Vegetation associated with different walking track types in the Kosciuszko alpine area, Australia

Hill, Wendy May; Pickering, Catherine Marina

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2005.04.007

Cited by 77 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Within the Australian Alps, the provision of appropriate visitor facilities, the promotion of minimal impact practices and continued research is ensuring that damage caused by visitors remains minimised or at least contained. The installation of a raised metal walkway from the major access point of the alpine village of Thredbo to Mt Kosciuszko, for example, has minimised the impacts associated with track development and other site hardening as demonstrated in the above study and in others [42]. This approach contains visitors to the walkway as they are reluctant to step off into undisturbed vegetation (personal observation by authors).…”

Section: Management Implications: Some Lessons From the Roof Of Austrmentioning

confidence: 83%

Managing visitor impacts in the Australian Alps: a case study in informal track development and track recovery

Scherrer¹,

Growcock²

2006

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 97

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Visitation to protected areas is increasing worldwide, causing increasing pressures on areas that are often principally conserved for their natural and cultural heritage values. The Australian Alps have been no exception with a continuing increase occurring over the last 25 years. Visitation to the Kosciuszko Summit Area (Australia's highest mountain) in Kosciuszko National Park, for example, has increased from an estimated 20 000 visits per annum in the late 1970s to over 100 000 per annum by the year 2000. The most common activity of these visitors is walking from one of two main park entrance points to key landmarks within the area. While hardened areas can contain some of the impacts of these visitors, damage from off-track walking can rapidly occur and is slow to recover in this alpine environment. This paper presents a case study from the Kosciuszko Summit Area on track development and recovery in tall alpine herbfields, the area's dominant vegetation community. Results from experimental off-track walking studies demonstrate that longer-term damage can occur after only moderate usage levels (as little as 200 passes). Results from a study on a closed walking track in the area further provide examples of the slow recovery of the vegetation and soils once damage has occurred, with significant differences from undisturbed conditions remaining evident for vegetation cover, soil nutrients and species composition 20 years after track closure. Locally appropriate solutions are required to ensure that a sustainable level of tourism and visitor use can continue to occur in the area. The use of proactive management tools is discussed with regard to a damage prevention/minimisation approach.

show abstract

Section: Management Implications: Some Lessons From the Roof Of Austrmentioning

confidence: 83%

Managing visitor impacts in the Australian Alps: a case study in informal track development and track recovery

Scherrer¹,

Growcock²

2006

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 97

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ballantyne et al (2014) recommended that management should seek to minimize the creation of informal trails by hardening popular routes and centralizing visitor flow. Different walking track types can have an effect on different vegetation characteristics (Hill and Pickering, 2006). In some cases closure of recreational sites and trails can be a solution for trail degradation.…”

Section: Decision Treesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trail impact monitoring in Rocky Mountain National Park, USA

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. This paper examines impacts of increased visitation leading to human trampling of vegetation and soil along several trails in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) to understand how abiotic factors and level of use can influence trail conditions. RMNP is one of the most visited national parks in the USA, with 3.3 million visitors in 2012 across 1075 km 2 and 571 km of hiking trails. 95 % of the park is designated wilderness, making the balance between preservation and visitor use challenging. This research involves the application of trail condition assessments to 56 km of trails to determine prevailing factors and what, if any, connection between them exist. The study looked at a variety of inventory and impact indicators and standards to determine their importance and to develop a baseline condition of trails. The data can be used for future comparison and evaluation of development trends. We found that trail widening (mean trail width 88.9 cm) and soil loss (cross-sectional area 172.7 cm 2 ) are the most visible effects of trail degradation. Further statistical analyses of data identified the role and influence of various factors (e.g., use level and topography). Insights into the influence of these factors can lead to the selection of appropriate management measures to avoid or minimize negative consequences from increased visitation.

show abstract

“…These problems have been described from all around the world (e.g. Arrowsmith and Inbakaran, 2002;Ballantyne and Pickering, 2015;Belnap, 1998;Cole, 1993;Dixon et al, 2004;Hill and Pickering, 2006;Marion, 1996, 2000;Marion et al, 1993;Monz et al, 2010;Ólafsdóttir and Runnström, 2013;Özcan et al, 2013;Pickering et al, 2010;Tomczyk, 2011;Tomczyk and Ewertowski, 2013b). Extreme weather events, particularly intense rainfall, have similar adverse effects on trails.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of extreme natural events on the provision of ecosystem services in a mountain environment: The importance of trail design in delivering system resilience and ecosystem service co-benefits

Tomczyk

White

Ewertowski

2016

Journal of Environmental Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vegetation associated with different walking track types in the Kosciuszko alpine area, Australia

Cited by 77 publications

References 9 publications

Managing visitor impacts in the Australian Alps: a case study in informal track development and track recovery

Managing visitor impacts in the Australian Alps: a case study in informal track development and track recovery

Trail impact monitoring in Rocky Mountain National Park, USA

Effects of extreme natural events on the provision of ecosystem services in a mountain environment: The importance of trail design in delivering system resilience and ecosystem service co-benefits

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About