e c o l o g i c a l e n g i n e e r i n g 2 8 ( 2 0 0 6 ) 9095

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Parameters to predict slope stabilitySoil water and root proles

Normaniza Osman , S.S. Barakbah
Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

a r t i c l e
Article history:

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
A survey was conducted on ve slopes of differing slope integrity along the NorthSouth Expressway, Malaysia, to study the effects of vegetation on slope stability. Results showed signicant effects of vegetation cover on slope stability in two extreme slopes, type A and type E, which represented stable and failed slopes, respectively. The highest root length density (RLD) was observed in type A slope due to the high density of vegetation cover, which eventually resulted in a lower soil water content (SWC). In contrast, the low biomass density of type E slope possessed a low RLD but high SWC, characteristics of a failed slope.

Received 24 January 2006 Received in revised form 20 April 2006 Accepted 25 April 2006

Keywords: Ecological engineering Soilplantatmosphere continuum Root length density Soil penetrability Soil shear strength Abbreviations: FC, eld capacity; RLD, root length density; SWC, soil water content; WAC, water absorption capacity

Some correlations were also observed: RLD is positively related to shear strength and SWC is negatively related to both soil shear strength and soil penetrability. Thus, the study suggests that SWC and RLD could be used as indicators of slope stability and has the potential to predict slope failure in the future. 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1.

Introduction

The use of vegetation for preventing and controlling erosion to stabilize slopes has been practiced throughout the world. This new discipline has recently gained global recognition and given a new entity, Ecological engineering (Mitsch, 1998). It has been dened as the design of sustainable ecosystems that integrate human society with its natural environment for the benet of both. This soft approach of stabilizing slope confers numerous advantages, including high biodiversity, low maintenance, self-sustainability as well as being environmental-friendly.

The signicant contribution of vegetation towards slope stability can essentially be attributed to two major aspects: water relation element via soilplantatmosphere continuum (SPAC) (Coppin et al., 1990) and soil reinforcement by root system (Gray, 1995). Plants is a major component of SPAC, responsible for the suction force of water against gravity. By absorbing part of the ground water, plants thus play a signicant role towards the drying of slopes (Huang and Nobel, 1994). This absorbed soil water will subsequently be removed through the transpiration process into the atmosphere. Ultimately, this water cycle system would result in drier and more stable slopes. Concurrently, vegetation also contributes

Corresponding author. Tel.: +60 3 79674185; fax: +60 3 79674178. E-mail address: normaniza@um.edu.my (N. Osman).

0925-8574/$ see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2006.04.004

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to mass stability by increasing soil shear strength through root reinforcement (Gray, 1995). The frequency of slope failure tends to increase when trees are cut down and their roots decay. This gradual decay of interconnected root systems was the principal cause of increased slope failure (Abe, 1997). While the documentation is extensive in most parts of the developed world, it is lacking in the developing world. Slope problems vary between different geographical regions. For instance, in European countries, barren steep slopes are exposed to a range of uctuating temperatures and humidity, while in Malaysia, they are exposed to torrential rains with an annual average rainfall of 2500 mm. Thus, the hydrological inuence on slope stability in Malaysia becomes a crucial element and has been a major cause of previous disasters (Yoga, 2000). Due to this variability, the solutions are also different and have to be specically tailored. In addition, the slope stability issue is a new phenomenon in Malaysia as development of slopes on extensive scale has occurred only recently. Being new, there is a severe lack of empirical data regarding the attribution of plant cover on slope stability in Malaysia. Hence, it is essential to establish, inter alia, data on the function of soil water (e.g. SWC) and root (e.g. RLD) proles of slope stability. In view of this, this survey was designed to create baseline data on the relationship between SWC, RLD and slope stability. The vegetation attributes of slope stability were also presented in this study. Finally, the survey was also aimed determining whether the proles of the parameter studied could be used as slope stability indicators.

weight)/fresh weight] 100%. Field capacity (FC) of the soil was determined by pouring excess water into a container (10 cm 10 cm 15 cm) lled with soil so that the soil is supersaturated. The excess water was drained out through small holes at the bottom of the container. Once the water stopped dripping, this saturated soil was weighed (SW) and oven-dried at 80 C to obtain a constant dry weight (DW). FC was calculated by FC = [(SW DW)/SW] 100%. For RLD, roots in segmented soil were measured using a leaf area instrument (Image Analyser, Delta-T Devices, UK) with a soil volume of 950 cm3 .

2.2.2.

Soil penetrability

A penetrologger (Eijkelkamp Agrisearch Equipment, model 06.15, The Netherlands), was used to determine the resistance to penetration of soil. This equipment is able to penetrate up to 80 cm of soil depth using a 60 cone type (basal area of 1 cm2 ) with a constant speed of 2 cm/s.

2.2.3.

Shear strength

Shear strength was measured at 10 cm of soil depth by using a eld inspection vane tester (Eijkelkamp Agrisearch Equipment, model 14.05, The Netherlands), which can provide values ranging from 0 to 260 kPa (10%).

3.
3.1.

Results and discussion

Root length density (RLD)

2.
2.1.

Materials and methods

Description of the sites

This survey was carried out on slopes at ve different locations of differing integrity, from stable to failed slope, between 3 21 3 45 N and 101 27 101 33 E along the NorthSouth Expressway (refer Table 1).

2.2. 2.2.1.

Measurements Root and soil water proles

Cylindrical soil cores (11 cm diameter, 100 cm depth) were sampled (n = 3) using a soil-coring machine (Eijelkamp Agrisearch Equipment, Model Cobra, The Netherlands) to determine RLD (every 10 cm) and SWC (11 cm diameter 20 cm depth core). For SWC determination, samples were oven-dried (80 C) to a constant weight and calculated as [(fresh weight dry

The RLD of all slopes decreased with soil depth (Fig. 1). The results indicate that RLD of the bushy slope (type A) was the highest amongst the slopes. Its RLD was about twice that of moderate vegetated slopes and ve times higher than the RLD of the failed slope (Fig. 1). This trend of root proles is much related to the level of vegetation density in the particular slopes and the trend was observed as follows: total RLD (km m3 ): A (55.7) > B (26.3) > C (24.6) > D (22.1) > F (11.0). The results also showed that the highest RLD occurred at the rst 10 cm in all types of slopes (Fig. 1), contributing 71.688.4% of the total RLD. At this depth, the root system would extensively reinforce the soil at the upper soil level and also protect the soil mass beneath (Coppin et al., 1990). The combined effects of vertical root anchorage and lateral root traction are signicant in prohibiting instability (Schroeder, 1985). This root co-operation facilitates the uprooting resistance of individual root and this additive effect of the roots enhances the soilroot reinforcement (Bailey et al., 2002).

Table 1 Description of the slope types along the NorthSouth Expressway Location north-bound (NB)/south-bound (SB) Type of Vegetation Vegetation type (prominent slope cover (%) (30 m2 ) species)
KM 386.6 NB (101 27 KM 436.6 NB (101 33 KM 404.0 NB (101 32 KM 423.4 SB (101 32 KM 397.8 SB (101 30 23.9 E; 03 45 10.4 N) 12.1 E; 03 21 28.6 N) 4.4 E; 03 37 13.2 N) 27 E; 03 28 1.9 N) 34.2 E; 03 40 10.6 N) A B C D E 100 100 100 80 <30 Diverse species (13 m in height) Diverse species (<1 m in height) Fern, Melastoma sp. Melastoma sp., grasses Grasses

State of slope
Intact Intact Intact Intact Failed

Slope angle ( )
40 35 40 38 32

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Fig. 2 Soil water content () and eld capacity (- - -) of the studied slopes. It is noted that the type E slope was virtually saturated at most depths, in fact super-saturated at 60 cm. Arrows indicate mean of SWC. Fig. 1 Root prole of the slope studied ( A, B, C, D, and E). The highest RLD was observed at the rst 10 cm of soil depth in all type of slopes. Each point represents the mean of four determinations.

Hence, high RLD would be one of the characteristics of sustainable slopes.

3.2.

Soil water content (SWC)

In general, the range of SWC values in all type of slopes, except type E, was lower than the eld capacity (Table 2). The saturation level of the most stable slope, type A, was 58.1% (median), while the moderated slopes (BD) were about 7889% which also indicated the level of stability is outstanding as they are unlikely to fail. However, it was observed that the failed slope (type E) had the highest SWC (at all soil depths), with more than twice that of the stable slope (type A, Fig. 2). The soil was super-saturated at 60 cm soil depth and virtually saturated at others (Fig. 2). The low root density (Fig. 1) of the failed slope presumably caused low water absorption capacity (WAC) which resulted in a saturated (100% saturation level, Table 2) and unstable slope. The ow of water from the higher ground exerts weight and pressure on soil particles, consequently impairing the stability of the slope. Conversely, the type A slope showed the lowest range of SWC, presumably due to the dense vegetation cover above ground as well as extensive root system below the ground. Thus, this will lead to the enhancement of water absorption capacity (WAC) by the extensive root system and a higher leaf area for the transpiration process (Normaniza, 1998).

Fig. 3 Soil penetrability of the studied slopes ( type A, type B, type C, type D, and * type E).

3.3.

Soil penetrability

Most of the slopes studied (except type C) showed a parabolic relationship between penetrability and soil depth (Fig. 3). The penetrability of these slopes increased up to certain soil depth and decreased beyond that. The increased penetrability is pre-

Table 2 Soil water content (%) and eld capacity (in parentheses) of the slopes studied Slope type
A B C D E

Range
15.920.7 (27.735.3) 21.525.5 (29.231.4) 28.234.3 (33.636.8) 20.722.8 (25.130.9) 45.448.3 (44.049.4)

Mean
17.8 (32.0) 23.8 (30.5) 31.5 (35.4) 21.4 (27.6) 46.5 (46.6)

Median
18.3 (31.5) 23.5 (30.3) 31.3 (35.2) 21.8 (28.0) 46.9 (46.9)

% Saturation (median)
58.1 77.6 88.9 77.9 100.0

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sumably brought about by the tensile property of the higher roots and the increase in rootsoil bond (Zhou et al., 1997). The lateral roots from neighbouring plants (include in the core) may produce a maximum bonding force of the soilroot interface to balance the stronger sliding or pulling force. Thus, this binding effect creates maximum resistance by the roots to increased penetrability, while the decreased value beyond 50 cm (types B and E) and 60 cm (type D) of soil depth (Fig. 3) may be attributed to high SWC at those depths. On the other hand, the failed slope (type E) had the lowest range of penetrability (Fig. 3), possibly due to its lower RLD and higher SWC. For the type C slope, a positive relationship was observed between its penetrability and soil depth. The increment of penetrability with soil depth is similar in trend to the root prole (second highest amongst the plots at all soil depth) of the slope.

Fig. 4 Shear strength value (kPa) at 10 cm of soil depth (n = 8). Vertical bars represent standard deviation.

3.4.

Shear strength
decreased the frictional shear strength due to the buoyant reduction in normal force. The saturated soil could also destroy the capillarity and apparent cohesion of the soil. The shear strength of type A slope was signicantly higher than that of type E but signicantly lower than the shear strengths

The result showed that there was a signicant difference amongst the slopes studied (LSDp<0.05 = 8.8). The failed slope had the lowest value of shear strength (Fig. 4), possibly due to high SWC (nearly 50%, Fig. 2) (Head, 1980) and low RLD (Schroeder, 1985). Saturation of a soil in the failed slope

Fig. 5 Correlations between the parameters studied.

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Table 3 Characteristics of a stable and failed slope Parameter

RLD (km m3 ) SWC (%) Saturation level (%) Shear strength (kPa)

Stable
55.7 15.920.7 57.458.6 46.1 3.4

Failed
11.0 45.448.3 97.8103.2 25.7 3.8

of other moderate density slopes. This could possibly be due to the shear force of type A slope (beyond 10 cm) was enhanced as the vertical roots penetrate deeper into the ground and reinforced the soil. Whilst, the higher shear strength of moderate density slopes (types BD) implied the importance of root system as erosion control in these slopes. Since the mode of measurement is limited up to 10 cm of soil depth, these slopes is anticipated to have higher soilroot reinforcement at this particular soil level compared to those in type A slope.

4.

Correlations between parameters

Some correlations amongst the stability parameters were analysed. Similar to most other studies (e.g. Materechera and Mloza-Blanda, 1997), penetrability of all slopes was found to be inversely related to SWC (Fig. 5a) (r = 0.71, p < 0.05). The penetrability increases as SWC decreases, implying that low penetrability can be a sign of saturated soil, a feature of a failing slope. However, no relationship was observed between penetrability and RLD (Fig. 5b). Root characteristics including type, shape and distribution may also inuence the root effects on penetrability (Schiechtl and Stern, 1996). There is also a negative relationship between SWC and shear strength up to the value of 50 kPa (Fig. 5c). However, beyond this point, the shear strength was constant. The shear strength is consistently low beyond 27%, implying the critical value of SWC which inuences soil penetrability. In contrast, a positive relationship is observed between shear strength and RLD (Fig. 5d) (r = 0.95, p < 0.05). A dense root density could help to reinforce the soil by increasing its shear strength. Dwyer et al. (1988) also indicated that maximum rooting development increases with decreasing availability of soil water. This phenomenon may contribute to the ow of water in the soilplantatmosphere continuum (SPAC) and help avoid the super-saturated condition of the slope. The results also show that RLD can be used as a determining factor in the stability of any slope.

to produce a ow in the SPAC (Huang and Nobel, 1994). It has been shown that 99% of water lost is due to transpiration and only 1% is due to evaporation (Hazlifah, 1995). In addition, vegetation on the type A slope may inuence the pore pressure and suction largely through its contribution to evapotranspiration and interception. A fraction of precipitation is intercepted by the leaves of vegetation. It is retained there and a part of it is evaporated, resulting in a drier and more stable slope. In contrast, the low vegetation biomass (<30% of slope grass covered) of a failed slope implies a low RLD, which will presumably lead to a low WAC by the roots. This phenomenon indicated a reduction in the water ow continuum, which ultimately saturated the soil. The high saturation level of this type of slope (Table 3) showed this. Concomitant to this high saturation level, the soil shear strength of the failed slope was observed to be the lowest amongst all the slopes studied (Table 3; Fig. 5a, c and d). The results also show moderate range of both RLD and SWC in the moderate vegetated slopes. This must be due to the type and coverage of vegetation which dominate most part of the slopes (Table 1). Moreover, the moderate root prole may absorb water from the ground at slower rate as compared to the extensive root prole (of type A) which ultimately resulted in higher saturation range of about 7788% (Table 2) in moderate vegetated slopes. However, these three slopes are stable in spite of higher saturation levels.

6.

Conclusion

From the ecological engineering perspective, this novel survey in Malaysia has revealed some important baseline data: (1) In the case of Malaysias weather conditions, the slopes studied interestingly showed a critical SWC value at 27%; (2) The SWC of the slopes affected the penetrability of the soil, showing a very strong negative relationship between these parameters (r = 0.71); (3) RLD was found to be a highly positive related to the shear strength of the slopes (r = 0.95); (4) The extensive RLD of a stable slope is due to the plant biomass density of the slope; (5) Type and vegetation coverage indirectly enhance the water movement from soil to the atmosphere and directly enhance slope shear strength and ultimately inuence the stability of the slope. Hence, the results strongly implied that both parameters studied, SWC and RLD, could be used as indicators of slope stability. Therefore, the authors strongly suggest that the evaluation of these parameters be adapted in future assessments of slope stability and prediction of slope failure.

5.

Discussions

The overall results show that there is a clear effect of vegetation cover on the two slope stability functions: SWC and RLD. The qualitative characteristics of the various types of slopes in relation to values of the parameters studied could be observed signicantly in the two extremes, type A and type E, representing stable and failed slopes, respectively (Table 3). The SWC and the total RLD of type A slope were 15.920.7% and 55.7 km m3 , respectively, as opposed to 45.448.3% and 11.0 km m3 of type E slope (Table 3). The stable slope was primarily due to a high biomass, which likely resulted in a high soil water loss through transpiration. This phenomenon would demand a large amount of water absorption by the root

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Universiti Malaya for a vote-F research grant throughout this project. The authors are also grateful to PLUS (NorthSouth Expressway Project) Berhad for the use of their equipment.

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