Physical mechanisms of plant roots affecting weathering and leaching of loess soil

Plant roots have potential impacts on soil mineral weathering and leaching. Our objective is to understand the physical mechanisms of plant roots affecting weathering and leaching of loess soil. Root densities were measured through the method of a large-size dug profile, and transport fluxes of soil elements were determined using an undisturbed monolith soil infiltration device on the hilly and gully regions of the Chinese Loess Plateau. The results show that the improvement effects of soil environment by plant roots are mainly controlled by the density and weight of the fibrous roots with the diameters less than 1 mm. Plant roots have the stronger effects on soil physical properties than chemical properties. The principal components analysis (PCA) indicates that soil physical properties by plant roots account for 56.7% of variations in soil environment whereas soil chemical properties and pH contribute about 24.2% of the soil variations. The roles of plant roots in controlling soil weathering and leaching increased in the following order: infiltration enhancement ＞ increase of bioactive substance ＞ stabilization of soil structure. The effects of plant roots on soil mineral weathering and leaching can be quantified using the multiple regression models with the high prediction accuracies developed in this study.