Plant root traits affecting the resistance of soils to concentrated flow erosion

Abstract

The effect of plant species on erosion processes may be decisive for long‐term soil protection in degraded ecosystems. The identification of functional effect traits that predict species ability for erosion control would be of great interest for ecological restoration purposes. Flume experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of the root systems of three species having contrasted ecological requirements from eroded marly lands of the French Southern Alps [i.e. Robinia pseudo acacia (tree), Pinus nigra austriaca (tree) and Achnatherum calamagrostis (grass)], on concentrated flow erosion rates. Ten functional traits, describing plant morphological and biomechanical features, were measured on each tested sample. Analyses were performed to identify traits that determine plant root effects on erosion control. Erosion rates were lowest for samples of Robinia pseudo acacia, intermediate in Achnatherum calamagrostis and highest in Pinus nigra austriaca. The three species also differed strongly in their traits. Principal components analysis showed that the erosion‐reducing potential of plant species was negatively correlated to root diameter and positively correlated to the percentage of fine roots. The results highlighted the role of small flexible roots in root reinforcement processes, and suggested the importance of high root surface and higher tensile strength for soil stabilization. By combining flume experiment to plant functional traits measurements, we identified root system features influencing plant species performance for soil protection against concentrated flow erosion. Plant functional traits related to species efficiency for erosion control represent useful tools to improve the diagnosis of land vulnerability to erosion, plant community resistance and the prediction of ecosystem functioning after ecological restoration. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The nitrogen-fixing Frankia significantly increases growth, uprooting resistance and root tensile strength of Alnus formosana

“…Biomass of leaf, root, stem and root nodule was estimated by drying in a hot air oven at 75°C until a constant weight was obtained. Root functional characteristics, that is, root mass density (g dm -3 ), root length density (m dm -3 ), tissue mass density (g cm -3 ), specific root length (m g -1 ), and root to shoot ratio were computed (Stokes et al, 2009;Burylo et al, 2012;Gould et al, 2016). Live roots were also collected from sampled seedlings and prepared for subsequent tensile testing.…”

Uprooting resistance of two tropical tree species for sand dune stabilization

“…Then, roots and stems were dried in an oven at 75°C till constant weight for biomass measurement. Root functional traits, that is, root mass density (RD in kg m -3 , root dry mass per unit volume of soil), root length density (RLD in km m -3 , root length per unit volume of soil), root tissue density (RTD in g cm -3 , root dry mass per unit volume of root), specific root length (SRL in m g -1 , root length per unit root dry mass), and root to shoot ratio (R/S, dry root mass divided by dry leaf and shoot mass) were calculated (Stokes et al, 2009;Burylo et al, 2009Burylo et al, , 2012Poorter et al, 2012;Gould et al, 2016). All root traits were pooled together and analyzed.…”

Effect of Cynodon dactylon community on the conservation and reinforcement of riparian shallow soil in the Three Gorges Reservoir area

“…Characterization of the soil-root system in soil conservation and reinforcement Enhancement of soil scour resistance of the soil-root system was measured using the method of scouring soil samples with hydraulic flume based on the following calculation (Xu and Zeng 2008;Burylo et al 2012):…”

“…The detachment rate of samples was tested using the method described by Burylo et al (2012). Five soil-root system samples and one control sample were tested repeatedly at each altitude gradient.…”

“…Among these characteristics, root structure and distribution were directly related to the enhancement of the soil-root system on soil conservation Ji et al 2012;Ghestem et al 2014). Changes in the spatial distribution of plant community and plant roots caused by environmental changes influence significantly the effects of plant roots on slope stabilization (Cammeraat et al 2005;Normaniza et al 2008;Burylo et al 2012).…”