Erosional impacts of trails in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

Fish, Ernest B.; Brothers, Gene L.; Lewis, Roger B.

doi:10.1016/0304-3924(81)90004-6

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Most of the trail studies to date have examined either the natural processes and controls that influence trail condition and/or the relationships between specific uses and impacts (e.g., Bates, 1935;Dotzenko et al, 1967;Dawson et al, 1974;Helgath, 1975;Bryan, 1977;Cole, 1978;Kuss andMorgan, 1980, 1984;Summer, 1980Summer, , 1986Coleman, 1981;Fish et al, 1981;Kuss, 1986;Jubenville and O'Sullivan, 1987;Hall and Kuss, 1989;Kuss and Hall, 1991). Trampling and removal of vegetation are generally the first consequences of trail formation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erosional Impact of Hikers, Horses, Motorcycles, and Off-Road Bicycles on Mountain Trails in Montana

Wilson¹,

Seney²

1994

Mountain Research and Development

106

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This study examined the relative impact of hikers, horses, motorcycles, and off-road bicycles in terms of water runoff and sediment yield from 108 sample plots on existing trails in or near Gallatin National Forest, Montana. A modified Meeuwig drip-type rainfall simulator was used to reproduce natural rainstorm events. Treatments of 100 passes were applied to each plot. The results confirmed the complex interactions that occur between topographic, soil, and geomorphic variables noted by others, and the difficulty of interpreting their impact on existing trails. None of the hypothesized relationships between water runoff and slope, soil texture, antecedent soil moisture, trail roughness, and soil resistance was statistically significant. Five independent variables or cross-products explained 42% of the variability in sediment yield when soil texture was added as a series of indicator variables. Ten variables combined to explain 70% of the variability in sediment yield when trail user was added as a second series of indicator variables. Terms incorporating soil texture (37%), slope (35%), and user treatment (35%) accounted for the largest contributions. Multiple comparisons test results showed that horses and hikers (hooves and feet) made more sediment available than wheels (motorcycles and off-road bicycles) and that this effect was most pronounced on prewetted trails. RtSUMF Impact erosif des randonneurs a pied, des chevaux, des motocyclettes et bicyclettes tous-terrains, sur les sentiers de montagne du Montana. Cette etude examine l'impact relatif des randonneurs a pied, des chevaux, des motocyclettes et bicyclettes tous-terrains, en termes de ruissellement d'eau et de production de sediments sur 108 parcelles echantillons de sentiers de montagne situees a l'int6rieur ou au voisinage de la foret nationale de Gallantin, dans l'etat du Montana. Un simulateur de pluies de Meeuwig modifie, type degouttement, a ete utilise pour reproduire des tempetes de pluie naturelles. Les traitements de 100 passes ont ete appliques a chaque parcelle. Les resultats confirment les interactions complexes entre les variables topographiques, edaphiques et geomorphiques qui avaient ete observees par d'autres chercheurs, et la difficulte d'interpreter leur impact sur les sentiers de montagne existants. Aucune des supposees relations entre le ruissellement d'eau et la pente, la texture du sol, l'humidite anterieure, l'inegalite du sentier et la resistance du sol n'est statistiquement significative. Cinq variables ind6pendantes ou produits en croix expliquent 42 pour cent de la variabilite de la production de sediments lorsque la texture du sol est ajoutee en tant que serie de variables indicatrices. Dix variables se combinent pour expliquer 70 pour cent de la variabilite de la production de sediments lorsque l'utilisateur du sentier est ajoute en tant que seconde serie de variables indicatrices. Les termes incorporant la texture du sol (37 pour cent), la pente (35 pour cent) et le traitement par l'utilisateur (35 pour cent) rendent compt...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erosional Impact of Hikers, Horses, Motorcycles, and Off-Road Bicycles on Mountain Trails in Montana

Wilson¹,

Seney²

1994

Mountain Research and Development

106

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“…Thus, the impact magnitude for criteria such as vegetative composition can be influenced by when impacts are assessed. Direct impacts will generally remain stable if the frequency of use and the characteristics of use do not radically change (Fish et al, 1981;Cole, 1991). However, abnormal behaviour such as rerouting a trail or creating mountain bike jumps can cause significant increases in impact despite the stage in the trails' life history.…”

Section: Temporal Patterns Of Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recreational Trail Impacts and their Spatial Influence on Species Diversity and Composition

Pankiw¹

2021

Preprint

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This thesis quantifies the differences observed in floral communities exposed to varying degrees of long-term recreational trail use. The study was undertaken in a temperate deciduous forest located in Uxbridge, ON, Canada, which permits hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trail users. Vegetation exposed to trail impacts was sampled using transects which extended from the trail edge to 25m into the forest interior. The results demonstrated that trail-influenced environments experienced significant shifts in composition and reductions in species richness at distances beyond the influence of an edge effect. It was also established that types of recreational trail use do not disproportionately cause greater disturbance or result in greater exotic and invasive species coverage. Multiple regression analysis revealed that when choosing new trail routes, managers can mitigate changes to species composition by selecting areas with steep side-slopes and by avoiding areas with a south facing aspect.

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“…2), a widely applied method in trail erosion research (e.g. Fish et al, 1981;Marion and Olive, 2006;Olive and Marion, 2009;Esque et al, 2016;Tomczyk et al, 2016), which is the most replicable method for monitoring trail segments (Jewell and Hammitt, 2000). We measured soil depth every meter of the trail and 10 cm along each cross-section and employed a metal bar which we placed over the edges of the trail considering that it was the original ground surface before the use of the trail (Webb et al, 1978).…”

Section: Measurements Of Soil Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four-year soil erosion rates in a running-mountain trail in eastern Iberian Peninsula

Salesa

Cerdà

2019

CIG

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During the last decades, the use of mountain trails for running is more and more popular. New trails are opened to allow the runners to practice and compete. This form of human impact on the landscape is new as the new trails do not follow the conservation strategies in design and maintenance as traditional mountain trails constructed by farmers, shepherds and muleteers do. This impact of sport events in nature is not measured and we know little about this impact on vegetation, fauna and soils. We surveyed in September 2018 a trail that was opened in September 2014 and was used for four official mountain trail races, and for training by local runners. Our interviews with organizers and users show that 1054 runners passed during the competition days (4 races in 4 years) and over the 4-year period the trail was used approximately 43,800 times by a runner. We measured the current topography and calculated the soil lost. The results show extremely high erosion rates in the sloping terrain, with the highest rates in the north-facing slope, reaching up to 180.29 Mg ha-1 y-1, while in the flat section of the trail soil erosion rates are 107.56 Mg ha-1 y-1 and in the south-facing slope trail 128.93 Mg ha-1 y-1. Our study demonstrates that (i) soil erosion rates on trails can be easily estimated by measuring the deepest trail position enabling fast and cheap surveys; and (ii) that there is a need to establish conservation strategies on new trails to avoid non-sustainable soil losses in the Mediterranean mountains due to the sport activities such as the mountain trail races.

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Erosional impacts of trails in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

Cited by 17 publications

References 13 publications

Erosional Impact of Hikers, Horses, Motorcycles, and Off-Road Bicycles on Mountain Trails in Montana

Erosional Impact of Hikers, Horses, Motorcycles, and Off-Road Bicycles on Mountain Trails in Montana

Recreational Trail Impacts and their Spatial Influence on Species Diversity and Composition

Four-year soil erosion rates in a running-mountain trail in eastern Iberian Peninsula

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