Acta Stereologica Acta Stereologica -  Volume 12 (1993)  Number 2 - Proceedings of the sixth European congress for stereology - Part one - Dec. 1993 

Modelling natural burrow systems in soil by fibre process: Monte-Carlo test on independence of fibre characteristics

Pascal Monestiez
Biométrie, INRA Avignon, Domaine St Paul, BP 91, 84140 Montfavet, France
André Kretzschmar
Zoologie, INRA Avignon, Domaine St Paul, BP 91, 84140 Montfavet, France
Joël Chadœuf
Biométrie, INRA Avignon, Domaine St Paul, BP 91, 84140 Montfavet, France

Abstract

The presence of earthworm burrows in soil has been shown to increase gas diffusion in the soil depth (Kretzschmar and Monestiez, 1992). One of the suspected effects of burrow arrangement on gas diffusion is addressed by the estimation of weighted distances in the burrow system assuming much quicker diffusion through the burrows than in the surrounding soil. The simulations used in previous papers (Monestiez and Kretzschmar, 1989; 1992) were based on Poisson distribution of fibres and on a hypothesis of independence between length and orientation. The present paper focuses on applicability of these assumptions to natural burrow systems. Considering a burrow system as a three-dimensional fibre process, independence assumption of positions of the uppermost points of the fibres was tested using a Monte-Carlo procedure. The latter has been performed conditionally to the empirical distribution of fibre length and orientation. The criterion was based on the weighted distance distribution that is sensitive enough local interactions between fibres. The tests were applied to several natural burrow systems which were described through geometrical characteristics (Kretzschmar, 1988; Kretzschmar and Monestiez, 1987) and showed seasonal variations due to earthworm activities.

Keywords : Monte-Carlo test, pore system, second-order statistics, soil burrows, fibre process

To cite this article

Pascal Monestiez, André Kretzschmar & Joël Chadœuf, «Modelling natural burrow systems in soil by fibre process: Monte-Carlo test on independence of fibre characteristics», Acta Stereologica [En ligne], Volume 12 (1993), Number 2 - Proceedings of the sixth European congress for stereology - Part one - Dec. 1993, 237-242 URL : https://popups.ulg.ac.be/0351-580x/index.php?id=1603.