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A comparison of three erosion control mulches on decommissioned forest road corridors in the northern Rocky Mountains, United States
Foltz, R.B. 2012.
A comparison of three erosion control mulches on decommissioned forest road corridors in the northern Rocky Mountains, United States.
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 67(6):536-544.
Keywords: erosion control, mulch, straw, wood shreds, wood strands
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Abstract:
This study tested the erosion mitigation effectiveness of agricultural straw and two
wood-based mulches for four years on decommissioned forest roads. Plots were installed on
the loosely consolidated, bare soil to measure sediment production, mulch cover, and plant
regrowth. The experimental design was a repeated measures, randomized block on two soil
types common in the northern Rocky Mountain area. The control produced the most sediment,
while wood strands produced the least during the critical first winter following road
decommissioning. Following the first year, there was no statistically significant difference in
sediment production among the mulches or control. One year after the three mulches were
applied, there was no statistical difference among mulch cover. Further, none of the mulches
inhibited plant regrowth. The conservation implications of these research findings demonstrated
that wood-based alternatives to agricultural straw were equally effective in reducing
sediment production from originally bare, unvegetated soil strips resulting from forest road
decommissioning. The amount of effective ground cover provided by mulch, plants, and litter
appeared to be more important than the type of mulch.
Moscow FSL publication no. 2012e
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