Recreation ecology: Effects of trampling on plants and corals.

Recreation ecology deals with the impact of outdoor recreation on natural or seminatural environments. The main activity considered in this review is walking (or trampling) but the effects of camping, horse riding, off-road vehicles, trail bikes and boating have all been studied(1-4). The different levels of enquiry reviewed here, from overall community changes to plant (or in one case coral) morphology and plant anatomy, have gone hand in hand with management recommendations based on fundamental work. The newer approaches include genetic analysis, a new structure for impact theory and more accurate predictive techniques for management.