Trail use | urban-conservation

What did we find?

Expected trail was extrapolated from the collected GPS coordinates and the Hydroline corridor, a known route taken by motorized vehicles to cross the park. The map shows:

A) Possible regions of fragmentation

B) Markers placed along trails to communicate directions to other riders (purple points)

C) Entrance points within Pippy park boundaries (red points)

D) The proximity of trails used by recreational vehicles to bodies of water.

Many trails in the park were not easily distinguishable after a fresh snowfall, or if the trail had not been driven on yet these season. Riders seemed to have solved this issue by placing "markers" on trees at entry points or areas where the trails split, these were either in the form of a easily removable ribbon or a reflective metal nailed directly into the tree trunk. We found several examples of this is various areas of park, shown in the map above.

The image to the right is markers and pollution discovered along the trails used by motorized vehicles.

A) Plastic bottle

B) Permanent markers nail in a tree

C) and D) Flagging markers

Figure 2

Figure 3

Motorized vehicles usage not only deposits toxic chemicals into the environment, they can also physically disturb the habitat. We noted several instances where the ski-doo track broke through the ice/snow layer and "tore up" the soft ground underneath.

The image to the left is evidence of direct damage due to the use of motorized vehicles within Pippy Park.

A) Snowmobile tracks tearing through the ground on cut a trail

B) Snowmobile tracks through ground water

C) Trees torn up along snowmobile tracks

D) Snowmobile tracks running through a stream.

References

Sound Disturbance

Expected trail use and habitat impact

Figure 1

Figure 4

The map shows the area of high disturbance within Pippy Park. Illustrated are the location of observed tree damages (green triangles), ground damages (brown circle) and other damages. The red dotted line represent the hydroline corridor that is used by motorized vehicles, but that haven't been walked during this present research.