Evaluation of the root system of Vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides L. Roberty) using different sampling methods

• Published in: Environmental systems research Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 1 - 15
• Main Authors: Holanda, Francisco Sandro Rodrigues, Santos, Luiz Diego Vidal, Pedrotti, Alceu, de Araújo Filho, Renisson Neponuceno, Sartor, Lucas Resmini, Santos-Sobrinho, Valter Rubens Alcantara, de Jesus, Rayssa Juliane Souza, de Oliveira Silva, Priscila Angel, Andrade, Keila Maria Araújo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-12-2022; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Area; Augers; Bioengineering; Chrysopogon zizanioides; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Evaluation methodologies; Grasses; Methods; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Physical characteristics; Plant roots; Root length; Roots; Sampling; Sampling methods; Spatial distribution; Technical information; Evaluation methodologies; Plant roots; Root length
• ISSN: 2193-2697; 2193-2697
• DOI: 10.1186/s40068-022-00262-8

Background
Vetiver grass (
Chrysopogon zizanioides
L. Roberty) is one of the most studied and applied species in soil bioengineering techniques all over the world, but there are technical information related to its root system deserving a better comprehension provided by different methodologies’. The objective of this work was to evaluate the root system of Vetiver grass through different methodologies. The trench method evaluated 50 images in 10 × 10 cm squares in its vertical face. The volumetric ring method uses a metallic ring with a volume of 50 cm
3
(diameter ≅ 4.6 cm and height ≅ 3.0 cm) to collect samples in the same trench’s vertical face. A hand auger hole method worked with soil samples and roots removed from the surface up to 0.50 m depth. The monolith method comprises a 0.50 m wide, 0.50 m long, and 1 m deep monolith. A spatial correlation between root volume and root area was observed in the kriging maps by the volumetric ring method.
Results
The root area values for both the volumetric ring method and the hand auger hole method were similar, up to 0.10 to 0.20 m. On the analyzed variables, the root area showed the best correlation coefficient among the root methods, especially those that use the limited spatial distribution by its sampling collection, such as the volumetric ring method and the hand auger hole method (r = 0.526, p < 0.05).
Conclusions
The studied methods can be separated in different groups, such as those that provide more detailed information on the behavior and distribution of the root system, like trench and monolith methods and the methods that better describe the morphological characteristics of the features, like the volumetric ring method. Both require greater spatial coverage, and therefore have greater precision.