The level of recreational pressure on blanket bog in the Peak District National Park, England

The return of the Merlin to the south Pennines

“…6 Although we cannot be certain of former numbers, it would appear that, fortunately, such concerns have not been borne out: the increase has taken place in an area where recreational activity is great and during a period wherein the level of that activity has increased. 20 It should be emphasized that these data do not allow conclusions to be drawn concerning any effects of recreational activity on Merlin.…”

Combiner tourisme et conservation patrimoniale

“…Les visites étant contingentées, le nombre de visiteurs est ici précisément connu, ce qui permet de pallier les difficultés habituellement rencontrées pour apprécier le niveau de fréquentation réel (Yalden et Yalden, 1988).…”

The sensitivity of breeding Golden PloversPluvialis apricariato human intruders

“…This behaviour is the basis of reliable censuring of this species (e.g., refs 4, 10) and was the basis of this study. During weekly census visits at our two study sites, 12 DWY attempted to pace the distance from his position when a Golden Plover first alarmed at him to the bird's position at that time. We term these 'alarming distances'; they are much further than the 'flight distances', at which the birds fly off, used by other observers.…”

“…Since the Snake Summit area receives much more disturbance from hikers than the Saddleworth Moors, 12 this could be taken to indicate that the Snake Summit birds are, to a modest degree, habituated to the presence of people. While we cannot rule out this possibility, we detected no direct evidence that this happened; pairs close to main footpaths seemed to alarm as strongly throughout a fiveweek period of detailed observation to humans within range of them (though they did respond by moving away from main footpaths).…”

“…No-one would argue that a single walker steadily passing through a Golden Plover territory represents a serious threat, but we have shown that disturbance from hikers on the Pennine Way can, at peak times, be continuous throughout an eight-hour observation day. 12 A circle of sensitivity 400 m across will also be regularly breached if the network of paths is more closely spaced than this, or if a narrow ridge of suitable habitat, less wide than this, has a major path down the centre. What we termed Area II at Snake Summit (ref.…”