Interactions Between Vegetation and Visitors in the Fire Island National Seashore Wilderness Area
Ehrenfeld J, Cutter S, Lotstein E. 1989. Interactions Between Vegetation and Visitors in the Fire Island National Seashore Wilderness Area. Draft Final Report. National Park Service Cooperative Research Unit, Rutgers University
This report summarizes a study of the influence of visitors to the Wilderness Area of Fire Island National Seashore on the vegetation. The study arose as a result of observations of apparent damage to dune vegetation in the section of the Wilderness Area adjacent to the Smith Point ranger station. The resulting study was intended to accomplish the following goals: (1) determine patterns of visitor use and behavior in the Wilderness Area, (2) estimate the carrying capacity of the Area for visitor use, (3) assess the degree of damage to vegetation ascribable to visitor use of the Area, (4) determine the dynamic processes of the vegetation that permit prediction of the effects of continued visitor impact and protection from such impact, (5) install a set of permanent transects for long-term measurements of vegetation change, and (6) prepare a map of the vegetation of the area. Section I of this report describes the results of the work on vegetation; Section II describes the patterns of visitor use and behavior.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Ehrenfeld, Joan; Cutter, Susan; Lotstein, Enid
- Date of Issue
- 1989
- Publisher
- National Park Service Cooperative Research Unit, Rutgers University
- Units
- FIIS
- Keywords
- Dunes, Land Use, Management Plan, seashore wilderness, Vegetation, Visitors