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Effect of root architecture on rainfall threshold for slope stability: variabilities in saturated hydraulic conductivity and strength of root-soil composite

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Abstract

Plant roots positively and negatively contribute to hillslope stability by the perspective of soil strength and water flow infiltration improvement. To further examine the controversy, this work addresses the six root architecture types on the rainfall threshold for slope stability by tests of saturated conductivity and shear strength of the root-soil composite. An infinite slope model and a 1D flow model combine to obtain the rainfall intensity-duration threshold of slope failure. The results reveal that the saturated hydraulic conductivity of root-soil composite is 1 to 4.23 times of bare soil, which increases as the length density, volume density, and volume fractal dimension of plant roots. Furthermore, plant roots can enhance the cohesion and angle of internal friction by 35.19–81.79% and 12.92–42.36%, respectively. Finally, the R-type and V-type roots have the most effective root architecture for hillslope stability. In the process of afforestation, H-type may be suitable for areas with soft slope, while V-type and R-type may be suitable for steep slopes. The results of this work present an interesting study on the interaction of plant roots on slope stability, which is worthy of further study in the future.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge three anonymous reviewers of this paper for their detailed remarks and helpful suggestions. Besides, the authors also appreciate the help from my colleagues during shear stress and saturated hydraulic conductivity tests.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2017YFC0505602), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.31971726), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Beijing Forestry University (No. 2018BLCB03).

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  1. Three Gorges Reservoir Area (Chongqing) Forest Ecosystem Research Station, School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Xinhao Wang, Chao Ma, Yunqi Wang, Yujie Wang, Tong Li, Zhisheng Dai & Muyang Li

  2. Department of Civil And Environmental Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, USA

    Chao Ma

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  1. Xinhao Wang
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  2. Chao Ma
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Correspondence to Chao Ma.

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Wang, X., Ma, C., Wang, Y. et al. Effect of root architecture on rainfall threshold for slope stability: variabilities in saturated hydraulic conductivity and strength of root-soil composite. Landslides 17, 1965–1977 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-020-01422-6

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