Detailed Soil Survey of the Mount Revelstoke Summit Area.

Other communities were assimilated into this order byobservation oftheir performance when subjected to visitor tramplingor by guidance from other research, principally Nagy and Scottery 1974 .Table A presents the final definition and description of theclasses of plant community fragility and ordering of plant communities .It must be realized that the rating of plant communities isonly relative and it does not imply a regular gradation in fragilityto trampling . There is, for example, a large gap between thedurability of vegetation in-classes 3 and 4 .On the environmentalfragility overlay map some units unmappable due to scale have beenabsorbed into the surrounding units .For example, within theboundaries of vegetation fragility class 6(Vaccinium membranaceum),there are many scattered areas of Rhododendron albiflorum which has afragility rating of 2 .Soil Fragility RatingSoil fragility has been rated according to water erosionpotential and susceptibility to disturbance by trampling .The tramplingsusceptibility isa fragility parameter that may not be recognized in arating that only evaluates erosion potential .Soils on gently slopingland surfaces or in depressional areas have low erosion potential, butthey may have low bearing strength due to wetness and fine textures ororganic layers .These soils are easily churned up by trampling thusplant rooting systems are destroyed and quagmire conditions result .Soil susceptibility to erosion refers tothe expected rate andamount of soil loss by water -- and to a lesser degree wind -- transport