Abstract
Background
Urban trees are commonly impacted by construction activities. Often, damage occurs below ground, as trenching, grading, and excavation activities disrupt tree root systems.
Methods
In this study, 30 Acer rubrum L. were intentionally damaged by simulated trenching treatments. Treatments were randomly assigned at 1× (n = 10), 3× (n = 10), or 5× (n = 10) stem diameter away from the base of the tree. Root systems and severed roots were excavated, cleaned, and digitized using photogrammetry to assess losses in root volume. This measure, as well as changes in bending stress, were compared among the 3 treatments.
Results
The 1× and 3× treatments exhibited the highest bending stress loss (%), correlating with the highest observed root loss. A positive relationship was noted between root volume loss and bending stress reduction (r2 = 0.5466).
Conclusions
These results support previous studies that utilized similar trenching treatments on different tree species.
