Plant Adaptation and Soil Shear Strength: Unraveling the Drought Legacy in <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i>
Climate change has led to an increasing frequency of droughts, potentially undermining soil stability. In such a changing environment, the shallow reinforcement effect of plant roots often fails to meet expectations. This study aims to explore whether this is associated with the alteration of plant...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Plants |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/2/179 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832587621778325504 |
|---|---|
| author | Hao Jiang Xiaoqing Chen Gang Xu Jiangang Chen Dongri Song Ming Lv Hanqing Guo Jingyi Chen |
| author_facet | Hao Jiang Xiaoqing Chen Gang Xu Jiangang Chen Dongri Song Ming Lv Hanqing Guo Jingyi Chen |
| author_sort | Hao Jiang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate change has led to an increasing frequency of droughts, potentially undermining soil stability. In such a changing environment, the shallow reinforcement effect of plant roots often fails to meet expectations. This study aims to explore whether this is associated with the alteration of plant traits as a response to environmental change. Focusing on <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i>, a species known for its robust root system that plays a crucial role in soil consolidation and slope stabilization, thereby reducing soil and water erosion, we simulated a drought-rewetting event to assess the legacy effects of drought on the soil shear strength and the mechanical and hydrological traits associated with the reinforcement provided by <i>A. fruticosa</i>. The results show that the legacy effect of drought significantly diminishes the soil shear strength. Pretreated with drought, plant roots undergo morphological alterations such as deeper growth, yet the underground root biomass and diameter decline, thereby influencing mechanical reinforcement. Chemical composition analysis indicates that the plant’s adaptation to drought modifies the intrinsic properties of the roots, with varying impacts on different root types and overall reinforcement. Concurrently, the stomatal conductance and transpiration rate of leaves decrease, weakening the capacity to augment soil matric suction through transpiration and potentially reducing hydrological reinforcement. Although rewetting treatments aid in recovery, drought legacy effects persist and impact plant functional attributes. This study emphasizes that, beyond soil matric suction, plant adaptive mechanisms in response to environmental changes may also contribute significantly to reduced soil shear strength. Consequently, ecological restoration strategies should consider plant trait adaptations to drought, enhancing root systems for soil conservation and climate resilience. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0afc22012c514a20b85438729afd91da |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj-art-0afc22012c514a20b85438729afd91da2025-01-24T13:46:38ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472025-01-0114217910.3390/plants14020179Plant Adaptation and Soil Shear Strength: Unraveling the Drought Legacy in <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i>Hao Jiang0Xiaoqing Chen1Gang Xu2Jiangang Chen3Dongri Song4Ming Lv5Hanqing Guo6Jingyi Chen7State Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Engineering Resilience, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610299, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Engineering Resilience, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610299, ChinaSchool of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Engineering Resilience, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610299, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Engineering Resilience, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610299, ChinaKey Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610299, ChinaKey Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610299, ChinaKey Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610299, ChinaClimate change has led to an increasing frequency of droughts, potentially undermining soil stability. In such a changing environment, the shallow reinforcement effect of plant roots often fails to meet expectations. This study aims to explore whether this is associated with the alteration of plant traits as a response to environmental change. Focusing on <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i>, a species known for its robust root system that plays a crucial role in soil consolidation and slope stabilization, thereby reducing soil and water erosion, we simulated a drought-rewetting event to assess the legacy effects of drought on the soil shear strength and the mechanical and hydrological traits associated with the reinforcement provided by <i>A. fruticosa</i>. The results show that the legacy effect of drought significantly diminishes the soil shear strength. Pretreated with drought, plant roots undergo morphological alterations such as deeper growth, yet the underground root biomass and diameter decline, thereby influencing mechanical reinforcement. Chemical composition analysis indicates that the plant’s adaptation to drought modifies the intrinsic properties of the roots, with varying impacts on different root types and overall reinforcement. Concurrently, the stomatal conductance and transpiration rate of leaves decrease, weakening the capacity to augment soil matric suction through transpiration and potentially reducing hydrological reinforcement. Although rewetting treatments aid in recovery, drought legacy effects persist and impact plant functional attributes. This study emphasizes that, beyond soil matric suction, plant adaptive mechanisms in response to environmental changes may also contribute significantly to reduced soil shear strength. Consequently, ecological restoration strategies should consider plant trait adaptations to drought, enhancing root systems for soil conservation and climate resilience.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/2/179adaptive strategydrought-rewetting processroot plasticityroot reinforcementsoil shear strength |
| spellingShingle | Hao Jiang Xiaoqing Chen Gang Xu Jiangang Chen Dongri Song Ming Lv Hanqing Guo Jingyi Chen Plant Adaptation and Soil Shear Strength: Unraveling the Drought Legacy in <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i> Plants adaptive strategy drought-rewetting process root plasticity root reinforcement soil shear strength |
| title | Plant Adaptation and Soil Shear Strength: Unraveling the Drought Legacy in <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i> |
| title_full | Plant Adaptation and Soil Shear Strength: Unraveling the Drought Legacy in <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i> |
| title_fullStr | Plant Adaptation and Soil Shear Strength: Unraveling the Drought Legacy in <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Plant Adaptation and Soil Shear Strength: Unraveling the Drought Legacy in <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i> |
| title_short | Plant Adaptation and Soil Shear Strength: Unraveling the Drought Legacy in <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i> |
| title_sort | plant adaptation and soil shear strength unraveling the drought legacy in i amorpha fruticosa i |
| topic | adaptive strategy drought-rewetting process root plasticity root reinforcement soil shear strength |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/2/179 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT haojiang plantadaptationandsoilshearstrengthunravelingthedroughtlegacyiniamorphafruticosai AT xiaoqingchen plantadaptationandsoilshearstrengthunravelingthedroughtlegacyiniamorphafruticosai AT gangxu plantadaptationandsoilshearstrengthunravelingthedroughtlegacyiniamorphafruticosai AT jiangangchen plantadaptationandsoilshearstrengthunravelingthedroughtlegacyiniamorphafruticosai AT dongrisong plantadaptationandsoilshearstrengthunravelingthedroughtlegacyiniamorphafruticosai AT minglv plantadaptationandsoilshearstrengthunravelingthedroughtlegacyiniamorphafruticosai AT hanqingguo plantadaptationandsoilshearstrengthunravelingthedroughtlegacyiniamorphafruticosai AT jingyichen plantadaptationandsoilshearstrengthunravelingthedroughtlegacyiniamorphafruticosai |