ABSTRACT:
A rainfall simulator was used to investigate the effectiveness of straw mulch, hydroseed, and two commercial synthetic polymers (Soil Tex and Soil Master WR)in reducing runoff, sediment, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses from eroded land. Simulated rainfall was applied to 14 experimental field plots on a Groseclose silt loam, each 50 m2 (538 ft2) in size. Neither polymer was as effective as mulch or hydroseed in reducing runoff and erosion. Of all treatments investigated, straw mulch was the most effective in reducing runoff and losses of sediment, N, and P from eroded land.
Footnotes
The authors are professor, research assistant, associate professor, and research assistant, respectively, Agricultural Engineering Department, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. This study was supported, in part, through funds provided by Allied Colloids, Inc., Suffolk, Virginia.
- Copyright 1994 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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