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The underestimated dynamics and impacts of water-based recreational activities on freshwater ecosystems

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Environmental Reviews
Authors:
Markus Venohr at Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
Markus Venohr
Simone D. Langhans
Simone D. Langhans
Simone D. Langhans
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Oliver Peters at German Institute of Urban Affairs
Oliver Peters
Franz Hölker at Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
Franz Hölker
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Abstract and Figures

Recreational activities on, in, and along freshwaters (e.g., boating, bathing, angling) positively contribute to human well-being but can also concurrently stress aquatic ecosystems. While outdoor recreation, aquatic ecosystems, and human well-being form coupled social-ecological systems, inherent fluxes and interactions between these have rarely been properly quantified. This paper synthesizes information on links between water-based recreational activities, effects on freshwater ecosystems integrity and recreational quality, and proposes a novel framework for assessment and integrated management. This framework is based on understanding relationships between recreational quality, demand and use, and recreational use-induced impacts on ecosystem state and function, as well as ecological and social carrying capacities. Current management approaches of freshwater ecosystems addressing economic, environmental, or recreational aspects are poorly linked and harmonized, and are further constrained by inadequate information on the dynamics and densities of recreational uses. Novel assessment and monitoring methods are needed to capture the short-term peak dynamics of water-based recreational uses, and we argue social media could play an increasingly important role here. An integrative recreation ecology management concept combined with peak usage information has great potential to form the basis for next-generation management approaches of freshwater and other ecosystems.
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REVIEW
The underestimated dynamics and impacts of water-based
recreational activities on freshwater ecosystems
Markus Venohr, Simone D. Langhans, Oliver Peters, Franz Hölker, Robert Arlinghaus, Lewis Mitchell,
and Christian Wolter
Abstract: Recreational activities on, in, and along freshwaters (e.g., boating, bathing, angling) positively contribute to human
well-being but can also concurrently stress aquatic ecosystems. While outdoor recreation, aquatic ecosystems, and human
well-being form coupled social-ecological systems, inherent fluxes and interactions between these have rarely been properly
quantified. This paper synthesizes information on links between water-based recreational activities, effects on freshwater
ecosystems integrity and recreational quality, and proposes a novel framework for assessment and integrated management. This
framework is based on understanding relationships between recreational quality, demand and use, and recreational use-induced
impacts on ecosystem state and function, as well as ecological and social carrying capacities. Current management approaches
of freshwater ecosystems addressing economic, environmental, or recreational aspects are poorly linked and harmonized, and
are further constrained by inadequate information on the dynamics and densities of recreational uses. Novel assessment and
monitoring methods are needed to capture the short-term peak dynamics of water-based recreational uses, and we argue social
media could play an increasingly important role here. An integrative recreation ecology management concept combined with
peak usage information has great potential to form the basis for next-generation management approaches of freshwater and
other ecosystems.
Key words: recreation ecology, freshwater, social-environmental carrying capacity, social media, usage peaks, integrative man-
agement.
Résumé : Les activités récréatives sur, dans et à proximité des eaux douces (navigation, baignade, pêche…) contribuent au
bien-être humain, mais impactent ces écosystèmes. Activités récréatives, écosystèmes aquatiques et bien-être humain forment
un système d’interactions socio-écologiques, bien que les flux inhérents et les interactions n’aient que rarement été quantifiés.
Dynamique et densité des usages guident la satisfaction perçue et les impacts environnementaux. Leur gestion durable est
limitée par manque d’informations sur leurs dynamiques spatio-temporelles (d’usage et d’impacts écologiques). Cet article
propose une synthèse exhaustive de la littérature sur les liens entre activités récréatives, effets environnementaux, qualité des
écosystèmes et satisfaction de l’usager; et conceptualise les interactions socio-écologiques au sein d’un nouveau cadre de gestion
et d’évaluation de ces activités. Les données géoréférencées extraites des réseaux sociaux (ici Twitter) y sont proposées pour
approcher plus en détail dynamiques, timing et intensités des usages aquatiques récréatifs. Ces données, calibrées sur les
enregistrements d’activités, pourraient constituer les outils de suivi ‘next-gen’ nécessaires pour l’évaluation des dynamiques et
impacts des usages récréatifs.
Mots-clés : écologie récréative, eaux douces, capacité d’accueil socio-environnementale, réseaux sociaux, pics d’utilisation,
gestion intégrée.
Introduction
People heavily depend on surface waters. Surface waters pro-
vide a multitude of ecosystem services (ESS) that contribute di-
rectly and indirectly, knowingly and unconsciously, to human
well-being through recreation, scenic value, biodiversity provi-
sion, and the provision of nutritional products (e.g., Arlinghaus
2004;Aylward et al. 2005;Pretty et al. 2007).
Most people prefer to settle in the vicinity of freshwaters. Glob-
ally, approximately 50% of the population lives within less than
3 km from freshwater ecosystems (Kummu et al. 2011). In urban
environments, promenades are commonly favorite places to
spend time, and the mere existence of surface waters potentially
enhances human health and well-being (Völker and Kistemann
2011,2013). Water is of such importance to people that visibility of
surface water, compared to other landscape features, accelerates
property prices (Luttik 2000).
Water-based recreation is important to people but their spatio-
temporal distributions are not well known. However, official tour-
Received 27 March 2017. Accepted 8 January 2018.
M. Venohr, O. Peters, and F. Hölker. Department Ecohydrology, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310,
12587 Berlin, Germany.
S.D. Langhans. Department Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin,
Germany; Department of Zoology, University of Otago, 340 Great King Street, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
R. Arlinghaus. Department Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310,
12587 Berlin, Germany; Division of Integrative Fisheries Management, Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany.
L. Mitchell. School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, SA Australia.
C. Wolter. Department Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin,
Germany.
Corresponding author: Markus Venohr (email: m.venohr@igb-berlin.de).
Copyright remains with the author(s) or their institution(s). Permission for reuse (free in most cases) can be obtained from RightsLink.
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Environ. Rev. 26: 199–213 (2018) dx.doi.org/10.1139/er-2017-0024 Published at www.nrcresearchpress.com/er on 22 January 2018.
... Recently, there has been a worldwide increase in the popularity of water-based leisure activities (Galloway, 2012;Reimer and Wu, 2016;van der Meulen et al., 2020;Venohr et al., 2018). Due to these recreational demands in water recreational activities, urban riverine environment is being reorganized, and the waterside recreational areas are expanding. ...
... However, at the same time, numerous accidents have been reported from wate recreational activities annually; thus, associated safety issues have gained increasing concern. Water recreational activities, such as swimming, boating, paddling, and sailing, pose potential risks due to fluctuations in hydraulic conditions and water quality (Seo and Choi, 2014;Venohr et al., 2018). For example, unexpected irregular flows could induce sudden accidents, and poor water quality could induce critical waterborne diseases in the eyes, skin, and digestive systems. ...
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... It is therefore associated with individual health benefits and environmental awareness (British Canoeing, 2018). Recreational activities can however severely impact freshwater ecosystems when performed at high intensity, i.e., on weekends and holidays and under fair weather conditions (Venohr et al., 2018). ...
... Studies at the level of populations, however, are much rarer, while studies at the community level were particularly rare in water-based recreational activity-contexts York, 1994). At community level, effects are usually caused by multiple factors and impacts of recreational activities are much more intensity-dependent (Stock et al., 1994;Venohr et al., 2018). ...
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... Negative effects of recreation on littoral and submerged vegetation are well documented (Murphy and Eaton 1983, Hadwen et al. 2003, Ostendorp et al. 2009, Venohr et al. 2018, Nikolaus et al. 2020, Schafft et al. 2021, Wegner et al. 2023. Aquatic vegetation may, however, also be perceived as too dense and hindering recreative activities. ...
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