Just Say NO to Erosion!

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of the project was to find out which erosion control method works best at preventing hillside erosion caused by rainfall. Methods/Materials Four soil-filled Styrofoam bins. One as a control, one using Geo Fabric, one with a mix of wild grasses (Blue Lupine, California Brome annual, California Brome perennial, Blue Wild Rye, California Poppy), and one planted with ground cover plants (French Thyme and Creeping Speedwell). Plants were grown for a 30 day period in order for roots to establish. Three trials were performed. The boxes were set at 45 degree angles to simulate hillsides. Equal amounts of water were used to mimic rainfall. Runoff water and eroded soil were measured. Results When the Geo Fabric, French Thyme, Creeping Speedwell, and mixed grasses were applied to each box filled with soil, the French Thyme and Creeping Speedwell boxes proved to be the best soil erosion preventers, and had the least amount of runoff water. In all three trials, the results were consistent. Conclusions/Discussion My results were different than my expectations. I thought that the box with Geo Fabric would#ve shown the least amount of erosion, but it was the box planted with Creeping Speedwell and French Thyme that showed the least amount of erosion and runoff water. I believe these plants were successful due to their strong and intricate root systems and low-lying, densely compacted foliage.

Competition history

• CSEF 2016 Earth & Atmospheric Sciences (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0802

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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