits at the first harvest (r 0.91) and the correlation with stockpiled forage DMY was improved when NDVI green area was recorded in mid-September (r 0.92). Across the growing season, NDVI green area accurately modelled changes in maximum stem length (r2 0.42-0.60). With a more user-friendly image analysis process, UAV measurements could be an accurate tool for the precision phenotyping of forage germplasm."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Quantifying the Diversity of Agronomic Traits of Cicer Milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.) Germplasm Collections Using UAV-Based Imagery"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Biligetu, Bill"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Sharbel, Timothy F","Beattie, Aaron D","Lardner, Herbert (Bart) A","Shirtliffe, Steve J","Asselin, Sean R"],"dc:creator":["MacTaggart, David Robert"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2023-05-26T18:24:03Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2023-05-26"],"dc:description.abstract":["Cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.) is a non-bloat perennial forage legume well suited for stockpile grazing because of its persistence, high late season quality and yield in the moist areas of the Canadian Prairies. Remote sensing via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has the potential to accurately phenotype forage germplasm with less manual labour. The objectives of this study were: 1) Evaluate the diversity and relationship among 27 populations of cicer milkvetch using agro-morphological traits, 2) Differentiate a sub-set of cicer milkvetch populations from June to mid-October using UAV-based multispectral imaging, and 3) Identify UAV-based traits with significant correlations to the forage DMY and growth of cicer milkvetch. Near Clavet Saskatchewan, a completely randomized nursery of 27 cicer milkvetch populations was characterized nine times from June to mid-October in 2020 and 2021. Measurements included the agro-morphological traits maximum stem length, leaf number per stem, stem density, rhizome spread and plant area scores, and the UAV-based traits NDVI green area and NDVI canopy volume. The first forage harvest occurred in late June and the stockpile harvest in mid-October. Excluding leaf number per stem (first harvest) and plant area (stockpile harvest), significant differences (p<0.05) were identified between populations at both harvest times for the agro-morphological traits. Based on the agro-morphological traits at both harvest times, the first three principal components described 89% of the variation in the data. NDVI green area and NDVI canopy volume were able to differentiate (p<0.05) high and low vigour populations across the growing season. Among the agro-morphological traits, maximum stem length had the highest correlation with forage DMY at the first (r 0.74) and stockpile (0.83) harvests. NDVI green area had the highest correlation with forage DMY among the UAV-based traits at the first harvest (r 0.91) and the correlation with stockpiled forage DMY was improved when NDVI green area was recorded in mid-September (r 0.92). Across the growing season, NDVI green area accurately modelled changes in maximum stem length (r2 0.42-0.60). With a more user-friendly image analysis process, UAV measurements could be an accurate tool for the precision phenotyping of forage germplasm."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/10388/14703"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:subject":["Genetic diversity, forage breeding, phenotyping, gene bank, multi-spectral imaging, extended grazing, drone, biomass, NDVI"],"dc:title":["Quantifying the Diversity of Agronomic Traits of Cicer Milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.) Germplasm Collections Using UAV-Based Imagery"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Plant Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (M.Sc.)"],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Saskatchewan"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:26:59Z"}