Abstract
Background and aimsVegetation stabilizes slopes via root mechanical reinforcement and hydrologic reinforcement induced by transpiration. Most studies have focused on mechanical reinforcement and its correlation with plant biomechanical traits. The correlations however generally ignore the effects of hydrologic reinforcement. This study aims to quantify the hydrologic reinforcement associated with ten woody species and identify correlations with relevant plant traits.MethodsTen species widespread in Europe, which belong to Aquifoliaceae, Betulaceae, Buxaceae, Celastraceae, Fabaceae, Oleaceae and Salicaceae families, were planted in pots of sandy loam soil. Each planted pot was irrigated and then left to transpire. Soil strength, matric suction and plant traits were measured.ResultsTranspiration-induced suction was linearly correlated with soil penetration resistance for the ten species due to their different transpiration rates i.e. both suction and soil penetration resistance induced by Hazel and Blackthorn (deciduous) were five times greater than those by Holly and European Box (evergreens). Specific leaf area and root length density correlated with hydrologic reinforcement. The root:shoot ratio correlated best with the hydrologic reinforcement.ConclusionsSpecific leaf area, root length density and root:shoot ratio explained the tenfold differences in hydrologic reinforcement provided by the ten different species.
Highlights
Soil bioengineering using vegetation is an environmentally-friendly technique for shallow slope stabilisation, and creating sustainable ecosystems within the built environment (Stokes et al 2008; Stokes et al 2014)
Transpiration-induced suction was linearly correlated with soil penetration resistance for the ten species due to their different transpiration rates i.e. both suction and soil penetration resistance induced by Hazel and Blackthorn were five times greater than
We identified that plant traits including specific leaf area, root length density and the root:shoot ratio showed significant and positive correlations with transpiration-induced suction
Summary
Soil bioengineering using vegetation is an environmentally-friendly technique for shallow slope stabilisation, and creating sustainable ecosystems within the built environment (Stokes et al 2008; Stokes et al 2014). Change in soil shear strength due to transpiration-induced matric suction (known as hydrologic reinforcement) is increasingly recognised to be important for slope hydrology and stability (Lim et al 1996; Simon and Collison 2002; PollenBankhead and Simon 2010; Smethurst et al 2012; Leung and Ng 2013; Garg et al 2015; Ng et al 2015; Smethurst et al 2015). Several recent studies have identified that hydrologic reinforcement can have greater effects on soil stabilisation than mechanical reinforcement by root inclusions (Simon and Collison 2002; Pollen-Bankhead and Simon 2010). Vegetation stabilizes slopes via root mechanical reinforcement and hydrologic reinforcement induced by transpiration. This study aims to quantify the hydrologic reinforcement associated with ten woody species and identify correlations with relevant plant traits
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