Assessing conflicts between winter recreational activities and grouse species

Geographical distribution of plastic items in the mountains of Lombardy region-Northern Italy

Mountain environments are becoming receptacles for plastic pollution due to the increasing use and improper disposal of plastic products. However, data on plastic occurrence in mountain ecosystems remains scarce. This study fills this gap by providing an assessment of plastic waste distribution in high-altitude landscapes. We collected plastic items (both mesoplastics and macroplastics) along 28 transects in the Alps and Prealps of Lombardy - Northern Italy. Items were classified by weight, size, original use, and polymer composition. GPS coordinates of plastic item positions were recorded along 21 of these transects. Plastic items (979 overall) were found along all the transects. On average (± standard error), 34.96 ± 5.10 plastic items per transect were found, corresponding to 24.30 ± 37.29 g km-1. Polypropylene (24.92 %), polyethylene (15.71 %), and polyvinyl chloride (10.83 %) were the most abundant polymers, while food packaging (31 %), mountain clothes (5 %), health care (5 %), and mountain equipment (4 %) were the most represented original uses. In-situ abandonment seems, therefore, the predominant source of plastic waste along mountain paths. Plastic distribution seems not related to the presence of mountain refuges (i.e., staffed mountain structures), altitude, geographical position, or frequentation of the transects (assessed using STRAVA tracks). However, the mean number of items decreased from the start to the end of the transects, with most items found in the first km. Straightforward policies, such as placing recycling bins at the start of mountain paths, promoting portable trash cans for backpackers, and conducting awareness campaigns against plastic abandonment, could effectively reduce plastic dispersion in mountain areas.

Advancements in monitoring: a comparison of traditional and application-based tools for measuring outdoor recreation

Outdoor recreation has experienced a boom in recent years and continues to grow. While outdoor recreation provides wide-ranging benefits to human well-being, there are growing concerns about the sustainability of recreation with the increased pressures placed on ecological systems and visitor experiences. These concerns emphasize the need for managers to access accurate and timely recreation data at scales that match the growing extent of the recreation footprint. Here, we compare spatial and temporal patterns of winter and summer recreation using traditional (trail cameras, infrared counters, aerial surveys, participatory mapping) and application-based tools (Strava Metro, Strava Global Heatmap, Wikiloc) across the Columbia and Canadian Rocky Mountains of western Canada. We demonstrate how recreation use can be estimated using traditional and application-based tools, although their accuracy and utility varies across space, season and activity type. We found that trail cameras and infrared counters captured similar broad-scale patterns in count estimates of pedestrians and all recreation activities. Aerial surveys captured areas with low recreation intensity and participatory mapping captured coarser information on the intensity and extent of recreation across large spatial and temporal scales. Application-based data provided detailed spatiotemporal information on recreation use, but datasets were biased towards specific activities. Strava Metro data was more suited for capturing broad-scale spatial patterns in biking than pedestrian recreation. Application-based data should be supplemented with data from traditional tools to identify biases in data and fill in data gaps. We provide a comparison of each tool for measuring recreation use, highlight each tools' strengths and limitations and applications to address real-world monitoring and management scenarios. Our research contributes towards a better understanding of which tool, or combinations of tools, to use that can expand the rigor and scope of recreation research. These findings support decision-making to mitigate pressures on wildlife and their habitats while allowing for high-quality recreation experiences.

Smartphone app reveals that lynx avoid human recreationists on local scale, but not home range scale

Outdoor recreation is increasing and affects habitat use and selection by wildlife. These effects are challenging to study, especially for elusive species with large spatial requirements, as it is hard to obtain reliable proxies of recreational intensity over extensive areas. Commonly used proxies, such as the density of, or distance to, hiking paths, ignore outdoor recreation occurring on other linear feature types. Here we utilized crowdsourced data from the Strava training app to obtain a large-scale proxy for pedestrian outdoor recreation intensity in southeast Norway. We used the proxy and GPS-tracking data from collared Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) to investigate how recreation affects habitat selection at the home range scale and local scale by lynx during summer. We fitted resource selection functions at the two scales using conditional logistic regression. Our analysis revealed that lynx avoided areas of recreational activity at the local scale, but not at home range scale. Nonetheless, lynx frequently used areas associated with recreation, and to a greater degree at night than during the day. Our results suggest that local-scale avoidance of recreation and temporal adjustments of habitat use by lynx mitigate the need for a home range-scale response towards recreation. Scale-dependent responses and temporal adjustments in habitat use may facilitate coexistence between humans and large carnivores.

A Goal Programming Model to Guide Decision-Making Processes towards Conservation Consensuses

In this paper we propose a goal programming model that provides a consensual aggregated solution minimizing conflicts to guide multi-stakeholder decision-making processes and generates information regarding stakeholder groups to be exploited for negotiation purposes. This model permits to quantify variations in conflicts when the relative contribution of each criteria changes and gives insight to negotiation strategies with application in conservation areas. A dataset of a case study in the Meseta Ibérica Biosphere Reserve (Portugal-Spain) was used to test and validate the model. Fifty people belonging to four groups (scientists, government, farmers and businesspersons) assessed 20 management objectives in four dimensions: conservation, logistical support, development, and governance. The results showed the highest conflicts to be found for fauna and flora, education, and guarantees objectives while the most conflictive groups were scientists and farmers. The proposed model substantially reduced the global and intergroup conflicts associated to the same objectives, modelling the weights assigned to each objective in each dimension to find the most consensual/least conflictive solutions. This model can be a useful tool to improve complex decision-making processes in conservation areas with strong conflicts between stakeholders, such as transboundary biosphere reserves.