Roots Characteristics of a flexible and mature vegetation: Preliminary results of experimental investigation in a meandering laboratory flume

Abstract

Vegetation controls sediment dynamics and affects the kinematic characteristics of flow in rivers. The uprooting mechanism is strongly affected by mechanical properties, morphology and branching of the roots system. This work presents preliminary results of experimental work conducted in a laboratory meandering flume. The work aims to investigate how the geometrical and mechanical characteristics of the roots of a real, flexible and mature vegetation could vary along the bend. Results show that both the geometrical and the mechanical characteristics of the roots assume higher/lower values in peculiar sections of the bend suggesting that they could be affected by the kinematic characteristic of flow.