Fine root is critical to restrain soil erosion and its distribution pattern is of great influence on the restraining effects. This study studied the fine root biomass （Br） distribution of different aged Leucaena leucocephala （5, 10, 15 years） in debris flow source area in Jiangjia Gully by digging downward to the bottom at different distances to stem in three directions on slope. The results showed the Br increased dramatically by 143% from 5 years to lO years and then rose slowly by 38% from to years to 15 years. The Br of 5 years was significantly asymmetric between uphill and alonghill directions, but there was little difference among directions for other ages, and a concentration trend appeared to exist in downhill and alonghill directions. Moreover, fine root （D≤1 mm） was significantly heavier than that of fine root （1mm〈D〈2 ram）, playing a leading role in the vertical distribution of the whole fine root, with a logarithmic or an exponential function. The results presented may shed light on fine root distribution pattern and evaluation of its effect on slope stability in debris flow source area.
Five leucaena trees of similar age were chosen in Jiangjia Ravine of Dongchuan,Yunnan Province,China,near which the soil samples were collected by digging profiles 2m in depth and 1m in width.In each section,soil samples at different depths were taken for direct shear experiments to determine the root amount and mechanical composition.It is found that the cohesion and internal friction angle of the undisturbed soil are related to the root amount,depth,clay content and breccias content.Cohesion correlates negatively with root content,a finding that differs from that of other researchers.In addition,internal friction angle correlates positively with all these factors.
