Reducing drought vulnerability of forest soils using Xanthan gum-based soil conditioners

Smolar, Jasna (author), Fortuna, Barbara (author), Logar, Janko (author), Sorze, Alessandro (author), Valentini, Francesco (author), Maček, Matej (author), Pulko, Boštjan (author)

Climate change increases the frequency and severity of droughts in many parts of Europe, thereby affecting the availability of water resources. Therefore, preserving the soil water content is essential for maintaining forest diversity and plant vitality. To improve soil hydraulic properties and reduce drought vulnerability, three xanthan-gum-based soil conditioners (SC_R, SC_CG, and SC_ZZC) were developed under the European ONEforest project. These soil conditioners (SCs), including oxide ash and cellulose fibres of different lengths, differ in their filler properties. This study evaluated the performance of these soil conditioners in forest soils in Slovenia (S1), Spain (S2), and Germany (S3). Water absorption, water retention, hydraulic conductivity, seed germination, and plant growth in the untreated soils and mixtures were analysed.

• Language: English
• Keywords: soil conditioners, xanthan gum, forest soils, soil water retention curve, hydraulic conductivity, seed germination, plant growth
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FGG - Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: 15 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 10, iss. 21 , art. e39974
• UDC: 624.13
• ISSN on article: 2405-8440
• DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39974
• COBISS.SI-ID: 214071811
• Publication date in RUL: 07.11.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Heliyon
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 2405-8440
• COBISS.SI-ID: 21607432

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: dodatki k zemljinam, ksantan, gozdne zemljine, retencijska krivulja, vodoprepustnost, kaljenje, rast rastlin

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: H2020
• Project number: 101000406
• Name: A Multi-Criteria Decision Support System for Common Forest Management to Strengthen Forest Resilience, Harmonize Stakeholder Interests, and Ensure Sustainable Wood Flows
• Acronym: ONEForest

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0180
• Name: Water Science and Technology, and Geotechnical Engineering: Tools and Methods for Process Analyses and Simulations, and Development of Technologies