Evaluation of age and moisture stress on the mechanical properties of Pinus eldarica Medw. seedling roots for plantation

The mechanical characteristics of roots can serve as a significant factor for selecting trees in the plantation of arid regions for soil bioengineering. This research aims to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of Tehran pine roots at various vegetative ages (one-year-old, three-year-old, and five-year-old seedlings) and under different water stress levels (light, medium, and severe) in Robat Karim. The mechanical properties of the roots were studied after estimating the water requirement of the studied seedlings at different ages for one year and based on the water stress levels. Then, five seedlings from each treatment (equal to 9 treatments) were selected and coded completely randomly to evaluate the water stress on the mechanical characteristics of the roots of Tehran pine. Initially, some root parameters such as root diameter, length of the whole root, length of thin roots, and length of the longest root were measured. Then the tensile force, tensile strength, and Young's modulus of the roots were measured and recorded using a standard Centam device. The results showed that with the increase in root diameter, the tensile force of the root changes based on the positive power relationship, and the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the root changes based on the negative power relationship. Furthermore, laboratory examinations showed that at any age, the length of the whole root and the root length densities are higher with the increase in water stress. The use of covariance analysis showed that the results of the average comparison between one-year-old age and mild drought stress, three-year-old age and moderate stress, and five-year-old age and severe stress are significant with a probability of 95%. The results of this research show that the mechanical characteristics of the root can be used as an important factor for the selection of pine seedlings in the afforestation of arid areas for soil bioengineering purposes. Therefore, it is recommended that these properties be considered in soil reinforcement modeling.