Evaluation of microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) and vegetation interaction for soil rehabilitation

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Evaluation of microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) and vegetation interaction for soil rehabilitation: Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is a form of biomediated geotechnical soil improvement that has been proposed to enhance the strength and hydraulic conductivity characteristics of soils and has been considered for a range of geotechnical applications (DeJong et al. 2006; 2014; 2022). MICP enhances geotechnical properties through the bacterial precipitation of calcite, which can act as a binding agent between particles in a soil mass. Although lab and field scale research has increasingly shown potential positive impact on engineering properties and applications, little is known about the interaction of an MICP-treated soil mass with vegetation and vegetative regrowth, which are important aspects for usability and sustainability of soil improvement techniques on many flood control infrastructure projects. Prior research has shown that MICP treated soils exhibited seedling growth but heavily treated MICP soils exhibited sparse vegetation growth (Ghasemi & Montoya, 2022). These findings suggest that a balance is needed between the biomediation to increase engineering properties and the concentration of MICP that inhibits vegetation growth. Understanding this balance is important for informing the potential for MICP implementation, particularly in light of the increasing importance of nature-based engineering solutions and ensuring that engineered infrastructure is nature-inclusive.