People enjoy outdoor recreation. It
helps them relax. There is something about surrounding yourself in an
environment other than the city or the suburbs that calms the mind. Most people
who spend time in the outdoors also want to protect them. They want to save
these beautiful corners of serenity so that their children can enjoy them.
Often big corporations get the blame for the decline of these settings, but how
much damage does the average person afflict on nature? I recently read a piece
in the Sunday Review of the New York Times that might surprise you.
The article, written by Christopher Solomon, describes research on the effects
of human recreation on natural areas. Solomon chronicles the work of scientists
like Dr. Kimberly Heinemeyer and others who work to determine man’s impact on
nature.
Dr. Heinemeyer researches
wolverines. For those of you who don’t know, wolverines are an elusive species
of mammal that lives in the northwestern part of the United States in areas
that are often favored by back country skiers. Dr. Heinemeyer’s research has
shown that wolverines move faster and cover more distance on the weekends,
especially where skiers and snowmobilers travel. They are not used to this
energy expenditure, and it threatens their survival by making them use energy
they need to hunt to avoid humans.
Wolverines are not the only animals
that evade humans. Solomon goes on to tell us about the work of Professor Rick
Knight of Colorado State University. Professor Knight studies songbirds around
the Rockies, and has noticed dead zones 100 meters on each side of trails. No
bird nests near trails or anywhere where frequent human activity occurs.
These startling conclusions came as
a bit of a shock to me. Obviously human interaction with nature can be negative,
but it is hard to come to terms with the idea that our mere presence in nature
can hurt it. 99% of conserved land in the United States allows some form of
recreation, but it now seems that this may be hurting the animals that live in
these areas. Perhaps we need to cut back on visiting the outdoors to let them
recover. I have not found any studies about the Adirondacks similar to the ones
done out west. I am confident given the multitude of these findings that man is
having a similar impact in the Adirondacks. Perhaps if we focus on the quality
of visits to our favorite natural settings rather than quantity, we can
preserve these area’s denizens. If you want to read Christopher Solomon’s
article, it is in the link below.
Sources:
Solomon, Christopher. "Leaving
Only Footsteps? Think Again." New York Times 15 Feb. 2014. New York
Times. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Although I try not to post on the blog, I can't help myself. Check out this story on Yellowstone:
ReplyDeleteMoose use roads as a defence against bears
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071010/full/news.2007.155.html
Fragmentation plays a huge role in shaping current ecosystem structure. What we may see as pristine park land, with just a few roads cutting through and trailheads scattered about, is actually directly altered by humans. Clearings created by roads not only increase wind impact on fringes of the forest, but also allow more sunlight to reach the ground. Different species are drawn to this newly exposed area than before, and as shrubby plants move in, so do a new population of animals. Fragmentation causes the ecosystem to shift around it, and affects predator-prey interactions across the board.
ReplyDeleteI think some areas in the Adirondacks are too fragmented to support native species, and that some sparsely-traveled forest roads should be abandoned in order to mend the region back together. Hiking trails could be established in the roads' place, so both humans and nature can benefit from a balanced ecosystem. Do you think the Adirondacks suffer from a fragmentation problem? If so, do you think anything should be done to fix it?
I am not sure how to fix the Adirondacks fragmentation problem, but I do question the point made "99% of protected land allows for recreation on it but now that seems too lenient." I agree that human technology has caused an increasingly and often negative impact on the land. However, comments like these make me wonder what are consequences of thinking of humans as seperate from nature?
ReplyDelete