Recreational ecology
Recreational ecology is a field of research and work that deals with the ecological effects of recreation. The main focus is on the effects of recreational activities such as hiking, cycling and mountain biking, canoeing, and climbing in the open countryside on wild animal and plant species. A typical research field is the influence of visitors on the nature to be protected in protected areas such as national parks. In addition to disturbance of shy and sensitive wild animal species, it is also about step damage caused by visitors in sensitive vegetation (with subsequent soil erosion).
Apart from individual studies, the ecological effects of recreational activities have been a topic in Germany for around 35 years. In the Anglo-American region, such effects have been investigated as part of recreation ecology since the 1960s. In German-language publications, this expression is often left untranslated, but is sometimes also Germanized as recreational ecology.
Recreational ecology deals with the various effects of recreational uses on the ecosystem in the sense of specialized ecosystem research (Garthe 2019). In a broader understanding, recreation ecology can be understood as the investigation of the ecological relationships between people and the environment in the context of recreation and tourism. One research approach is to estimate the carrying capacity of natural habitats for visitors in order to establish threshold values.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Recreational Ecology . in Matthias Schaefer: Dictionary of Ecology. 5th edition 2012, Spektrum / Springer Verlag, Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-8274-2561-4 , p. 83.
- ↑ Christopher J. Garthe: Early Recreation Ecology Research in Europe - Disciplinary development and review of German-language research results . In: Journal for Nature Conservation . tape 51 , 2019, p. 125718 , doi : 10.1016 / j.jnc.2019.125718 .
- ↑ Christopher J. Garthe: How many tourists are too many tourists? Unimagazin Hannover 1/2 2007: 18-23. download