It is known that the vegetation is effective in preventing slope failure. In this study, we focus on the vegetation uptake from ground and show the way to estimate its effects on the ground quantitatively. The effect of uptake can be regarded as reduction of water content within soil. The ‘root element’, where the reduction of water content occurs, is applied to the existing code of soil/water coupled finite element analysis with unsaturated soil mechanics. To estimate the effects of uptake, three kinds of conditions, such as the amount of uptake water, the initial degree of saturation of the ground, and groundwater level are provided. Consequently, it was found that the uptake increased suction and encouraged non-uniform settlement of ground surface. Its effects appeared prominently in a dry ground having low groundwater level and much uptake. This method is effective to understand the effects of vegetation.
