Paper birch and lodgepole pine root reinforcement in coarse-, medium-, and fine-textured soils

Abstract

The increased soil cohesion or reinforcement provided by roots varies among plant species and soil types. This study compared the contribution of paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) roots to soil shear resistance in two controlled environment experiments. Roots of paper birch and lodgepole pine trees contributed to a significant increase in soil shear resistance, regardless of soil type. At a shear depth of 0.20 to 0.44 m, paper birch contributed greater reinforcement than lodgepole pine. Both birch and pine provided the most root reinforcement in coarse-textured soil and the least reinforcement in medium-textured silt soil. Soil texture, porosity, and shear strength may have affected root branching of the two species, which in turn may have affected root reinforcement. At less than 1 year of age, paper birch trees planted as plugs can substantially increase soil shear strength compared with lodgepole pine in all soil types.

The Influence of Cellulose Content on Tensile Strength in Tree Roots

“…Nutrient supply, fertility and soil acidity all influence root growth (Fitter and Stickland, 1991;Gersani and Sachs, 1992;Gruber, 1994). Soil physical properties such as soil bulk density and strength are also important factors affecting both shoot and root growth (Campbell and Hawkins, 2003;Goodman and Ennos, 1999). In our study, samples were collected from two different habitats.…”

Soft-riser bench terrace design for the hilly loess region of Shaanxi Province, China

“…Afforestation can help conserve soil on degraded land by reducing soil erosion (Oscar, 2001), increasing soil organic matter, improving soil structure (Clark and Clark, 2000), assisting in nutrient cycling (Thomas, 2001), and improving landscape (Franco et al, 2003) and climate (Kooten et al, 2002) cultivate livelihoods in agroforestry that reduce pressure on forested lands (Ivanko, 2001). The increased soil cohesion or reinforcement provided by roots varies among plant species and soil types (Campbell and Hawkins, 2003;Thapa, 2003). Hedges are water and soil erosion control technology that have been widely used in the tropics and that are now a recognised type of conservation buffer in the United States (Dabney et al, 1999).…”

Slope aspect affects geomorphic dynamics of coal mining spoil heaps in Belgium

“…Tree cover on spoil heaps, on the other hand, impedes rill erosion, which may well be related to the shallow roots of the dominant birch trees. Whereas other stabilisation properties of birch have been studied in detail (Peltola et al, 2000;Campbell and Hawkins, 2003), its impeding effect on rill erosion seems not to have been researched. On burning spots of spoil heaps, trees are absent and grass will not prevent such areas from sliding, rather it will enhance infiltration (Descheemaeker et al, 2009).…”