Digital Image Processing for Evaluation of Paspalum Millegrana Schrad Root System1

Abstract

The characterization of the plant root system is of great importance for the understanding of its contribution to soil shear resistance, constituting an important tool for decision making in soil bioengineering works. The objective of this work was to evaluate the growth and distribution characteristics of the root system of Paspalum millegrana Schrad. grass in Entisol using Digital Imaging Processing (DIP). The data were obtained by opening a soil pit to expose the root system of Paspalum grass up to 1.70 m depth. The profile wall and volumetric ring methods were used to collect quantitative information of the root system. The SAFIRA software and the ArcMAP software belonging to the ArcGIS suite were used for image processing. The profile wall method showed that Paspalum grass has a large volume of roots in the first 0.40 m to 1.30 m soil depth. It was observed that the root length and volume of Paspalum grass reach depths beyond 1.70 m, which is important to increase soil resistance to erosion processes. The profile wall method when compared to the volumetric ring method proved to be more efficient to understand the behavior of the Paspalum grass root system since it enables an assessment of its spatial distribution with better detailing.

Evaluation of the root system of Vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides L. Roberty) using different sampling method

“…in agreement with the results ofCarvalho et al (De Carvalho et al 2020) working with Paspalum grass. Two third of the root volume was present in the initial 0.80 m depth showing a difference in the samples in 0.00-0.10 m, 0.10-0.20 m, and 0.20-0.30 depths, although there was a massive presence of roots in volume and area up to the last evaluated squares at one-meter depth.…”

“…There is an outstanding root volume in the D and E squares, in the shallow layers of the soil at a depth of 0.00 m to 0.30 m, as also observed by Carvalho et al (De Carvalho et al 2020) studying Paspalum millegrana Schrad, a species of poaceae family that also presents biotechnical characteristics (Holanda et al 2017). These authors applied the same methodology, registering a higher concentration of roots also in the rst 0.50 m of soil.…”

“…The collection and the subsequent data analysis using the trench method were performed according to Carvalho et al (De Carvalho et al 2020). The trench method allows both the roots quanti cation and the assessment of roots distribution in the soil.…”

Association of tropical forage grasses in pastures: agronomic aspects that determine plant performance

“…The slight indication of greater presence of Paspalum at the 20-30 cm layer relative to 0-10 and 10-20 cm layers (Figure 2), may be related to the coexisting roots and rhizomes of this grass species that has a deep root system (Carvalho et al, 2020). The experimental area was established in January 2020 and original vegetation had a large proportion of Paspalum.…”