Each year, millions of Intermountain Westerners rise to high elevations, step across shallow streams to access trailheads, creep across ephemerally wet meadows, observe gregarious wildlife through groundwater fed seeps, and park on roadway shoulders to photograph riverine wetlands. As visitors hurriedly shake pens to fill out fee envelopes, prepare their fishing rods, and unearth digital maps to navigate trail systems, natural areas brace for impact. Most vulnerable to recreational overuse include freshwater and riparian environments, which house some of this mountainous region’s most sensitive wetland ecosystems. Having spent substantial time examining how mountain recreation area visitors engage and form connections with complex wetland ecosystems throughout the Intermountain West, I came to understand the critical essence of human-nature interactions. I set out to explore the relationships among outdoor recreation, wetlands, and wildlife behavior. Through conversations about visitors’ knowledge and connection to various wetlands that stretch across the landscape, I gathered the importance of these systems to people. While most visitors view wetlands as critical for drinking water and recreation resources, few acknowledge the ecological pillar, or the one pertaining to the fate of species, habitats, and small ecosystems facing changes from recreation resource overuse. Little interest in the dynamics of freshwater and riparian resources like wetlands within mountain recreation areas raised questions about outdoor recreation mentalities and the fate of small, rare wetlands. Assessing the fate of wetland resources often involves active, on-site research. Researchers in this field, namely, recreation ecology, ask far-reaching questions about human-nature dynamics, often aimed at conservation. This body of work examines how different user groups, like bikers, campers, hikers, and anglers, influence biodiversity patterns, habitat quality, species population sizes, wildlife behavior, and disturbance recovery times (1, 2). Regardless of the activity type and proximity to ecological communities, some level of disturbance almost always occurs. Recreational disturbances seldom cause plant and wildlife fatalities like avalanches, wildfires, and windstorms readily do, but instead, they drive unusual behaviors and alter suitable habitats through quality changes. For instance, moose slowly trek across wet aspen and willow fields, looking for fresh browse. They cross fast flowing streams, and often playfully run through riverine wetlands. Moose are more likely to engage in these behaviors in the absence of outdoor recreationists (3).
Visitors are likely to drive moose and other wildlife away from preferred locations much faster. Unpredictable movements concern ecologists, and they fear irregular behavior will drive ecosystem quality down through changing food-webs, fewer nutrient inputs, and changing habitat use (4). Other key research involves assessing wetland soil quality, water clarity, vegetation dynamics and the diversity of fish and wildlife using the various areas. Moreover, nesting, and foraging birds are common indicators of wetland and riparian health, and many studies use these species as proxies to assess habitat qualities such as the amount of unnatural noise pollution. Finally, behavioral analyses that track wildlife movements and “time spent hidden” rather than foraging are also crucial aspects of favorable ecological health (5). These seemingly small, species-specific research endeavors can effectively assess how outdoor recreation might contribute to ecological integrity changes. Like in all environmental management fields, recreation ecologists can produce large-scale forecasts, which explain the fate of many different recreation areas. However, research aimed at understanding specific impacts (e.g., rockhounding affects beaver productivity in pond edge wetlands) spaces is stronger. Place-based research is critical, and although it requires a lot of grit, it captures the intricate dynamics (6). By delving into these unique and complex interactions, researchers and protected area managers can better incorporate the nuance into outdoor recreation planning. There are actions we can take to accelerate research and open change pathways. Speaking with protected area staff on-site about ongoing research projects keeps us engaged, alert, and holds stewards accountable. By asking our land and water stewards these questions, we gain insight into the decision-making processes. At the individual level, we can critically think about how our decisions shape natural areas. If we assume our behaviors influence soil, water, plants, and animals, they likely do. Protecting our invaluable mountain freshwater ecosystems directly affects outdoor recreation experiences, the two are inextricably linked. In the day and age of vast environmental change and rapidly growing visitor use, understanding how humans shape ecosystem health outcome have become more urgent than ever.
References
(1) Kesling, J. R. (2024). Outdoor recreation contributes to ecological changes along
coastlines: Temperate United States cases highlight key impacts and ways forward.
Coastal Studies & Society, 26349817241293172.
https://doi.org/10.1177/26349817241293172
(2) Abernathy, H. N., Crawford, D. A., Chandler, R. B., Garrison, E. P., Conner, L. M.,
Miller, K. V., & Cherry, M. J. (2023). Rain, recreation and risk: Human activity and
ecological disturbance create seasonal risk landscapes for the prey of an ambush predator.
Journal of Animal Ecology, 92(9), 1840–1855. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13976
(3) Dertien, J. S., Larson, C. L., & Reed, S. E. (2021). Recreation effects on wildlife: A
review of potential quantitative thresholds. Nature Conservation, 44, 51–68.
https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.44.63270
(4) Kirchner, T. (2024). Do you mind? Using biologging tools to study anthropogenic
disturbance effects on wildlife behavior and energetics – a case study on moose [Doctoral
thesis, Høgskolen i Innlandet]. In 39. https://brage.inn.no/inn-
xmlui/handle/11250/3122706
(5) Ly, A., Geschke, J., Snethlage, M. A., Stauffer, K. L., Nussbaumer, J., Schweizer, D.,
Diffenbaugh, N. S., Fischer, M., & Urbach, D. (2023). Subnational biodiversity reporting
metrics for mountain ecosystems. Nature Sustainability, 6(12), 1547–1551.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01232-3
(6) Wilson, M. W., Ridlon, A. D., Gaynor, K. M., Gaines, S. D., Stier, A. C., & Halpern, B.
S. (2020). Ecological impacts of human-induced animal behaviour change. Ecology
Letters, 23(10), 1522–1536.
Joshua Kesling, Western Resource Fellow | Josh is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale School of the Environment, broadly studying conservation ecology, riverine ecosystems, and recreation management. Within the discipline, he examines how human-nature interactions like recreation uses and wildlife conflicts drive freshwater resource use changes. Josh understands the important role freshwater-based recreation and tourism play in fueling local and regional economies and natural identities, but he contends that unsustainable patterns of resource usage imperil sensitive species and ecosystems. He grew up in Ohio, where the shallowest of the Great Lakes resides and the world’s largest walleye fishery persists. Some of the most formative years in Josh’s life occurred when he moved to Northern Utah. He began to consider the nexus of contentious environmental water transactions, explosive recreational industries, and mountain dweller ways of life. In his freetime, Josh loves to explore harbors, hike seashores, climb mountains in search of alpine wetlands, and write poetry. See what Josh has been up to. | | Blog