1. The underestimated dynamics and impacts of water-based recreational activities on freshwater ecosystems
- Author
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Venohr, Markus, Langhans, Simone D., Peters, Oliver, Holker, Franz, Arlinghaus, Robert, Mitchell, Lewis, and Wolter, Christian
- Subjects
Outdoor recreation -- Environmental aspects ,Freshwater ecosystems -- Environmental aspects ,Environmental issues - Abstract
Recreational activities on, in, and along freshwaters (e.g., boating, bathing, angling) positively contribute to human well-being but can also concurrently stress aquatic ecosystems. While outdoor recreation, aquatic ecosystems, and human well-being form coupled social-ecological systems, inherent fluxes and interactions between these have rarely been properly quantified. This paper synthesizes information on links between water-based recreational activities, effects on freshwater ecosystems integrity and recreational quality, and proposesa novel framework for assessment and integrated management. This frameworkisbasedonunderstanding relationships between recreational quality, demand and use, and recreational use-induced impacts on ecosystem state and function, as well as ecological and social carrying capacities. Current management approaches of freshwater ecosystems addressing economic, environmental, or recreational aspects are poorly linked and harmonized, and are further constrained by inadequate information on the dynamics and densities of recreational uses. Novel assessment and monitoring methods are needed to capture the short-term peak dynamics of water-based recreational uses, and we argue social media could play an increasingly important role here. An integrative recreation ecology management concept combined with peak usage information has great potential to form the basis for next-generation management approaches of freshwater and other ecosystems. Key words: recreation ecology, freshwater, social-environmental carrying capacity, social media, usage peaks, integrative management. Les activites recreatives sur, dans et a proximite des eaux douces (navigation, baignade, peche...) contribuent au bien-etre humain, mais impactent ces ecosystemes. Activites recreatives, ecosystemes aquatiques et bien-etre humain forment un systeme d'interactions socio-ecologiques, bien que les flux inherents et les interactions n'aient que rarement ete quantifies. Dynamique et densite des usages guident la satisfaction percue et les impacts environnementaux. Leur gestion durable est limitee par manque d'informations sur leurs dynamiques spatio-temporelles (d'usage et d'impacts ecologiques). Cet article propose une synthese exhaustive de la litterature sur les liens entre activites recreatives, effets environnementaux, qualite des ecosystemes et satisfaction de l'usager; et conceptualise les interactions socio-ecologiques au sein d'un nouveau cadre de gestion et d'evaluation de ces activites. Les donnees georeferencees extraites des reseaux sociaux (ici Twitter) y sont proposees pour approcher plus en detail dynamiques, timing et intensites des usages aquatiques recreatifs. Ces donnees, calibrees sur les enregistrements d'activites, pourraient constituer les outils de suivi 'next-gen' necessaires pour l'evaluation des dynamiques et impacts des usages recreatifs. Mots-cles : ecologie recreative, eaux douces, capacite d'accueil socio-environnementale, reseaux sociaux, pics d'utilisation, gestion integree., Introduction People heavily depend on surface waters. Surface waters provide a multitude of ecosystem services (ESS) that contribute directly and indirectly, knowingly and unconsciously, to human well-being through recreation, scenic [...]
- Published
- 2018
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