World s Loneliest Male Tree Finds Female Mate One of the Timeless Stories of Unparalleled Love
Encephalartos had been on the planet since before the time of the woody dinosaurs
Few people have heard of the tree Encephalartos woody. And for good reason: this palm-shaped tree is currently in danger of extinction. The E Woody species has existed on Earth since before the dinosaurs, but is now one of the most endangered species on Earth. Currently, there is only one natural tree left in the world, and it is a male tree. Moreover, the remaining specimens around the world are male clones of the only natural tree, making natural reproduction impossible. Now, scientists are beginning to use artificial intelligence (AI) to find his female mate
University of Southampton Caption Dr. Laura Santi is the leader of the research team that is supposed to find material from E. woodii To alleviate its isolation and save the species from extinction, a research project led by the University of Southampton in the UK has been launched. As part of this project, thousands of hectares of forest will be cut down in South Africa, the only place on Earth where E. woodii occurs naturally. Dr. Laura Zanetti is a researcher at the University of Southampton. She is leading a project to use drones and artificial intelligence to search for female e-Woidis.
Animals whose desire for sex could drive their species to extinction February 1, 2023
University of Southampton Image caption, AI tools and drones are being used to search for other natural specimens of E. woodi He says, "I’m very impressed by the story of E. woodi. It’s like one of those unrequited love stories that go through the ages." Dr. Laura Santi hopes that there must be something like E. woodi out there somewhere. "It would be wonderful if we could save this plant from extinction through natural reproduction." A single male tree of this species was discovered in 1895 in Ongoe Forest, near the east coast of South Africa. Since then, no other specimens have been found. All E-Woody specimens currently found around the world are male clones of this famous wild tree.
University of Southampton Caption Only one natural specimen of E-Woody left in the world Drones are used to take aerial photographs of the forest, which are then analysed using AI tools. So far, the research team has been able to survey less than 2 percent of the 4,100 hectares of forest. "We use image recognition algorithms to identify the plants," explains Dr. Santi. “Her team is taking photos of plants and placing them in different environmental scenarios to teach AI models to recognize them,” she says. Because this forest has never been studied thoroughly before, it’s not possible to say definitively whether the E. woody species is present in this forest.
