Developing a Monitoring Protocol for Visitor-Created Informal Trails in Yosemite National Park,USA |
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Authors: | Yu-Fai Leung Todd Newburger Marci Jones Bill Kuhn Brittany Woiderski |
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Institution: | (1) Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University, Box 7106, 5107 Jordan Hall, Raleigh, NC 27695-7106, USA;(2) Resources Management and Science, Yosemite National Park, El Portal, CA, USA |
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Abstract: | Informal trails created or perpetuated by visitors is a management challenge in many protected natural areas such as Yosemite
National Park. This is a significant issue as informal trail networks penetrate and proliferate into protected landscapes
and habitats, threatening ecological integrity, aesthetics, and visitor experiences. In order to develop effective strategies
for addressing this problem under an adaptive management framework, indicators must be developed and monitoring protocol must
be established to gather timely and relevant data about the condition, extent, and distribution of these undesired trail segments.
This article illustrates a process of developing and evaluating informal trail indicators for meadows in Yosemite Valley.
Indicator measures developed in past research were reviewed to identify their appropriateness for the current application.
Information gaps in existing indicator measures were addressed by creating two new indices to quantify the degree of informal
trailing based on its land fragmentation effects. The selected indicator measures were applied to monitoring data collected
between 2006 and 2008. The selected measures and indices were evaluated for their ability to characterize informal trail impacts
at site and landscape scales. Results demonstrate the utility of indicator measures in capturing different characteristics
of the informal trail problem, though several metrics are strongly related to each other. The two fragmentation indices were
able to depict fragmentation without being too sensitive to changes in one constituent parameter. This study points to the
need for a multiparameter approach to informal trail monitoring and integration with other monitoring data. Implications for
monitoring programs and research are discussed. |
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