A novel platform to quantify crack formation due to root water uptake
Soil structure play an important role for a productive and sustainable agriculture. It controls many processes in the soil and has a great impact on soil functions and related ecosystem services. Plants play an important role in soil structure dynamics. The soil structure changes due to plant water...
| Autor principal: | |
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| Formato: | Second cycle, A2E |
| Lenguaje: | sueco Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2019
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14338/ |
| _version_ | 1855572392446787584 |
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| author | Alexandersson, Susanne |
| author_browse | Alexandersson, Susanne |
| author_facet | Alexandersson, Susanne |
| author_sort | Alexandersson, Susanne |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | Soil structure play an important role for a productive and sustainable agriculture. It controls many processes in the soil and has a great impact on soil functions and related ecosystem services. Plants play an important role in soil structure dynamics. The soil structure changes due to plant water uptake, but the overall influence is still far from being fully understood. Both spatial and temporal quantifications of these dynamics are missing, partly because lack of appropriate methods.
The aims of the study were (i) to develop an experimental set-up that allows the study of crack formation around roots due to root water uptake at high spatial (10 µm) and temporal (2 min) resolution using automated RGB time-lapse imaging (ii) to conduct and evaluate the methodological approach. The experiment was carried out in a module-based imaging platform, which consists of a framework, cuvettes including inserted roots and soil, a drying system and an imaging system. This study tested the set-up (i.e. proof of concept) under different scenarios including two different soil types (clay and loam) and two levels of root water potentials (-350 kPa and -1500 kPa). The employed experimental method provided images every second minute over a time period of seven days. The experiment resulted in images with a quality to make visual assessments and quantifications of the emerging cracks.
The results showed that plant water uptake affects crack formation differently depending on soil type and root water potential. Soils with higher clay content and/or a lower root water potential induce more and relatively longer and wider cracks. This is expected as clay contains expansive properties of the soil and a lower root water potential dries the soil to a greater extent. Overall, the results demonstrate that the employed method is both useful and valid to study crack formation due to plant water uptake. It has the capacity to provide images with a quality to make visual assessments of crack formation and quantification of the spatial configuration of emerging cracks. |
| format | Second cycle, A2E |
| id | RepoSLU14338 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Swedish Inglés |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU143382020-10-06T14:13:09Z https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14338/ A novel platform to quantify crack formation due to root water uptake Alexandersson, Susanne Soil science and management Soil chemistry and physics Soil biology Soil structure play an important role for a productive and sustainable agriculture. It controls many processes in the soil and has a great impact on soil functions and related ecosystem services. Plants play an important role in soil structure dynamics. The soil structure changes due to plant water uptake, but the overall influence is still far from being fully understood. Both spatial and temporal quantifications of these dynamics are missing, partly because lack of appropriate methods. The aims of the study were (i) to develop an experimental set-up that allows the study of crack formation around roots due to root water uptake at high spatial (10 µm) and temporal (2 min) resolution using automated RGB time-lapse imaging (ii) to conduct and evaluate the methodological approach. The experiment was carried out in a module-based imaging platform, which consists of a framework, cuvettes including inserted roots and soil, a drying system and an imaging system. This study tested the set-up (i.e. proof of concept) under different scenarios including two different soil types (clay and loam) and two levels of root water potentials (-350 kPa and -1500 kPa). The employed experimental method provided images every second minute over a time period of seven days. The experiment resulted in images with a quality to make visual assessments and quantifications of the emerging cracks. The results showed that plant water uptake affects crack formation differently depending on soil type and root water potential. Soils with higher clay content and/or a lower root water potential induce more and relatively longer and wider cracks. This is expected as clay contains expansive properties of the soil and a lower root water potential dries the soil to a greater extent. Overall, the results demonstrate that the employed method is both useful and valid to study crack formation due to plant water uptake. It has the capacity to provide images with a quality to make visual assessments of crack formation and quantification of the spatial configuration of emerging cracks. Markstrukturen har stor betydelse för ett produktivt och hållbart jordbruk. Den kontrollerar många processer i marken och har stor inverkan på markens funktioner och relaterade ekosystemtjänster. Växter påverkar markstrukturen genom rötternas vattenupptag som orsakar sprickbildning. Det finns fortfarande kunskapsluckor över vattenupptagets fulla effekt på sprickbildning. Både spatiala och temporala kvantifieringar av denna dynamik saknas, vilket bland annat beror på att det saknas lämpliga metoder för att studera detta. Syftet med denna studie var (i) att utveckla en metod som möjliggör att studera sprickbildning runt om rötter till följd av rotvattenupptag vid hög spatial (10 µm) och temporal (2 min) upplösning, samt (ii) testa och utvärdera metoden. Experimentet genomfördes i en modulbaserad bildplattform, som består av en ramkonstruktion, kyvetter med artificiella rötter och jord, ett torkningssystem samt ett bildtagningssystem. Metoden testas under olika scenarier, som inkluderade två jordtyper med olika lerhalt och två nivåer av rotvattenpotentialer (-350kPa och 1500kPa). Metoden genererar bilder på kyvetterna varannan sekund över en tidsperiod på sju dagar. Bilder har tillräcklig hög kvalitét för att göra visuella bedömningar av sprickbildning men skapar även förutsättningar för kvantifiering av den spatiala konfigurationen av framträdande sprickor. Resultaten visade att växternas vattenupptag påverkar sprickbildningen och torkningen av jorden olika beroende av jordtyp och rotvattenpotential. En jord med högre lerhalt och/eller lägre rotvattenpotential inducerar fler och relativt större, i termer av längre och bredare, sprickor. Detta är förväntat eftersom lerpartiklar utgör de expansiva egenskaperna hos en jord samt att den lägre rotvattenpotentialen torkar ut jorden i en högre utsträckning. Sammantaget visar resultaten att den som används i denna studie är både användbar och tillförlitlig för att studera sprickbildning till följd av rotvattenupptag. 2019-03-26 Second cycle, A2E NonPeerReviewed application/pdf sv https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14338/1/alexandersson_s_190326.pdf Alexandersson, Susanne, 2019. A novel platform to quantify crack formation due to root water uptake. Second cycle, A2E. Uppsala: (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Soil and Environment <https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/view/divisions/OID-435.html> urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-10321 eng |
| spellingShingle | Soil science and management Soil chemistry and physics Soil biology Alexandersson, Susanne A novel platform to quantify crack formation due to root water uptake |
| title | A novel platform to quantify crack formation due to root water uptake |
| title_full | A novel platform to quantify crack formation due to root water uptake |
| title_fullStr | A novel platform to quantify crack formation due to root water uptake |
| title_full_unstemmed | A novel platform to quantify crack formation due to root water uptake |
| title_short | A novel platform to quantify crack formation due to root water uptake |
| title_sort | novel platform to quantify crack formation due to root water uptake |
| topic | Soil science and management Soil chemistry and physics Soil biology |
| url | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14338/ https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14338/ |