Special Issue on Atmosphere-Plant-Soil Interactions in Geotechnical Engineering

Introduction:

As the world experiences increasing industrialization, concrete, and steel have become key materials in various types of infrastructural development and construction projects, including initiatives aimed at improving slope stability. The mechanical properties of these man-made materials are highly controllable and predictable, providing engineers and designers with a heightened sense of safety and security. Nonetheless, there are concerns that center around the pursuit of environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions for various engineering challenges.

The desire of the general public to create a sustainable world for future generations has progressively spurred both governments and engineers to reevaluate vegetation as an engineering material. Soil bioengineering using vegetation can potentially offer an environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and aesthetically pleasant solution for enhancing the stability of shallow soil slopes, as well as controlling surface erosion caused by wind and water movements.

The theme of this special issue is “Atmosphere-Plant-Soil Interactions in Geotechnical Engineering”. We invite contributions that explore relevant content in this context.

Topics covered:

• Hydro-mechanical reinforcement of plants
• Water and air migration in unsaturated vegetated soils
• Stability analysis of vegetated slopes
• Role of vegetation in soil erosion control
• Plant root-bacteria-soil interactions in rhizosphere soil
• Interactions between plant root and biochar-based materials
• Influence of root exudates on unsaturated soil behavior
• Phytoremediation of contaminated soils
• Water purification using hydrophyte
• Constitutive and numerical modeling of root-permeated soils

This issue welcomes articles on soil bioengineering using vegetation for geotechnical infrastructures. Contributions from engineers and related researchers and multidisciplinary submissions are encouraged.

Important Deadlines:

• Submission deadline: 30 June 2024
• (If applicable) Publication date: 30 October 2024

Submission Instructions: Please read the Guide for Authors before submitting. All articles should be submitted online, please select “Atmosphere-Plant-Soil Interactions in Geotechnical Eng “ on submission.

Guest Editors:

• Junjun Ni, Southeast University, Nanjing, China. Email: nijunjun@seu.edu.cn
• Anthony Leung, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, Email: ceanthony@ust.hk
• Viroon Kamchoom, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand. Email: viroon.ka@kmitl.ac.th

Relevant topics and keywords:

Soil bioengineering, Atmosphere-Plant-Soil Interactions, Phytoremediation, Root exudates and bacteria, Biochar-based materials, Soil Erosion Control, Slope Stability, Constitutive and numerical modeling