Administration - Conference & other proceedings

Knight, R. L., & Cole, D. N. (1991). Effects of recreational activity on wildlife in wildlands. Paper presented at the Transactions of the 56th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference.

Abstract

There are four ways in which recreational activities can impact wildlife-harvesting, habitat modification, pollution and disturbance. Immediate responses to recreational disturbance are death and changes in behavior such as abandonment of a preferred site, changes in foraging patterns and food habits, altered nesting behavior, and elevated heart rates. Very little is known about how non-consumptive recreation affects population characteristics. Managers should attempt to keep wildlife impacts to acceptable levels by modifying the factors that influence the nature, frequency and magnitude of responses such as: the type of activity, timing, location, frequency, predictability, and the characteristics of the wildlife being disturbed. This means either controlling recreational disturbance or influencing characteristics of the animals that will increase their tolerance to disturbance.

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