Tourism, Recreation and Trail Impacts - Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues - page 134

Vegetation
As already noted, both footpath use and off-path footfall can significantly
affect vegetation growth and cover (Appeldoorn, 1993; Bright, 1986; Hornby
& Sheate, 2001; Liu, 1993; Liu et al. , 2001; Sievänen, 1989; Taylor et al. , 1993).
Impacts on foliage are direct or indirect (Leonard et al. , 1985). Direct impacts
are induced by direct physical contact with vegetation. Trampling on plants
breaks leaves, stems, roots and new growth, and results in small-scale damage
or complete species depletion (Jones, 2001; McQuaid-Cook, 1978). A study in
the Netherlands (Appeldoorn, 1993) found that 50% of all-terrain bikes leave
the designated path, exacting severe damage to flora. Many studies have
examined the effects of trail use and path widening on trees, grasses, bushes,
mosses, lichens, fungi, berries and mushrooms (Nepal & Way, 2007b; Sievänen,
1989). Some scientists have studied the index of vegetation impact (IVI) and
how many steps or passes are needed to exact negative changes on trailside
vegetation. For the majority of plant varieties in Leonard et al. 's (1985) study,
plant mortality occurred between 100 and 300 trampling passes. In another
study, Landsberg and his colleagues (2001) found that vegetation changes
were apparent after only 10 passes by two horses. They also discovered that
a 50% reduction in vegetation cover in the Rocky Mountains occurred after
300 walkers, 80 motorcycles and 80 horses. In grasslands, a 50% reduction
in flora cover resulted from 1100 walkers, 1000 motorcycles, reflecting that
different ecosystems have different levels of resilience for trampling. A study
in a forest park in Taiwan concluded that vegetation changes were found
most clearly within two meters from the edges of a trail (Liu & Tseng, 2003).
Deforestation is a problem also associated with backcountry trails. In
Nepal, which became a popular trekking destination in the 1980s and 1990s,
trail hiking was a cause of forest degradation (Sharma, 1997). Trekkers, who
tended to stay longer in the wilderness than conventional sightseeing tour-
ists, increased demand for firewood several-fold (Bjønness, 1982). Conseq-
uently, deforestation near trails occurred rather quickly, and when the wood
was gone, guides and porters searched further afield for trees to cut to satisfy
tourists' desires for hot water for bathing, wood for cooking, and boiled
water for drinking (Laiolo, 2003; Santos, 1988).
Vandalism and souvenir hunting are other direct effects that may result in
changes to vegetal cover (McQuaid-Cook, 1978). Souvenir hunting became so
bad among pilgrims on the small trails in the Garden of Gethsemane in
Jerusalem, which has deep significance for Christians, that centuries-old olive
trees were beginning to die from people stripping off bark, branches and leaves
to add to their Holy Land souvenir collections. Nowadays, visitors are no
longer allowed to walk among the trees but are relegated to a perimeter walk-
way around what is left of the garden (Hughes & Subash Chandran, 1998). It
is common to see names and other inscriptions carved in tree bark, or to see
other kinds of scarring on trees and other vegetation; wounded trees are a