Evaluation of compost blankets for erosion control from disturbed lands Rabin Bhattarai a , Prasanta K. Kalita a, * , Shotaro Yatsu a , Heidi R. Howard b , Niels G. Svendsen b a Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1304W. Pennsylvania Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA b U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, 2902 Newmark Drive, Champaign, IL 61826, USA article info Article history: Received 29 March 2010 Received in revised form 29 September 2010 Accepted 8 October 2010 Available online 30 October 2010 Keywords: Environmental management Runoff Sediment Soil abstract Soil erosion due to water and wind results in the loss of valuable top soil and causes land degradation and environmental quality problems. Site specific best management practices (BMP) are needed to curb erosion and sediment control and in turn, increase productivity of lands and sustain environmental quality. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of three different types of biode- gradable erosion control blankets- fine compost, mulch, and 50e50 mixture of compost and mulch, for soil erosion control under field and laboratory-scale experiments. Quantitative analysis was conducted by comparing the sediment load in the runoff collected from sloped and tilled plots in the field and in the laboratory with the erosion control blankets. The field plots had an average slope of 3.5% and experi- ments were conducted under natural rainfall conditions, while the laboratory experiments were con- ducted at 4, 8 and 16% slopes under simulated rainfall conditions. Results obtained from the field experiments indicated that the 50e50 mixture of compost and mulch provides the best erosion control measures as compared to using either the compost or the mulch blanket alone. Laboratory results under simulated rains indicated that both mulch cover and the 50e50 mixture of mulch and compost cover provided better erosion control measures compared to using the compost alone. Although these results indicate that the 50e50 mixtures and the mulch in laboratory experiments are the best measures among the three erosion control blankets, all three types of blankets provide very effective erosion control measures from bare-soil surface. Results of this study can be used in controlling erosion and sediment from disturbed lands with compost mulch application. Testing different mixture ratios and types of mulch and composts, and their efficiencies in retaining various soil nutrients may provide more quan- titative data for developing erosion control plans. Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Although soil erosion is a natural process, different natural and man-made activities accelerate the rate of erosion, which results in decreased land productivity and degraded environmental quality. Agriculture is the biggest source of erosion in the United States; the nation is losing soil 10 times faster than it is being replenished, costing about $37.6 billion per year in productivity losses (Lang, 2006). In the state of Illinois, which is a key contributor to the American agricultural production, 40% of all rural land suffers from severe soil erosion (Steinhardt and Franzmeier, 2009). Apart from agricultural lands, military training fields suffer from accelerated soil erosion, sedimentation, and land degradation. Land used for military training is prone to erosion due to high level of human and off-road vehicular activities that disturb the ground and vegetative cover of the landscape (Whitecotton et al., 2000; Wang et al., 2007). The Department of Defense (DOD) controls more than 25 million acres of federally owned land in the United States, and 15 million acres of that land is available for a variety of military training activities (Ayers et al., 2000). These activities disturb ground and vegetation cover and amplify potential runoff, soil erosion, and environmental problems. Erosion has an endless list of adverse consequences, and severe erosion such as gully erosion is expensive to repair and can ulti- mately reduce the land to an unusable state. Loss of sediments through erosion and the contaminants they carry account for many water quality issues. Phosphorus and nitrates that reach surface water encourage eutrophication of local water sources, while heavy metals and organic chemicals harm aquatic organisms and degrade general water quality. Sediment that enters bodies of water increases its turbidity and causes undesirable siltation. With all of these factors considered, it is necessary that optimal cost-efficient land management practices are developed and implemented, regardless of the types of the land use. * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 217 333 0945; fax: þ1 217 244 0323. E-mail addresses: rbhatta2@illinois.edu (R. Bhattarai), pkalita@illinois.edu (P.K. Kalita). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Environmental Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman 0301-4797/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.10.028 Journal of Environmental Management 92 (2011) 803e812