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"The destructive impact of mountain biking on forested landscapes"



 
 
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Old June 15th 13, 10:57 PM posted to alt.mountain-bike
Mike Vandeman[_4_]
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Default "The destructive impact of mountain biking on forested landscapes"

EDITORIAL NOTES
The destructive impact of mountain biking on forested landscapes
Kristyn Ferguson
Published online: 4 December 2007
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007
It is a beautiful late summer morning in an Ontario forest.
Sunlight just barely glints through the thick mat of leaves
which create the canopy, and the air is warm, moist and
smells of earth. Birds hop about the forest floor, weaving
around the clumps of understory vegetation which thrive in
clusters and colonies of bright green leaves. The dazzling
yellow flowers of Solidago flexicaulus (zigzag goldenrod)
are flecked across the landscape and can be seen standing
out amongst this sea of emerald. The vibrant blue fruit of
Caulophyllum thalictroides (blue cohosh) peeks out
amongst the plant’s foot-shaped leaves. The air is alight
with the buzz of bumblebees and honeybees as they travel
from flower to flower, carrying loads of fresh pollen. Here
and there a leaf flutters to the ground as a gentle breeze
strokes the tops of the tall sugar maple trees. Aside from
these noises, the forest is quiet.
Suddenly there is a different sound: the loud snapping
and cracking of branches and the distinct rustle of leaves
being kicked up. Mountain bikers roar through the forest,
disregarding the world beneath their wheels. Birds and
wildlife hustle away in flustered terror as this ride continues.
Saplings are being taken down with each twist and turn
off the bike, and delicate understory plants are wiped out
underneath the biker without a murmur of defense. The
silent and deadliest effect of this attack is one that does not
lament in the form of felled branches and leaves, but
merely lets out a gasp of suction and surrender. It is the
soil, which is being pressed firmly beneath the heavy
weight of the rider and their bike, becoming compacted and
compressed. These sounds and sights are those of war; and
it is being waged on a forest which has no defense, no
strategy, and almost no one to stand up for it.
To some, the effects I have described might seem
minimal. Surely to mountain bikers they are just small
casualties which are simply expendable for the tradeoff of a
great ride. However, what is really happening is complete
havoc, and it is being inflicted on this forest with no two
ways about it. The soil compaction I described has a
plethora of negative effects associated with it, including the
creation of an impossible medium for certain native species
to grow in. It can also decrease soil permeability which
leads to less water being absorbed into the ground for seed
germination, soil health, and use by plants. However, the
worst consequence of soil compaction has to be the provision
of a tough growing environment which can only be
exploited by opportunistic invasive exotic species, just
looking for their chance to thrive in this forest. Invasive
species are one of the fastest growing and most problematic
issues Ontario forests are facing today. Freeriding serves
simply to create more and more opportunities for these
plants to grow and out compete native vegetation. With
prolific growth and efficient reproductive strategies, coupled
with lack of natural predators, invasive species only
need a small window of opportunity to push past native
species in a natural setting and take off wildly, dominating
the forest and decreasing biodiversity.
The aggressive tearing and turning up of soil from the
wheels of mountain bikes, most simply described as soil
disturbance, also has an abundance of negative effects
related to it. When soil is disturbed, the valuable upper
layers of the soil become susceptible to erosion (soil loss),
which is a dangerous force when juxtaposed with the relatively
massive amount of time it takes nature to create just
a centimeter of topsoil. Loss of soil from erosion also
means a loss of the nutrients contained in this soil which
are greatly needed in the balance of forest nutrient cycles.
Soil disturbance also allows for the previously described
invasion of non-native species, as it creates a soil environment
not desirable to some more delicate native plants,
requiring specific conditions to reproduce and grow.
Above these problems, the most visible and devastating
is that of actual physical damage to plants and trees. Young
trees (saplings and seedlings) are without question one of
the most delicate entities in a forest setting, and one
crushing blow from a mountain bike can be enough to end
their short lives. Native understory species, once knocked
over or ridden over, may be damaged to the point of nonrecovery
in a particular growing season. Any plants which
have been purposely placed in the ground for restoration
efforts are extremely sensitive to environmental changes;
and the risk of a transplant not surviving is greatly
increased in the face of damage from recreational biking.
As a graduate student working in the field of restoration
ecology, this last point hits home the hardest with me.
Working in a section of the Natchez Hills forest tract in
Kitchener, Ontario, I have spent a great deal of time
carefully transplanting native vegetation into areas which
have been destroyed by frequent mountain biking. I have
firsthand knowledge of the sensitivity of transplants, that
are trying their hardest to make it in a new environment of
soil, surrounded by new neighboring species. Basically it is
a tough enough life as it is, and if a set of wheels comes
near these plants it is almost a guarantee that they will be
killed.
In Natchez Hills a previous restoration effort erected
fences and signage to help deter mountain bikers from
certain highly sensitive sites in the forest which were in the
process of being restored. So far this has been an effective
means of keeping mountain bikers away from these particular
sites, but the bike tracks that traverse the length of
hill directly outside to the fence are what really rub me the
wrong way, because it shows that the message is simply not
getting across. This summer I witnessed one of these riders,
plummeting down a hillside covered with thriving native
vegetation, taking out plant after plant with a huge smile on
his face, completely oblivious to the real damage he was
doing. It made my stomach churn.
I want a message to reach recreational riders who think
they are ‘outdoorsy’ types, simply enjoying nature and
experiencing the great outdoors. That message is: you are
not enjoying nature, you are destroying nature. The damage
done by wheels in forests is so unbelievably vast and far
reaching, and the effects can last for years. An invasive
species incursion due to unsavory conditions for native
growth can last a lifetime, if there is no effort to control
these species and they are allowed to take over the majority
of a forest floor. The thriving populations of the invasive
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) and Chelidonium majus
(greater celandine) in Natchez Hills are an indicator of just
how far this damage has gone, and how long it might be
before this forest is a properly functioning entity again.
Whether it be by means of legislation to ban mountain
bikers from forests permanently, at the cost of major fines
or worse, or by means of freeriders getting this message
from forest advocates like myself, something needs to
change. Restoration efforts are a step in the right direction,
but they cannot survive in the face of continued belligerence
toward the forest by those who, for the most part, are
blissfully unaware of the exact harm they are causing.
An unspeakable amount of effort is pouring out of
conservation and restoration disciplines to help save what
is left of Ontario’s forests. This movement needs all the
help it can get, and the first step is removing continuous
disturbance. So to all freeriders who insist on habitually
riding in forested environments, heed this message: find a
trail and don’t let your wheels stray from it, even for an
instant.
68 Environmentalist (2008) 28:67–68
123

K. Ferguson (&)
University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1 Waterloo, ON, Canada
Environmentalist (2008) 28:67–68
DOI 10.1007/s10669-007-9146-0
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Old June 16th 13, 03:38 AM posted to alt.mountain-bike
I love Mike
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