Estimation of soil reinforcement by the roots of four post-dam prevailing grass species in the riparian zone of Three Gorges Reservoir, China

Zhong, Ronghua; He, Xingyuan; Bao, Yuhai; Tang, Qiang; Gao, Jinzhang; Yan, Dandan; Wang, Mingfeng; Yu, Li

doi:10.1007/s11629-014-3397-2

Cited by 25 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…This in turn has some impact on the vertical distribution of soil moisture. This is partly consistent with the study by Zhong et al (2016). Our study found that after 5 years of grazing prohibition, the root system of vegetation within the prohibited areas increased significantly, leading to a reduction in soil volume and an increase in soil porosity (Shen et al, 2021), allowing more water to be retained, especially in the surface layer.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Effects of animal grazing on vegetation biomass and soil moisture on a typical steppe in Inner Mongolia, China

et al. 2021

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Grasslands play a very important role in the water and carbon cycle of arid and semi‐arid areas, where they are the main type of steppe globally. With this said, research into grassland ecological processes mostly consists of single‐factor controlled experiments such as precipitation, temperature or grazing, and few studies have investigated the effects of synergistic interactions between multiple factors on grassland hydrological, soil and vegetation processes. In this study, we set up a prohibited grazing area in a typical area of the Xilingole Steppe in Inner Mongolia, China. Vegetation (species richness (SR), above‐ground biomass (AGB), below‐ground biomass (BGB), etc.), precipitation and the soil moisture of 5 cm, 10 cm, 15 cm and 30 cm depths were observed continuously from 2015 to 2018. The results indicate that the species number in areas where grazing is prohibited is higher than where it is grazed, and the number and species of dominant species changes with grazing prohibition time. The AGB and BGB of prohibited areas is higher than grazed areas, and the variance rate of AGB increased rapidly (20% and 45%) at the first 2 years and then stabilized (52% and 55%), but BGB's variance rate increased slowly from 12% to 20%. The soil moisture content in the study area is higher in the surface layer than in the deeper layers. In the grazing prohibition zone, the above ground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB) were both significantly correlated with volumetric water content (VWC) at the 0.01 level. In grazing areas, there was no significant correlation between AGB and soil moisture, and the coefficient of determination between BGB and VWC was 0.6127 (p < 0.01). SR did not have a significant relationship with soil moisture but indirectly response to it through BGB, especially in prohibited site. These results are important for understanding water cycle processes, grazing management and address food security issues across steppe in arid and semi‐arid regions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Effects of animal grazing on vegetation biomass and soil moisture on a typical steppe in Inner Mongolia, China

et al. 2021

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“…Fibrous roots increase the cohesion of the topsoil due to their high tensile strength and high root contact area with the soil (e.g. Mao et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2014;Zhong et al, 2016), whilst the root-soil contact area in thick tap roots and their tensile strength is much weaker (e.g. De Baets et al, 2008a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do root and soil characteristics affect the erosion-reducing potential of plant species?

Vannoppen

Baets

Keeble

et al. 2017

Ecological Engineering

125

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Plant roots can be very effective in stabilizing the soil against concentrated flow erosion. So far, most research on the erosion-reducing potential of plant roots was conducted on loamy soils. However susceptible to incisive erosion processes, at present, no research exists on the effectiveness of plant roots in reducing concentrated flow erosion rates in sandy soils. Therefore, the prime objective of this study was to assess the erosion-reducing potential of both fibrous and tap roots in sandy soils. Furthermore, we investigated potential effects of root diameter, soil texture and dry soil bulk density on the erosion-reducing potential of plant roots. Therefore, flume experiments conducted on sandy soils (this study) were compared with those on sandy loam and silt loam soils (using the same experimental set up). Results showed that plant roots were very efficient in reducing concentrated flow erosion rates in sandy soils compared to root-free bare soils. Furthermore, our results confirmed that fibrous roots were more effective compared to (thick) tap roots. Dry soil bulk density and soil texture also played a significant role. As they were both related to soil cohesion, the results of this study suggested that the effectiveness of plant roots in controlling concentrated flow erosion rates depended on the apparent soil cohesion. The nature of this soil type effect depended on the root-system type: fine root systems were most effective in non-cohesive soils while tap root systems were most effective in cohesive soils. For soils permeated with a given amount of fibrous roots, an increase of soil bulk density seemed to hamper the effectiveness of roots to

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“…Generally, root cohesion increases with root number, root diameter and root tensile strength [12,13]. However, plants with the highest tensile strength in the root system do not necessarily have the strongest root reinforcement [14,15]. Root cohesion is simultaneously affected by root area ratio and root tensile strength [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Root Distribution and Root Cohesion of Two Herbaceous Plants in the Loess Plateau of China

et al. 2022

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In order to understand the root morphology distribution and mechanical properties of typical herbaceous plants, and to evaluate the ability of soil reinforcement by the plant roots, root morphology investigation, single root tensile test in laboratory and root cohesion evaluation by the Wu-Waldron model were carried out on two local representative herbaceous plants, Kochia scoparia (L.) Schrad and Artemisia sacrorum Ledeb. in the Loess Plateau of China. The results showed that the root morphological indexes (root number, single root diameter, root cross-sectional area, root surface area, root volume and root area ratio) of the two herbaceous plants decreased with the increase in soil depth, and the ratio of root to shallow soil layer was the highest in the 0–10 cm soil layer. The efficiency of root reinforcement could be higher in the shallow soil layer less than 10 cm. A positive correlation was observed between the root tensile force and root diameter in power function or exponential function, and a negative correlation was observed between the root tensile strength and root diameter in power function. The root cohesion of Kochia scoparia (2.73 kPa, or 0.92 kPa–1.37 kPa) was greater than that of Artemisia sacrorum (1.60 kPa, or 0.54 kPa–0.8 kPa), which could be used as the preferred herbaceous plant species for soil erosion control. The results could provide a scientific basis for selecting dominant species in the fields of ecological slope protection and soil and water conservation plant engineering in the loess area.

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Estimation of soil reinforcement by the roots of four post-dam prevailing grass species in the riparian zone of Three Gorges Reservoir, China

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 25 publications

References 68 publications

Effects of animal grazing on vegetation biomass and soil moisture on a typical steppe in Inner Mongolia, China

Effects of animal grazing on vegetation biomass and soil moisture on a typical steppe in Inner Mongolia, China

How do root and soil characteristics affect the erosion-reducing potential of plant species?

Root Distribution and Root Cohesion of Two Herbaceous Plants in the Loess Plateau of China

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