MaCS4Plants:A Mathematic & Computer Science Network for FSPM
Résumé
Since the early 90’s, AMAP lab (Montpellier, France) has developed multiple software
applied to plant architecture modelling. More recently, AGAP Institute developed the OpenAlea
platform (Pradal et al., 2008) to answer the growing need for computational resources
coming from the increasing complexity and scale of applications of plant models, and for
data analysis associated to new data acquisition techniques such as high-frequency
phenotyping platforms or LIDAR measurements. Both AMAPstudio and OpenAlea are
designed for providing modelling tools for the FSPM community, they share common
formalisms for plant representation (i.e., MultiScaleTreeGraph, mtg; Godin et Caraglio,
1998) and similar 3D edition and visualization tools. However, these tools have largely
diverged for multiple reasons: language source code, integration in different platforms,
plants with different architectures studied for specific research topics but also different
laboratories with distinct needs and directives.
In this context, researchers and engineers specialized in mathematics and computer science
from AMAP and AGAP decided to gather their expertise into the Mathematics & Computer
Science (CS) network For multiscale functional structural modelling of Plants within their
agroecological systems (MaCS4Plants). This network aims at providing an extensive library
of generic functional models as well as tackling scientific problems in the math and CS domain applied to
agroecological transition and resilience to climate change: big data analysis, hybrid
modelling, multiscale and structure-function studies or full plant modelling (i.e., root and
shoot).
In this study, we will present the first achievements of the MaCS4Plants network:
- An extensive catalogue of modelling software developed and their integration into
OpenAlea (https://openalea.rtfd.io).
- The proposal of a standard format that integrates both topology and geometry at
multiscale of plants, and the possibility to export it toward common 3D visualization
software.
- A set of online didactic interactive notebooks on FSPM.