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Muddy soil on the tread surface contributes to trail widening and multiple treading as hikers seek to circumvent the muddy areas 

Muddy soil on the tread surface contributes to trail widening and multiple treading as hikers seek to circumvent the muddy areas 

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Context 1
... on soils with fine and homogeneous textures have been found to have greater tread incision. Poorly drained soils con- tribute significantly to excessive trail widening due to users seeking to circum- vent muddy areas (Figure 4). Wet muddy . ...

Citations

... It is vital to monitor beaches regularly and over a long period of time, using aerial photographs and/or field surveys, to obtain real-time information on the state of the vegetation cover on the dunes as well as to identify the existence of unorganised paths in adequate time [97]. Locating trails and recreational sites in resistant and resilient areas can also be an effective method for minimising visitors' future impacts [100]. ...
Article
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Overcrowding in national parks and protected areas can cause irreversible damage to the environment, compromising the quality of soil, water, wildlife, and vegetation. Thus, it is critical for park managers to have detailed information on visitor activities and spatial dynamics in order to prioritise actions capable of mitigating undesirable impacts in the most frequently visited areas. In this article, we use georeferenced trails and photographs from the Wikiloc and Flickr web platforms to determine the spatial visitation patterns in the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park (AINP) from 2008 to 2023. Maps showing trail usage intensity and the distribution of photographs according to land use allowed us to identify the most frequented land uses by visitors and the areas of highest tourist pressure within the AINP. The results show that distribution patterns vary between platforms. Shrubland (37%) and marine cliffs (27%) were the most photographed land uses by visitors, while artificial areas (14%) were the most frequented by Wikiloc users. Cíes island emerges as the most popular tourist destination, as evidenced by the greater number of trails and photographs compared to Ons, Sálvora, and Cortegada. This study shows how social media data, specifically trails and geotagged photographs from Wikiloc and Flickr, can support and complement the monitoring of visitor use and impact in protected areas.
... It is vital to monitor beaches regularly and over a long period of time, using aerial photographs and/or field surveys, to obtain real-time information on the state of the vegetation cover on the dunes, 14 as well as to identify the existence of unorganised paths in adequate time [86]. Locating trails and recreational sites in resistant and resilient areas can also be an effective method for minimising visitors' future impacts [89]. ...
Preprint
Full-text available
Overtourism in national parks and protected areas can cause irreversible damage to the environment, compromising the quality of soil, water, wildlife, and vegetation. Thus, it is critical for park managers to have detailed information on visitor activities and spatial dynamics in order to prioritize actions capable of mitigating undesirable impacts in the most frequently visited areas. In this article, we use georeferenced trails and photographs from Wikiloc and Flickr web platforms to determine the spatial visitation patterns in the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park (AINP) from 2008 to 2023. Maps showing trail usage intensity and the distribution of photographs according to land use allowed us to identify the most frequented land uses by visitors and the areas of highest tourist pressure within the AINP. The results show that distribution patterns vary between platforms. Shrubland (37%) and marine cliffs (27%) were the most photographed land uses by visitors, while artificial areas (14%) were the most frequented by Wikiloc users. Cíes island emerges as the most popular tourist destination, as evidenced by the greater number of trails and photographs compared to Ons, Sálvora, and Cortegada. This study shows how social media data, specifically trails and geotagged photographs from Wikiloc and Flickr, can support and complement the monitoring of visitor use and impact in protected areas.
... The presence of muddy surfaces covering 28.6% of the trail segment from Nunuk Camp to Marai Parai poses a significant threat to trail sustainability due to poor drainage. These flat areas are prone to waterlogging and expansion since future users may bypass the muddy patches by trampling the trail's edges (Leung & Marion, 1996), and this was already observed in this study where the tread width of this trail section was notably wider than others. This trampling accelerates vegetation loss and could lead to the creation of multiple trails or undesignated trail over time (Leung & Marion, 1999;Nepal & Nepal, 2004;Wimpey & Marion, 2010). ...
Article
Full-text available
Recreation trails are essential for promoting outdoor activities, ecological awareness, and sustainable tourism. This study comprehensively analyses the 14.2km Kiau Nuluh—Gurkha Hut Trail, a proposed trail to be developed northwest of Kinabalu Park. This study aims to assess the trail's characteristics and its sustainability for future use. One hundred forty-two samples were collected at 100m intervals using point sampling methodology, revealing key trail characteristics and sustainability ratings. Findings indicate that the trail predominantly ascending (88%) with sections at higher elevations exhibited narrower tread widths, lesser incisions, steeper trail grades and narrow slope alignment than those at lower elevations. Nearly 90% of the trail is deemed unsustainable, with higher elevations showing escalating unsustainable ratings, highlighting the need for realignment and sustainable trail management strategies. Recommendations include trail realignment according to the acceptable sustainability ratings, realigning the trail to the "side hill" or adhering to the contour lines, and using durable tread materials as one of the erosion control measures. The findings of this study provide baseline information for the future sustainable trail management of the Kiau Nuluh - Gurkha Hut Trail. The insights gained from this research will aid in developing strategies to maintain and improve the trail, ensuring its enjoyment for present and future generations while conserving the natural environment.
... Natural processes and recreational use of trails can cause soil loss, braiding and widening, and persistent muddiness which decrease their utility and damage nearby natural resources. Numerous interacting factors influence a trail's susceptibility to degradation including the durability of tread substrates (Hammitt et al., 2015;Leung & Marion, 1996;Marion, 2016), the amount and intensity of precipitation (Bratton et al., 1979;Leung & Marion, 1996;Nepal, 2003;Tomczyk et al., 2016) the resistance of trailside vegetation (Dixon et al., 2004;Marion, 2016) and the type, amount, and timing of use (Bratton et al., 1979;Farrell & Marion, 2001;Leung & Marion, 1996;Marion, 2016;Nepal, 2003;Olive & Marion, 2009;Rowe et al., 2018;Wimpey & Marion, 2010). ...
... Natural processes and recreational use of trails can cause soil loss, braiding and widening, and persistent muddiness which decrease their utility and damage nearby natural resources. Numerous interacting factors influence a trail's susceptibility to degradation including the durability of tread substrates (Hammitt et al., 2015;Leung & Marion, 1996;Marion, 2016), the amount and intensity of precipitation (Bratton et al., 1979;Leung & Marion, 1996;Nepal, 2003;Tomczyk et al., 2016) the resistance of trailside vegetation (Dixon et al., 2004;Marion, 2016) and the type, amount, and timing of use (Bratton et al., 1979;Farrell & Marion, 2001;Leung & Marion, 1996;Marion, 2016;Nepal, 2003;Olive & Marion, 2009;Rowe et al., 2018;Wimpey & Marion, 2010). ...
... Natural processes and recreational use of trails can cause soil loss, braiding and widening, and persistent muddiness which decrease their utility and damage nearby natural resources. Numerous interacting factors influence a trail's susceptibility to degradation including the durability of tread substrates (Hammitt et al., 2015;Leung & Marion, 1996;Marion, 2016), the amount and intensity of precipitation (Bratton et al., 1979;Leung & Marion, 1996;Nepal, 2003;Tomczyk et al., 2016) the resistance of trailside vegetation (Dixon et al., 2004;Marion, 2016) and the type, amount, and timing of use (Bratton et al., 1979;Farrell & Marion, 2001;Leung & Marion, 1996;Marion, 2016;Nepal, 2003;Olive & Marion, 2009;Rowe et al., 2018;Wimpey & Marion, 2010). ...
... Recreational trails serve many purposes. They facilitate the recreational use of landscapes by providing a transportation network through a given area (Leung and Marion, 1996) and specialized recreational opportunities, such as mountain biking or equestrian use through intentional design (Webber and IMBA, 2007). Additionally, they protect ecological and cultural resources by concentrating use on hardened surfaces (Hammitt et al., 2015). ...
... Generally, class 1 trails are least disturbed, while class 5 trails are most degraded, either because of poor design, improper type or amount of use, or environmental conditions. Class 4 and class 5 trails are more likely to exhibit 'trail degradation," a phenomenon by which the physical, ecological, and/or aesthetic qualities of trails are compromised (Leung and Marion, 1996). A large body of research uses this ranking system to classify and monitor recreational trails Spernbauer et al., 2023). ...
... We incorporate two aspects of trail construction that are thought to influence trail condition: trail grade and trail slope alignment (Leung and Marion, 1996;Olive and Marion, 2009). We calculated the maximum trail grade along 100 m segments of trail (as opposed to the entire trail) to capture local differences and account for differences in trail length, similar to measurements by Hawes et al. (2013). ...
... Apart from providing recreational opportunities for park visitors, trails help protect the ecological environment by confining traffic to designated treads (Leung and Marion, 1996). One challenge of park managers is preventing trails from premature degradation that provides users with a pleasant trail experience for a reasonably long period (Bookhari et al., 2020). ...
... There are mainly three groups of factors. First, environmental factors (e.g., climate) represent the background and setting but have no direct influence on trail degradation (Leung and Marion, 1996). Second, managerial-related factors include site management (e.g., trail maintenance) and visitor management (e.g., education) (Marion and Wimpey, 2017). ...
Article
Growing demands for on-trail activities have aroused challenges of how to balance outdoor recreation and protected area conservation. Unfortunately, most previous studies have focused on only one or two degradation features, so inconsistent views (i.e., no consensus on impacts induced by hiking and mountain biking) were obtained. This study investigated a mountain biking trail, a hiking trail, and an unmanaged trail in a Hong Kong country park for 1.5 years. Five dimensions of trail degradation, namely Trail Morphometry, Soil Texture, Soil Compaction, Erosion Feature, and Recovery Feature, were identified by Explanatory Factor Analysis. Significant correlations were found between hiking and all five dimensions, while mountain biking was significantly associated only with Trail Morphometry, Erosion Feature, and Recovery Feature. Trail grade and landform grade significantly affected Trail Morphometry, Soil Texture, and Erosion Feature, but trail slope alignment was a null predictor. Hiking caused more severe trail degradation than mountain biking, even after controlling for topog- raphy. These findings supplement the existing literature by providing a comprehensive understanding of the multitude of adverse impacts caused by hiking and mountain biking. This study provides a valuable reference for sustainable trail management in protected areas that receive both hikers and mountain bikers.
... •Trail routing variations imputable to the use of alternative slope data resolutions and cost functions can be considerably attenuated by the implementation, in the modelling domain, of natural barriers such as impassable torrents. Accounting for additional suitability criteria, for instance avoidance of slope gradients beyond which soil loss is significant and trails become unsustainable (e.g., Leung & Marion, 1996;Marion & Wimpey, 2017;Ó lafsdóttir & Runnström, 2013) or of terrains reputably unwalkable, is likely to result in further convergence of routes modelled. Similar outcome can be presumed with the inclusion in the modelling domain of intermediary locations: viewpoints along short-distance hikes, or infrastructure halts that serve users' physiological needs over exploratory routes subject to hut-to-hut hiking. ...
Article
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This paper investigates how the spatial resolution of slope data affects the modelling of recreational trails in mountainous areas. It measures the impact of spatial resolution on a) the estimation of cost functions that link walking speeds and slope, and b) the modelling of moving times and mapping of routes using these functions. Cost functions that build on a mountain hike GPS record and slope data derived from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) at varying resolutions are estimated and their ability to predict accurate moving times is evaluated. The cost functions are supplemented with recently published cost functions to map the quickest routes between the hike start and end points with least-cost-path analyses. The results indicate that spatial resolution has a critical influence in the modelling: the similarity between routes modelled at a same spatial resolution with distinct cost functions considerably surpasses that of routes simulated at varying resolutions with a same cost function. Furthermore, employing finer resolutions enhances the similarity between routes mapped with different cost functions, while also improving the accuracy of predicted moving times. These findings provide evidence that DEM resolution should receive prime attention in the modelling of trails with slope-dependent cost functions.
... Extensive research has been recently undertaken in trail science, a branch of recreation ecology aiming to characterize common trail impacts and pinpointing significant factors affecting the severity of these impacts, and promoting sustainable approaches to trail design and management (e.g., [42][43][44] and reference therein). In this context, some authors have successfully applied GIS [45-47], ALS [48], dendrochronology [49], or logistic regression analysis [50] to assess and model trail stability and erosion or explored the relationships between trail conditions and the experiences [51]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Increasing interest in the natural environment and greater hiking activity have resulted in higher anthropogenic pressure in areas characterized by a geographic/physical setting that could present hazardous conditions. The development of these activities is influenced by the peculiar geomorphological and climatic conditions of the area. Visitors and hikers do not always have adequate cultural background and full awareness of natural dynamics, including the possibility of incurring hazardous conditions. For its cultural and landscape value and extraordinary trail network, the Portofino Promontory is frequented by more than a hundred thousand of hikers a year. However, due to the geomorphological characteristics of the area, the morphological features of the trail network (i.e., exposed paths, steep ups and downs, rocky sections with cables, etc.) and the peculiar meteo-climatic conditions, the number of accidents involving hikers has increased in the most recent years. This research uses a detailed LiDAR survey, a morphometric analysis, and a significant dataset of information on the frequentation of the hiking trail network and on the number of rescue operations carried out by the National Mountain Rescue and Speleological Service (CNSAS). These data have been related to the physical-geographical characteristics of the area. The results can be a useful tool for land management by the Park Authority.
... Estos efectos se explican por la circulación en paralelo, en el caso de senderistas o jinetes, o por el exceso de velocidad, en el caso de que la actividad se lleve a cabo mediante vehículos tales como bicicletas o ciclomotores (Farías y Sallent, 2015). Sobre este aspecto, cabe mencionar que es a lo largo del primer año, tras la aparición y utilización de una nueva ruta, cuando se genera el mayor volumen de impacto (Leung y Marion, 1996). ...
... No se encontró ninguna correlación con los valores de incisión, con las pérdidas de suelo detectadas en el MDD, ni con el ancho de los senderos. En este sentido, cabe recordar que es en el primer año, a partir de la apertura y uso de un nuevo sendero, cuando se genera el mayor volumen de impacto (Leung y Marion, 1996;Marion, 2006), lo que explicaría que no exista diferencia entre los caminos antiguos y los nuevos. De ello se deduce que los usos tradicionales, de implementación temporal más prolongada que aquellos usos de tipo lúdicodeportivo, no llegaron a generar un impacto irreversible según las fases establecidas para los niveles de erosión en senderos por Hammit y Cole (1998). ...
... Trail degradation has a negative impact on valuable ecology, leading to the degradation and loss of vegetation [9][10][11]. It also worsens the aesthetic landscape and the quality of the recreational experience [12,13]. ...
... However, no studies have scientifically confirmed the effectiveness of these repair methods. The evaluation of management actions, such as repair work, is necessary for trail science [12]. Trail science has focused primarily on quantitative measurements of erosion, with little attention paid to the destination of the eroded sediment. ...
Article
Full-text available
Many mountainous, protected areas, such as national parks worldwide, face trail erosion; stakeholders have made significant efforts to manage eroded trails. However, their effectiveness has not been evaluated. This study aimed to (1) create digital elevation models of an eroded trail using structure-from-motion and multi-view-stereo photogrammetry in Daisetsuzan National Park, northern Japan; (2) conduct a six-year monitoring of the trails repaired by volunteers to reveal trail surface changes; and (3) discuss the effectiveness of the repair works. Palm-fiber bags were used on the trail section to stop the movement of the eroded soil. The results of the three-dimensional analysis identified a certain effectiveness of the repair work during 2017–2022. However, the effectiveness lasted for only approximately three years and was not permanent. Therefore, regular maintenance is necessary to ensure trail sustainability. In addition, the soil erosion rate calculated using the maximum erosion depth has increased from 0.52 mm y−1 (1923–1990) to 44.4 mm y−1 (2013–2022), suggesting the need for frequent observations. Trail maintenance through a combination of monitoring and repair work is vital, and the role of hikers/trekkers is becoming increasingly important.