Abstract
Aims
This study experimentally investigated the short-term (about 6 months) effects of roots of Cynodon dactylon on the gas permeability and gas diffusion coefficient of soils with different degrees of compaction.
Methods
Compacted soil planted with Cynodon dactylon were left outdoors for about 6 months for plant growth. The measurements of rooted and bare soils included gas permeability, gas diffusion coefficient, root characteristics and soil microstructure. The relative effects of different root characteristic parameters on gas permeability and gas diffusion coefficient were compared through grey relational analysis.
Results
The root volume ratio had a greater effect on gas permeability and gas diffusion coefficient, compared with root area index, root area ratio, root length density, and root biomass ratio. When the degree of compaction ≥ 85% (porosity ≤ 0.41, bulk density ≥ 1.56 g cm−3), the macro-pores at the root–soil interface increased gas permeability and gas diffusion coefficient, while negligible effects of roots on gas movement existed under degree of compaction of 80%. The increase in gas permeability by roots was more significant than that in gas diffusion coefficient. However, roots’ increase of gas movement generally decreased at higher root volume ratio due to roots-occupied soil pores. Finally, gas permeability and gas diffusion coefficient of rooted soil were well predicted by newly-developed empirical models considering the effect of root volume ratio.
Conclusions
Macro-pores at the root–soil interface tended to increase gas permeability and gas diffusion coefficient of soil with a degree of compaction ≥ 85%, while it is the opposite for root volume ratio.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- A :
-
Cross-sectional area of a soil sample (0.005 m2)
- \(A\left({\alpha }_{1}\right)\) :
-
\(A\left({\alpha }_{1}\right)=-\frac{1}{{\beta }^{2}}-{\alpha }_{1}^{2}\)
- \(B\left({\alpha }_{1}\right)\) :
-
\(B\left({\alpha }_{1}\right)={\alpha }_{1}^{4}\beta +{\alpha }_{1}^{2}\left(\frac{2}{\beta }+1\right)+\frac{1}{{\beta }^{3}}+\frac{1}{{\beta }^{2}}\)
- C 0 :
-
Initial volumetric concentration of O2 (m3/m3) in the active chamber before the test
- C i :
-
O2 concentration in the active chamber after time t (m3/m3)
- D 0 :
-
Gas diffusion coefficient in free air (2.0 × 10−5 m2/s for O2 at 20 oC)
- D p :
-
Gas diffusion coefficient (m2/s)
- d :
-
Average particle diameter of the pore matrix (d50 = 0.7 mm)
- G( R v ) :
-
A function fitted according to the test data of rooted soil in Eq. (13)
- g( R v ) :
-
A function fitted according to the test data of rooted soil in Eq. (12)
- H :
-
Height of the active diffusion chamber (100 mm)
- k a :
-
Gas permeability (m2)
- L :
-
Half of the height of a soil sample (10 mm)
- Q :
-
Rate of air flow out of the active chamber (m3/s)
- R b :
-
Root biomass ratio
- R e :
-
Reynolds number of air flow
- R v :
-
Root volume ratio
- t :
-
Measurement duration (s)
- v :
-
Fluid velocity (m/s)
- X a :
-
A dimensionless constant representing the effects of water blockage on gas movement in Eq. (8)
- X r :
-
A function of a root characteristic parameter, \({X}_{r}=F({R}_{v})\)
- \({X}^{\prime}\) :
-
An empirical factor considering pore tortuosity in Eq. (11)
- \({X}_{r}^{\prime}\) :
-
A function of a root characteristic parameter, \({X}_{r}^{\prime}=G({R}_{v})\), see Eq. (17).
- x :
-
Height of a soil sample (0.02 m)
- \({\alpha }_{a}\) :
-
A constant reflecting the connectivity and tortuosity of soil pores (m2; see Eq. 8)
- \({\alpha }_{r}\) :
-
A function of a root characteristic parameter, \({\alpha }_{r}=f({R}_{v})\) (see Eq. 9)
- \({\alpha }_{1}^{2}\) :
-
\({\alpha }_{1}^{2}=\frac{1}{\beta }-\frac{1}{3{\beta }^{2}}+\frac{4}{45{\beta }^{3}}+\frac{16}{945{\beta }^{4}}\)
- \(\beta\) :
-
\(\beta =\frac{H}{L\varepsilon }\)
- \(\varepsilon\) :
-
Soil gas content (the volume of gas in a unit volume of soil; m3/m3)
- μ :
-
Dynamic viscosity of gas (Pa \(\cdot\) s)
- γ :
-
Kinematic viscosity of fluid (equal to 1.48 × 10−5 m2/s for air at 20 °C and an atmospheric pressure of 101.3 kPa)
- △P :
-
Gas pressure measured in the passive chamber (Pa)
- \({\varepsilon }_{\text{th}}\) :
-
Percolation threshold for bare soil, below which gas cannot diffuse via the gas phase in the soil
- \({\varepsilon }_{\text{th,}r}\) :
-
Percolation threshold for rooted soil
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Funding
This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 52178320 and 42177120), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2019YFC1806003), and the Chongqing Key Laboratory of Geomechanics & Geoenvironment Protection (LQ21KFJJ13).
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SF proposed the study conception and designed experiments; SFH and NKZ prepared the samples; SF, FQC and CWWN analyzed the data; SF, XQ, CWWN and SFH wrote and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Feng, S., Huang, S.F., Ng, C.W.W. et al. Roots of Cynodon dactylon increase gas permeability and gas diffusion coefficient of highly compacted soils. Plant Soil 492, 329–351 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06173-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06173-6