Assessment of the morphological characteristics of native plant species for shallow landslide prevention

The study of the morphological characteristics of native species that are present in shallow landslide prone areas is an important factor for the selection of species to be used for soil conservation through soil bioengineering techniques. Previous research has assessed hydrological and mechanical effects of plant species; however, an overview of the morphological parameters of plant species focused on soil bioengineering is still lacking, this is crucial, especially when a long-term slope restoration system is required. Therefore, the aim of this research is to quantify the above ground (plant height, plant mass) and below ground (root diameter, root length and root number) morphological characteristics and to establish the relations with the appropriateness of a plant species as a soil bioengineering element. In total, 122 plant specimens distributed in 5 families, 6 genus and 5 species were registered and measured from the study area. Results showed that Boehmeria spicata could be a key species for the soil bioengineering, which morphology was found as follows: plant height of plant (15 ± 6.09 cm); root length (7.58 ± 5.58 cm); plant mass (1.65 ± 1.3 g); root diameter (1.48 ± 0.58 cm); root number (7 ± 2) and pull-out force (28.98 ± 13.96 N), showing a higher inclination to the canonical axe of number of roots, which resulted the variable with highest correlation with pull-out force.