Impact Of Recreation Research Articles

Development and Application of a Method to Estimate Short-Term Alpine Sediment Transfer in the Colorado Front Range, USA

Clastic sediment movement was evaluated in Roaring River Watershed in the Mummy Range of the Colorado Front Range. Photogeologic techniques and fieldwork on identifiable landforms were used to develop a terrain classification of sediment transfer. Terrain units formed the bases for assessing contemporary processes of sediment transport and for testing its usefulness in evaluating sediment flux. Contemporary behavior of terrain units suggests relative stability (short-term, i.e., 50 years) of the present system. The hillslope sediment transfer system appears to act as a closed system and is dominated by internal transfer of sediment moving on slopes with little clastic material entering the fluvial system. The method proposed here can be used by mountain park and wilderness area managers as a framework for determining alpine and subalpine ecosystem disturbance that results from recreational impact.

Medication-Induced Performance Decrements: Cardiovascular Medications

Clinicians may not give complete consideration to the occupational and recreational impact that prescribed medications can have on patients. Because cardiovascular disease is a major health problem that affects a large segment of the adult population in the United States, a significant portion of the adult work force may be expected to be under treatment with cardiovascular medications. Many may experience decrements in job performance as a result of such therapy. This article discusses the incidence and impact of occupationally relevant side effects of several categories of cardiovascular drugs, including beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, antiarrhythmics, vasodilators, nitrates, lipid-lowering agents, and diuretics.

RECREATION ECOLOGY: WHAT WE KNOW, WHAT GEOGRAPHERS CAN CONTRIBUTE∗

Geographers have made substantial contributions to the field of recreation ecology, the study of recreational impacts on the environment, despite the absence of a uniquely geographic perspective. Knowledge about recreation impact is still rudimentary and open to further contributions by geographers. Three areas where geographic methods seem particularly useful are (1) understanding the spatial variability of site susceptibility, (2) analyzing spatial distributions of impact, and (3) integrating social and ecological concerns in the development of management programs.

Recreation Expenditures and Opportunity Theory: The Case of Illinois

With the exception of measures reflecting travel distance, travel time, or travel cost, the literature devoted to the understanding and prediction of the economic impact of recreation has oversimplified the characterization of the spatial or locational aspects of the distribution of opportunities facing decision makers. In this paper, the relative effects of site characteristics are compared to the spatial context within which recreators make destination choices in accounting for variations in per person per day expenditures. The results show that for a large portion of Illinois households the agglomerative effects and contextual effects of spatial structure are the principal factors influencing per person per day expenditure levels.

Types of Norms for Recreation Impacts: Extending the Social Norms Concept

Evaluative information about appropriate use conditions is a necessary component of managing impacts in recreation settings. Social norm theory, which suggests there may be group agreement about ap...

River Recreation Boating Impacts

Recreation boating on rivers can create conflict and crowding which detract from both the safety and the enjoyment of the boating environment. Travel over water by boat is inherently risk-prone, and demands a special category of skills. In recreation boating, especially, these skills are often absent. Speed and operational characteristics of boats, as well as the physiography of the river landscape, are some of the variables which influence boating conflict. Difference in speed is a particularly significant contributor to boating conflict. A method is developed to measure the impact of recreation boating on a river, suitable especially for a narrow water configuration and a relatively high flow of traffic. A complementary part to impact assessment is the physiography of the river environment. A method to map the visibility down a river channel, in order to identify locations of potential boating hazards, is described. The policy implications are discussed. The case study is the Rideau River in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Differences between Environmental Impacts of Logging and Recreation in Mature Forest Ecosystems

In order to be able to recommend the most compatible land-uses for adoption in a multiple land-use system, in terms of the resultant impacts on soils and vegetation in mature ecosystems, the impact of logging operations and recreation in the Caspian region of Iran was studied. Four forest communities were selected and, with an analytical approach, the bulk density, percentage of plant cover, number of individual plants, plant height, and the number of plant species encountered, in 36 sample plots (20 × 1 m) located on various slopes and aspects, and used for logging or recreation at different intensities (unused, transitional, used), were recorded.The effectiveness of data, in terms of demonstrating the statistically significant differences, was tested by the method described in Conquest (1983). T-statistics for two means were used to discern statistical differences.The results of the study indicate that the effect of logging is greater than that of recreation on soil bulk density, whereas the effect of recreation is greater on plants than that of logging. Aspect has no effect on the resultant impact, but steep slopes are more susceptible than gentle ones. With increases in altitude, the degree of impact decreases. Ecosystems having loamy clay soils and a greater proportion of monocotyledonous than dicotyledonous species, located on gentle slopes at the higher altitudes investigated, tend to resist the impacts of both logging and recreation best.

Assessing the Economic Impacts of Recreation and Tourism. Dennis B. Propst. Department of Park and Recreation Resources, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. 1985. 64p

Assessing the Economic Impacts of Recreation and Tourism. Dennis B. Propst. Department of Park and Recreation Resources, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. 1985. 64p

The regional economic impact of tourism and recreation in national parks

Although regional economic impact studies stop a long way short of providing economic evaluations of alternative uses of open space, they are valuable in quantifying tangible contributions of recreation and tourism to local economic activity. Such studies might be vital in supporting the case for conservation and national parks. Regional economic impact studies predict changes in output, income, and employment stemming from visitor expenditures. A review of the quantitative findings of twenty-nine such studies shows a surprising commonality in regional multiplier estimates in the range 1.25–1.89. This is despite wide diversity in the location, context, and methodology of the studies. The second section of the paper is a case study conducted in Cooloola National Park, Australia. Problems in measuring visitor expenditures are discussed in some detail, as it is argued that inaccuracies in this phase of research may be more significant than those arising from multiplier estimation. Markedly different impacts ...

Predictability of Recreational Impact on Soils

AbstractBiophysical measurements were taken on 96 paired campsites and controls in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of north‐eastern Minnesota. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify and evaluate factors affecting changes in bulk density, organic horizon thickness, and exposed soil associated with campsite use. The best predictors of change in bulk density were campsite age, mineral soil organic content, organic horizon thickness, and offsite bulk density. Offsite organic horizon thickness and level of use were the best predictors of change in campsite organic horizon thickness. Level of use and campsite age were the best predictors of amount of exposed soil. Bulk density and exposed soil continued to increase with campsite age, even though all sites included in the study were > 5 yr in age. Other studies have not found this relationship. This information can be used to assist managers in selecting recreation site locations and appropriate site management techniques.

Recreational impacts on Colorado River beaches in Glen Canyon, Arizona

Recreational impact was measured on eight beaches in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and 15 beaches in Grand Canyon National Park using permanently located transects and plots. Recreational impact indices included densities of human trash and charcoal and a measure of sand discoloration due to charcoal. Significant increases in the indices occurred on several Glen Canyon beaches over a seven-month period. Sand discoloration became significantly higher over all Glen Canyon beaches during the same time period. All indices were significantly higher in Glen Canyon than on similar Grand Canyon beaches. These differences are probably due to differences in: (a) level of impacts tolerated by the respective management regimes and, (b) in the number of user days among the two National Park Service administrative units. Management alternatives are presented for reversing the present trends of recreational impact on Glen Canyon beaches.

Impact of outdoor recreation on the density of a number of breeding bird species in woods adjacent to urban residential areas

Outdoor recreation is often supposed to have an important impact on wildlife, although this assumption has not been tested very often. The resulting lack of knowledge becomes apparent in situations where parties with conflicting interests disagree on the number of visitors an area can sustain without major repercussions. In 1980 the possible effects of recreation intensity upon bird densities were studied in seven study plots adjacent to urban residential areas in The Netherlands. Of the 31 bird species found, only 13 could be studied in detail, being present in at least 20 territories. Significant negative correlations between recreation intensities and bird densities were found for 8 of these 13 species. The slopes of the regression lines enabled us to rank the 8 species in a sequence of decreasing susceptibility. The results indicate that the disturbance is caused rather by the recreation intensity during the week than by the recreation intensity at weekends.

RECREATION AT DRINKING WATER RESERVOIRS IN MASSACHUSETTS: A SURVEY OF WATER MANAGERS1

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to identify attitudes toward the recreational use of drinking water reservoirs in Massachusetts among municipal water supply managers in the state. Compared to the findings of recent studies assessing the attitudes of the general public, water officials were found to advocate highly restrictive views. No officials said that recreation was an insignificant source of water supply pollution; however, opinions were not found to be related to respondents' exposure to the literature on the topic. The majority were not, in fact, familiar with the literature assessing the impact of recreation on water supply reservoirs.

Environmental impact studies: An interdisciplinary approach for assigning priorities

The cross-impact assessment process (CAP) is presented as a practical method for efficiently identifying a parsimonious set of critically important variables and associated relationships needed to conduct environmental impact studies. CAP was developed from the logic of a number of techniques that are collectively referred to as cross-impact analysis. The process is based on a series of structured workshops. The participants represent a variety of disciplines and individual members are selected because they have both the depth of understanding necessary to contribute specific knowledge on the environmental impact assessment problem and the breadth of view to integrate that knowledge with the information provided by other panelists. The results of the workshops are summarized in an importance index and presented in a cross-impact matrix. CAP is illustrated with an example from an Upper Mississippi River recreation impact study, but it can also be applied to any environmental impact assessment problem that can be characterized as a system of variables and relationships. CAP also provides an efficient and reasonably objective means for assigning priorities to environmental impact studies.

Regional Impact Analysis and Recreational Multipliers

Water based recreational development projects are one of the most difficult areas for project analysis. Information on the impact of recreational projects is useful for planning but the economic researcher faces barriers to this estimation problem. This article evaluates the relative merits of alternative methods to the input-output model to estimate recreational impact multipliers and compares them to the multipliers obtained using standard methods.

Determining the Acceptability of Recreational Impacts : An Application of the Outdoor Recreation Opportunity Spectrum. Roger N. Clark and George H. Stankey. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Seattle, Washington. 1979. 11p

Determining the Acceptability of Recreational Impacts : An Application of the Outdoor Recreation Opportunity Spectrum. Roger N. Clark and George H. Stankey. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Seattle, Washington. 1979. 11p

Users' and Managers' Perceptions of Dispersed Recreation Impacts: A Focus on Roaded Forest Lands. Kent Downing and Roger N. Clark. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Seattle, Washington. 1979. 7p

Users' and Managers' Perceptions of Dispersed Recreation Impacts: A Focus on Roaded Forest Lands. Kent Downing and Roger N. Clark. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Seattle, Washington. 1979. 7p

Impact of Industrial Recreation Upon Job Satisfaction and Productivity

Impact of Industrial Recreation Upon Job Satisfaction and Productivity

A description of coastal heath at North Head, Sydney Harbour National Park: impact of recreation and other disturbance since 1951

The current status of heath growing at North Head. Sydney Harbour National Park, and the way in which the vegetation has been altered by recreation and other factors since 195 1, were assessed by field survey and interpretation of aerial photographs. Pattern analysis showed that mature ( 10 years since last fire) heath could be divided into two areas based on the mutual exclusiveness of Leprosperrnum laevigatum on the one hand and Restio fastigiatus and Leucopogon microphyllus on the other. Leptospermum heath tended to be found on relatively deep sandy soil. whereas Restio-Leucopogon heath was found on shallow soil with subdued local relief. The delimitation of heath types could not be accounted for by differences in fire history. Leptospermum heath was floristically less rich than Restio-Leucopogon heath (13 cf. 26 species); and both types were less rich than heath that had been burnt 1.5 years previously (36 species). Regrowth in the recently burnt heath comprised species that regenerated from seed stored in persistent capsules (873, those that regenerated from soil-stored seed ( +67%), and those that had vegetative means of regeneration (28%). A large proportion (67%) of those species in the second category were rare or absent in mature heath, whereas all of those in the first were dominant in 10-year-old heath. Restio-Leucopogon heath has been burnt approximately every 10 years since 1951, and this interval between burns should be retained to maximize floristic diversity. Leptospermum heath has been burnt only once in the same period. This type of heath would need to be burnt every 10-20 years to increase floristic diversity of vegetative plants and to reduce canopy height, although species present as dormant viable seeds would not be eliminated by a less frequent burning program. Substantial areas of heath have been removed by earthworks, and heath and topsoil have been stripped from the lower parts of the Head by run-off from compacted and sealed surfaces. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic has not had a serious impact on the vegetation. In the absence of further disturbance, heath plants have colonized ground when topsoil material has been left in situ. Introduced grasses have become established at the junction of parking areas and paths with the heath. This has probably been assisted by nutrient enrichment via imported fill material.

The impact at recreation on settlement structure

On the example of 177 settlements in the districts of Bruntál and Šumperk (North Moravia, Czechoslovakia) the author finds out the impact of recreation on the development of settlements of various largeness and of various types. She studies particularly some special signs of recreational (second) homing in marginal zones of towns (outskirts) and simultaneously she deals with interactions with the permanent housing, increasing very quickly nowadays. In the article she indicates also the prognosis of future development of second homing in the investigated area.