Footpath degradation of the Malvern Hills - Malvern Hills Conservators
Footpath degradation of the Malvern Hills - Malvern Hills Conservators
Footpath degradation of the Malvern Hills - Malvern Hills Conservators
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Stephen Britnell<br />
<strong>Footpath</strong> <strong>degradation</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Malvern</strong> <strong>Hills</strong><br />
and consequences <strong>of</strong> soil erosion on <strong>the</strong> path. My own work falls into <strong>the</strong> category <strong>of</strong> trail<br />
<strong>degradation</strong>.<br />
Table 1.- Classification <strong>of</strong> path research<br />
Path condition term<br />
Problem Path impact Path deterioration Path <strong>degradation</strong> Path erosion<br />
Social impacts *<br />
Path proliferation * *<br />
Vegetation loss * *<br />
Soil compaction * * *<br />
Path widening * * *<br />
Soil loss * * * *<br />
Source: Leung et al. 1996 p130.<br />
Leung et al. (1996) goes on to look at path <strong>degradation</strong> research in more detail. They<br />
state that path <strong>degradation</strong> can be classified into four topical concentrations with descending<br />
order <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> volume <strong>of</strong> literature. Firstly, descriptive studies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> type and magnitude <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>degradation</strong>, analytical studies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> recreational use-<strong>degradation</strong> relationship, analytical<br />
studies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> environment-<strong>degradation</strong> relationship, and evaluative studies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
effectiveness <strong>of</strong> path management actions. My own study spans <strong>the</strong> first three topics <strong>of</strong><br />
research.<br />
The most common path <strong>degradation</strong> variables studied are, path width, incision depth,<br />
path erosion as cross-sectional area, presence <strong>of</strong> braiding, and soil compaction. However,<br />
comparison between studies is a problem due to <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> standardisation for both <strong>the</strong><br />
variables studied, and <strong>the</strong> method used.<br />
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