Understanding the role of soil biota in relation to plant roots in sustainable geotechnical engineering perspective

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4. Understanding the role of soil biota in relation to plant roots in sustainable geotechnical engineering perspective

The conventional approach in geotechnical engineering often overlooks the upper soil layers, which are teeming with a diverse array of organisms. Most of the theories of soil mechanical behaviour were developed for water-saturated unstructured (unaggregated) soils, while properties of structured unsaturated upper soil layers are less predictable due to the influence of biota and climate. With a growing demand for sustainability and nature-based solutions, it is useful to incorporate in design considerations that soil is alive and analyze how soil-inhabiting organisms may contribute to its mechanical properties on different spatial and temporal scales. Plants are the main producers of organic matter in the form of root exudates, dead roots, and litter accumulation, while heterotrophic soil-inhabiting bacteria, fungi and fauna are main consumers interconnected in food webs. Plants significantly influence soil mechanical properties through the structural reinforcement provided by roots. Mechanical effect of roots on the shear strength of soil is considered in geotechnical applications for slope stability improvement. Roots are known to change and affect soil hydraulic properties. Less is known regarding the effect of root exudates. Here we suggest that root exudates may either glue or lubricate the contact between soil particles based on the stage of growth of the plant and provide preliminary results to answer this question.

2025 International Conference on Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (ICBBG2025)

General session: Fundamental research on biogeotechnics