Proactive monitoring and adaptive management of social carrying capacity in Arches National Park: an application of computer simulation modeling

Public visits to parks and protected areas continue to increase and may threaten the integrity of natural and cultural resources and the quality of the visitor experience. Scientists and managers have adopted the concept of carrying capacity to address the impacts of visitor use. In the context of o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental management 2003-07, Vol.68 (3), p.305-313
Main Authors: Lawson, Steven R., Manning, Robert E., Valliere, William A., Wang, Benjamin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Changes
Computer Simulation
Conservation of Natural Resources - methods
Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife
Crowding
Decision Support Techniques
Desert Climate
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Environmental Pollution - prevention & control
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Indicators of quality
Limits of acceptable change
Models, Theoretical
Norms
Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking
Policy Making
Protected area management
Quality
Quality standards
Recreation
Standards of quality
Surveys and Questionnaires
Transportation - statistics & numerical data
Transportation planning
Utah
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Summary:Public visits to parks and protected areas continue to increase and may threaten the integrity of natural and cultural resources and the quality of the visitor experience. Scientists and managers have adopted the concept of carrying capacity to address the impacts of visitor use. In the context of outdoor recreation, the social component of carrying capacity refers to the level of visitor use that can be accommodated in parks and protected areas without diminishing the quality of the visitor experience to an unacceptable degree. This study expands and illustrates the use of computer simulation modeling as a tool for proactive monitoring and adaptive management of social carrying capacity at Arches National Park. A travel simulation model of daily visitor use throughout the Park's road and trail network and at selected attraction sites was developed, and simulations were conducted to estimate a daily social carrying capacity for Delicate Arch, an attraction site in Arches National Park, and for the Park as a whole. Further, a series of simulations were conducted to estimate the effect of a mandatory shuttle bus system on daily social carrying capacity of Delicate Arch to illustrate how computer simulation modeling can be used as a tool to facilitate adaptive management of social carrying capacity.
ISSN:0301-4797
1095-8630
DOI:10.1016/S0301-4797(03)00094-X