Use of off-road vehicles and mitigation of effects in Alaska permafrost environments: A review

Slaughter, Charles W.; Racine, Charles H.; Walker, Donald A.; Johnson, Lacey; Abele, Gunars

doi:10.1007/bf02394020

Cited by 26 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Although much attention has been given to the impacts of several types of off-road vehicles (ORVs) in northern ecosystems (Rickard and Brown, 1974;Slaughter et al, 1990;Racine and Ahlstrand, 1991;Forbes, 1992;Emers et al, 1995), no attention has been given to airboats. In Alaska, areas inaccessible to conventional boats and ORVs include shallow rivers and streams, some wetlands near coastal areas, and several large Alaskan lowland basins, such as the Kuskokwim River-Nixon Flats area, the Yukon Flats, the Selawik Lowlands, and the Innoko Basin.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Airboat Use and Disturbance of Floating Mat Fen Wetlands in Interior Alaska, U.S.A.

Racine¹,

Walters²,

Jorgenson³

1998

ARCTIC

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ABSTRACT. The use of airboats is expanding in Alaska, particularly in the interior. This study describes the nature, magnitude, and distribution of disturbances caused by airboat trails over floating mat fen wetlands in the Tanana Flats near Fairbanks, Alaska. Airphoto interpretation showed over 300 km of airboat trails by 1995, with a 15% expansion of the trail system since 1989. Field sampling was done at 30 trail and adjacent control sites along this trail system to assess changes in hydrology, soils, and vegetation. Water velocities in the trails at two-thirds of the sites were at least an order of magnitude greater than velocities of less than 1.5 cm sec -1 in the control areas. On average, 30 cm of the 0.5 -0.75 m thick floating mat has been removed or eroded by airboat traffic at the sampling locations. Nearly all emergent floating mat vegetation has been destroyed (5% cover remaining on average) so that the trails resemble a highly visible open water stream channel 2-3 m wide through the floating mats. Although the recovery and regrowth potential of floating mats in trails is high, recovery is unlikely in trails with continuing use.Key words: airboat, floating mat, Alaska, peatland, fen, wetland, disturbance RÉSUMÉ. En Alaska, l'utilisation des hydroglisseurs est à la hausse, surtout à l'intérieur des terres. Cette étude décrit la nature, l'amplitude et la distribution des perturbations causées par le sillage des hydroglisseurs sur les zones humides de vasières à mattes flottantes situées dans les plaines marécageuses de Tanana près de Fairbanks (en Alaska). L'interprétation de photos a montré que, en 1995, les sillages d'hydroglisseurs s'étendaient sur plus de 300 km, ce qui correspond à une augmentation de 15 p. cent du réseau depuis 1989. On a procédé à un échantillonnage sur le terrain à 30 emplacements de sillages et aires témoins adjacentes le long du réseau en vue d'évaluer les changements dans l'hydrologie, les sols et la végétation. Dans deux tiers des emplacements, la vitesse de l'eau dans les sillages était d'au moins un ordre de grandeur supérieure aux vitesses de moins de 1,5 cm sec -1 dans les zones témoins. Aux endroits d'échantillonnage, 30 cm en moyenne de la matte flottante épaisse de 0,5 à 0,75 m a été enlevée ou érodée par la circulation de l'hydroglisseur. Presque toute la végétation de la matte flottante émergée a été détruite (il reste en moyenne 5 p. cent du couvert) de sorte que les sillages sont très visibles et forment un chenal d'eau ouverte de 2 à 3 m de large à travers les mattes flottantes. Bien que le potentiel de recouvrement et de repousse des mattes flottantes dans les sillages soit élevé, il est peu probable que ce recouvrement ait lieu dans les sillages qui sont utilisés de façon continue.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Airboat Use and Disturbance of Floating Mat Fen Wetlands in Interior Alaska, U.S.A.

Racine¹,

Walters²,

Jorgenson³

1998

ARCTIC

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“…Their effects on the vegetation and the landscape are generally known (Brown, 1976;Slaughter et al . , 1990), but need additional study in specific landscape settings.…”

Section: Research Needs and Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science in northwest Alaska : research needs and opportunities on federally protected lands /

Hopkins¹,

Arundale²,

Slaughter³

1990

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“…For example, Argounova-Law [50] emphasized social significance as the main feature defining roads. Moreover, the proliferation of modern all-terrain and 4WD motorized vehicles in remote parts of the world imposes less stringent requirements on road construction and maintenance [51], while affecting the environment [52][53][54].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilizing Benefit-Sharing Through Transportation Infrastructure: Informal Roads, Extractive Industries and Benefit-Sharing in the Irkutsk Oil and Gas Region, Russia

et al. 2020

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Road infrastructure development is an existing, but not a frequent element of extractive industry benefit-sharing frameworks in remote northern regions. However, it is often at the center of extractive activity and inflicts major impact on environment and communities. This paper examines the benefits and impacts derived from development of informal roads, i.e., vehicular roadways beyond the current publicly-governed road networks constructed, maintained and/or used by various entities and individuals based on private, special purpose and/or informal practices and regulations. Based on several field studies, GIS analysis of road networks and examination of secondary sources, the article investigates the use of informal roads as a form of benefit-sharing and details their impact on mobilities, environment and livelihoods of local and indigenous communities in the Irkutsk Oil and Gas region, Russia. We argue that construction, maintenance and use of the industry-built roads can be a part of benefit-sharing agreements, albeit mostly semi-formal and negotiated. The gains and problems stemming from ‘trickle-down’ (i.e., unintended) effects of the road networks are the most significant. The community-relevant implications of informal roads go far beyond immediate impacts on surrounding environment, but deeply affect subsistence activities, mobility, food security, personal safety and even consumer preferences of the indigenous residents.

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Use of off-road vehicles and mitigation of effects in Alaska permafrost environments: A review

Cited by 26 publications

References 9 publications

Airboat Use and Disturbance of Floating Mat Fen Wetlands in Interior Alaska, U.S.A.

Airboat Use and Disturbance of Floating Mat Fen Wetlands in Interior Alaska, U.S.A.

Science in northwest Alaska : research needs and opportunities on federally protected lands /

Mobilizing Benefit-Sharing Through Transportation Infrastructure: Informal Roads, Extractive Industries and Benefit-Sharing in the Irkutsk Oil and Gas Region, Russia

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