Effects of Soil Properties and Tree Species on Root–Soil Anchorage Characteristics

Shusen Liu, Xiaodong Ji and Xiao Zhang
Additional contact information
Shusen Liu: Department of Civil Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Xiaodong Ji: Department of Civil Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Xiao Zhang: Department of Civil Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-19

Abstract: Root anchoring provides nonnegligible assistance to prevent soil erosion and stabilize slopes. The anchoring ability of plants suffers a tremendous impact from the soil conditions and the root characteristics. To reveal the root reinforcement effect, a group of pullout tests was conducted on five different tree root systems ( Pinus tabulaeformis , Betula platyphylla , Larix gmelinii , Quercus mongolica , and Ulmus pumila ) with different soil moisture contents and soil dry weights. The results indicate that the root property (species, diameter, and tensile strength) and soil condition (water content 9.72%, 12.72%, 15.72%, 18.72%, and dry weight 1.32 g/cm 3 , 1.42 g/cm 3 , 1.52 g/cm 3 ) had a significant effect on the anchoring effect of the soil. The anchoring effect is more obvious for the roots with a larger diameter and higher tensile strength. With the increase in the soil water content and the dry weight, the root system is more prone to failure but the root anchoring effect of soil with an optimum soil water content performs the best. Among the five different tree species, Pinus tabulaeformis roots were the least effective in anchoring the soil and Betula platyphylla roots performed the best.

Keywords: anchorage mechanics of roots; pullout test method; soil properties; tree species (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/7770/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/7770/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:13:p:7770-:d:847952

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().