Abstract
While roots have been generally proved to be beneficial to soil mechanical behaviour, different and counterposed results have been found when investigating their effects on soil hydraulic response. Roots affect the hydro-mechanical and chemical properties of soils at different scales. In this regard, the paper focuses on studying the macroscopic hydraulic properties of root-permeated and compacted soils considering microstructural features coming from mercury intrusion porosimetry and X-ray micro-tomography. The results are interpreted bearing in mind the influence of the different soil hydraulic states on roots structure and physiology. The analysis of the results shows that roots growing in a compacted soil at low stresses are opening fissures while decreasing micropore volume inside aggregates due to chemical effects. This response has important effects on the hydraulic behaviour of the soil.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundGeotechnical and ecological investigations have usually studied the effects of roots on soil hydraulic behaviour focusing on different aspects of the response
The former studies have paid more attention on the initial state of the soil and the way it affects plant growth. They have been aimed at determining the water permeability and water retention properties [1,2,3,4,5], but often neglecting the effects that the evolution of soil conditions has on the growth and physiology of plants
Ecologists and plant scientists have carried out their studies focusing on how the phenomena that occur at the level of the root system and individual roots indirectly influence the macroscopic response of the soil, but poorly considering the evolution of the hydro-mechanical properties of the soil
Summary
Geotechnical and ecological investigations have usually studied the effects of roots on soil hydraulic behaviour focusing on different aspects of the response The former studies have paid more attention on the initial state of the soil and the way it affects plant growth. Ecologists and plant scientists have carried out their studies focusing on how the phenomena that occur at the level of the root system and individual roots indirectly influence the macroscopic response of the soil, but poorly considering the evolution of the hydro-mechanical properties of the soil Processes such as roots shrinkage and exudation on drying have been characterised by imaging techniques or soil physical-chemical analyses [6,7,8,9,10] and are inducing counterposed effects on soil:. - studying the evolution of soil microstructure along hydraulic paths on bare and root-permeated conditions
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