| A study was conducted to determine if polyacrylamide (PAM) could be utilized as a best management practice to reduce soil erosion on forest road embankments. Experiments involving two different PAM application rates (10 and 20 kg/ha) were conducted using natural rainfall in 2001 and 2002 and indoor rainfall simulation. In 2001, PAM was combined with a broadcast application of grass seed.;The study results suggest that PAM provided no statistically significant erosion control after natural rainfall on a loam soil. In the rainfall simulation experiments PAM applied at both 10 and 20 kg/ha significantly reduced soil erosion (by 75 and 77%) and the turbidity of runoff water (by 99%). PAM application at 10 kg/ha significantly increased grass densities (by 109%) compared with the control plots. However, PAM applied at 20 kg/ha provided no significant increase in grass density compared with the control. |
