School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology- Beijing, Beijing, China.
PeerJ. 2024 Nov 14;12:e18442. doi: 10.7717/peerj.18442. eCollection 2024.
Soil has an intricate pore structure, with the macropore structure serving as a pivotal component of gas exchange, liquid flow, and solute transport within the soil matrix. Scientifically understanding the macropore structure is important for the exploration of soil ecological functions. Drawing upon research literature from diverse nations, this study presents a comprehensive summary of past research findings, thoroughly examining the definition and taxonomy of soil macropores. Additionally, we delve into the factors that affect macropore structure, the effects of macropores on soil ecological functions, and the indicators that describe the nature of macropores. Furthermore, the principles, suitability conditions, benefits, and limitations of the widely utilized techniques for characterizing soil macropore structure were outlined, including staining observation, soil water retention curve, mercury intrusion porosimetry, gas adsorption, nuclear magnetic resonance, scanning electron microscopy, and computed tomography (CT). A comparative analysis was conducted to assist scholars in comprehending the theory of soil macropores, facilitating the selection of suitable macropore structure characterization techniques, and enabling the development of collaborative application modes among these techniques. Using the Web of Science core collection database, bibliometric software such as VOSviewer and CiteSpace were employed to explore the research hotspots and trends in CT, which is currently the most popular technique for characterizing soil macropore structure. This analysis offers insights into the future prospects of CT in the field of soil macropore structure characterization techniques. This article is of particular interest to readers engaged in the characterization of soil macropores.
土壤具有复杂的孔隙结构，其中大孔结构是土壤基质中气体交换、液体流动和溶质传输的关键组成部分。科学理解大孔结构对于探索土壤生态功能至关重要。本研究综合了来自不同国家的研究文献，全面总结了过去的研究成果，深入探讨了土壤大孔的定义和分类。此外，还研究了影响大孔结构的因素、大孔对土壤生态功能的影响以及描述大孔性质的指标。此外，还概述了广泛应用于描述土壤大孔结构性质的技术的原理、适用条件、优点和局限性，包括染色观察、土壤水分保持曲线、压汞孔隙率、气体吸附、核磁共振、扫描电子显微镜和计算机断层扫描（CT）。通过比较分析，帮助学者理解土壤大孔理论，选择合适的大孔结构特征化技术，并开发这些技术之间的协同应用模式。利用 Web of Science 核心合集数据库，使用 Vosviewer 和 CiteSpace 等文献计量软件，探讨了 CT 在目前最流行的土壤大孔结构特征化技术领域的研究热点和趋势。本文对 CT 在土壤大孔结构特征化技术领域的未来前景进行了分析。本文特别适合研究土壤大孔特征化的读者。
