Gonzalez Ollauri, Alejandro

Mickovski, Slobodan

Tardio, Guillermo

English

Vegetation has the potential to reinforce the soil through the mechanical and hydrological effects of the roots. Increased soil strength would contribute towards reducing the risks of mass wasting on slopes in terms of erosion and shallow landslides. The investigations of the vegetation effects in the past have been usually restricted to either mechanical or hydrological and have usually been carried out at a micro, meso or macro scale. However, for full understanding of the effects of vegetation on and slope stability soil strength in general, a holistic approach should be used that will include investigations of the combined effects and at different scales. For this study we outline a number of novel methods and approaches that can be used to enhance the understanding of the mechanisms of soil root reinforcement. These methods range from micro scale assessment of suction stress induced by the vegetation, through meso scale assessment of root growth on slopes, to the macro scale assessment of slope stability risks. The results of this study show that multidisciplinary knowledge of the processes taking place at different scales is needed together with input from relevant disciplines in order to inform the geotechnical modelling and eco-engineering design

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Novel approaches to quantification of the vegetation effects on soil strength

https://researchonline.gcu.ac.uk/files/25263066/22_Mickovski_paper.pdf

Novel approaches to quantification of the vegetation effects on soil strength

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