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Difference of anti-fracture mechanical characteristics between lateral-root branches and adjacent upper straight roots of four plant species in vigorous growth period.

LIU Peng-fei1, LIU Jing1*, ZHU Hong-hui1, ZHANG Xin2, ZHANG Ge3, LI You-fang1, SU Yu1, WANG Chen-jia1   

  1. (1College of Ecology and Environmental Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, China; 2Institute of Water Resources for Pasturing Area of the Ministry of Water Resources, Hohhot 010010, China; 3Experimental Center for Desert Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Dengkou 015200, Inner Mongolia, China)
  • Online:2016-01-18 Published:2016-01-18

Abstract: Taking four plant species, Caragana korshinskii, Salix psammophila, Hippophae rhamnides and Artemisia sphaerocephala, which were 3-4 years old and in vigorous growth period, as test materials, the antifracture forces of lateral-root branches and adjacent upper straight roots were measured with the self-made fixture and the instrument of TY 8000. The lateralroot branches were vital and the diameters were 1-4 mm. The results showed that the anti-fracture force and antifracture strength of lateralroot branches were lesser than those of the adjacent upper straight roots even though the average diameter of lateralroot branches was greater. The ratios of anti-fracture strength of lateral-root branches to the adjacent upper straight roots were 71.5% for C. korshinskii, 62.9% for S. psammophila, 45.4% for H. rhamnides and 35.4% for A. sphaerocephala. For the four plants, the antifracture force positively correlated with the diameter in a power function, while the antifracture strength negatively correlated with diameter in a power function. The antifracture strengths of lateralroot branches and adjacent upper straight roots for the four species followed the sequence of C. korshinskii (33.66 and 47.06 MPa)>S. psammophila (17.31 and 27.54 MPa)> H. rhamnides (3.97 and 8.75 MPa)> A. sphaerphala (2.18 and 6.15 MPa).