Pedosphere 10(2): 183--188, 2000
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2000 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Effect of plant roots on penetrability and anti-scouribility of red soil derived from granite |
| WU Wei-Dong1, ZHENG Shi-Zhang1, LU Zhi-Hong1 and ZHANG Tao-Lin2 |
1 Institute of Resouree and Environmental Science, Jiangxi Agmcultural University, Nanchang 330045 (China)
2 Institute of Soil Science, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 821, Nanjing 210008 (China) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Distribution of plant roots in a red soil derived from granite was investigated to study the effect of plant roots on intensifying soil penetrability and anti-scouribility by the double-cutting-ring and the undisturbed soil-flume methods, respectively. The plant roots system consisting mostly of fibrils, < 1 mm in diameter, was mainly distributed in the upper surface soil 30 cm in depth. It can remarkably increase the penetrability and anti-scouribility of the red soil derived from granite. When the root density was > 0.35 root cm-2, the intensifying effect of roots on both the penetrability and the anti-scouribility could be described by exponent equations, ΔKs = 0.0021RD1.4826 (R2 = 0.9313) and ΔAs = 0.0003RD1.8478 (R2 = 0.9619), where ΔKs is the value of intensified soil penetrability, ΔAs the value of intensified soil anti-scouribility and RD the root density, especially in the top soils within 30 cm in depth where plant roots were concentrated. |
| Key Words: anti-scouribility, granite, penetrability, plant roots, red soil |
| Citation: Wu, W. D., Zheng, S. Z., Lu, Z. H. and Zhang, T. L. 2000. Effect of plant roots on penetrability and anti-scouribility of red soil derived from granite. Pedosphere. 10(2): 183-188. |
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