IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0151791.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of Root Moisture Content and Diameter on Root Tensile Properties

Author

Listed:
  • Yuanjun Yang
  • Lihua Chen
  • Ning Li
  • Qiufen Zhang

Abstract

The stabilization of slopes by vegetation has been a topical issue for many years. Root mechanical characteristics significantly influence soil reinforcement; therefore it is necessary to research into the indicators of root tensile properties. In this study, we explored the influence of root moisture content on tensile resistance and strength with different root diameters and for different tree species. Betula platyphylla, Quercus mongolica, Pinus tabulaeformis, and Larix gmelinii, the most popular tree species used for slope stabilization in the rocky mountainous areas of northern China, were used in this study. A tensile test was conducted after root samples were grouped by diameter and moisture content. The results showedthat:1) root moisture content had a significant influence on tensile properties; 2) slightly loss of root moisture content could enhance tensile strength, but too much loss of water resulted in weaker capacity for root elongation, and consequently reduced tensile strength; 3) root diameter had a strong positive correlation with tensile resistance; and4) the roots of Betula platyphylla had the best tensile properties when both diameter and moisture content being controlled. These findings improve our understanding of root tensile properties with root size and moisture, and could be useful for slope stabilization using vegetation.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuanjun Yang & Lihua Chen & Ning Li & Qiufen Zhang, 2016. "Effect of Root Moisture Content and Diameter on Root Tensile Properties," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0151791
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151791
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0151791
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0151791&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0151791?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alessio Cislaghi, 2021. "Exploring the variability in elastic properties of roots in Alpine tree species," Journal of Forest Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 67(7), pages 338-356.
    2. Jung-Tai Lee & Cheng-Ying Shih & Jia-Tsung Wang & You-Hua Liang & Yu-Shan Hsu & Ming-Jen Lee, 2022. "Root Traits and Erosion Resistance of Three Endemic Grasses for Estuarine Sand Drift Control," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Shusen Liu & Xiaodong Ji & Xiao Zhang, 2022. "Effects of Soil Properties and Tree Species on Root–Soil Anchorage Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-19, June.
    4. Jung-Tai Lee & Lin-Zhi Yen & Ming-Yang Chu & Yu-Syuan Lin & Chih-Chia Chang & Ru-Sen Lin & Kung-Hsing Chao & Ming-Jen Lee, 2020. "Growth Characteristics and Anti-Wind Erosion Ability of Three Tropical Foredune Pioneer Species for Sand Dune Stabilization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-15, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0151791. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.