I. Popov, A. Moiseev, A. Iurmanov, A. Romanov, E. Karpov, K. Orlova, N. Tereshchenko, E. Emets, Y. Lebedev, A. Gnedenko
{"title":"Impact of tourism on pristine habitats at the Avachinsky Pass (Kamchatka), a World Heritage Site","authors":"I. Popov, A. Moiseev, A. Iurmanov, A. Romanov, E. Karpov, K. Orlova, N. Tereshchenko, E. Emets, Y. Lebedev, A. Gnedenko","doi":"10.24057/2071-9388-2024-3111","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The volcanoes of Kamchatka are a World Heritage Site. They are of aesthetic, conservation, and scientific value; therefore, they must be protected from negative anthropogenic influences. However, according to the recent assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, this site inspires significant concern. A similar viewpoint was also expressed in the local press. A part of the site, Avachinsky Pass, inspires a particular concern. This is a place between the volcanoes Koryaksky and Avachinsky. An excessive number of visitors was considered the main threat because it resulted in the trampling of soil and the extirpation of threatened animals. We performed a survey of the Avachinsky Pass aiming to estimate its state. Based on aerial pictures and observation we composed a scheme of habitats over the area around Avachinsky Pass revealing the disturbed plots of land. Moreover, we registered vertebrates considering them as biological indicators. It became clear that tourism has a significant impact on the state of the Avachinsky Pass, but the affected area is relatively small. Despite a large number of visitors, the survey revealed high biodiversity. We registered 19 species of birds and 9 species of mammals. Among them, black-capped marmots are especially informative as they have a settled way of life; they do occur on the Pass. The absence of grazing and logging contributes to the conservation of elfin forests and other plant communities on the slopes making the object resistant to anthropogenic impacts. Off-road vehicles pose the biggest threat to bare-ground revegetation.","PeriodicalId":37517,"journal":{"name":"Geography, Environment, Sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Geography, Environment, Sustainability","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2024-3111","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Agricultural and Biological Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The volcanoes of Kamchatka are a World Heritage Site. They are of aesthetic, conservation, and scientific value; therefore, they must be protected from negative anthropogenic influences. However, according to the recent assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, this site inspires significant concern. A similar viewpoint was also expressed in the local press. A part of the site, Avachinsky Pass, inspires a particular concern. This is a place between the volcanoes Koryaksky and Avachinsky. An excessive number of visitors was considered the main threat because it resulted in the trampling of soil and the extirpation of threatened animals. We performed a survey of the Avachinsky Pass aiming to estimate its state. Based on aerial pictures and observation we composed a scheme of habitats over the area around Avachinsky Pass revealing the disturbed plots of land. Moreover, we registered vertebrates considering them as biological indicators. It became clear that tourism has a significant impact on the state of the Avachinsky Pass, but the affected area is relatively small. Despite a large number of visitors, the survey revealed high biodiversity. We registered 19 species of birds and 9 species of mammals. Among them, black-capped marmots are especially informative as they have a settled way of life; they do occur on the Pass. The absence of grazing and logging contributes to the conservation of elfin forests and other plant communities on the slopes making the object resistant to anthropogenic impacts. Off-road vehicles pose the biggest threat to bare-ground revegetation.
期刊介绍:
Journal “GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY” is founded by the Faculty of Geography of Lomonosov Moscow State University, The Russian Geographical Society and by the Institute of Geography of RAS. It is the official journal of Russian Geographical Society, and a fully open access journal. Journal “GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY” publishes original, innovative, interdisciplinary and timely research letter articles and concise reviews on studies of the Earth and its environment scientific field. This goal covers a broad spectrum of scientific research areas (physical-, social-, economic-, cultural geography, environmental sciences and sustainable development) and also considers contemporary and widely used research methods, such as geoinformatics, cartography, remote sensing (including from space), geophysics, geochemistry, etc. “GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY” is the only original English-language journal in the field of geography and environmental sciences published in Russia. It is supposed to be an outlet from the Russian-speaking countries to Europe and an inlet from Europe to the Russian-speaking countries regarding environmental and Earth sciences, geography and sustainability. The main sections of the journal are the theory of geography and ecology, the theory of sustainable development, use of natural resources, natural resources assessment, global and regional changes of environment and climate, social-economical geography, ecological regional planning, sustainable regional development, applied aspects of geography and ecology, geoinformatics and ecological cartography, ecological problems of oil and gas sector, nature conservations, health and environment, and education for sustainable development. Articles are freely available to both subscribers and the wider public with permitted reuse.