Abstract

Desert ecosystems perform essential ecosystem services, including playing a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. Because of this, it is important to understand how recreational activities, common in desert environments, impacts dryland ecosystems' ability to perform ecosystem services. The growing popularity of outdoor recreation in Western US poses a threat to desert ecosystems, and unregulated activities can harm soil health, particularly the presence and functioning of biological soil crusts (biocrusts). This study uses the Indian Creek Special Recreation Management area in Bears Ears National Monument, Utah, USA, as a case study for recreation impacted desert ecosystems. It examines the effects of three types of recreational activities (foot trails, motorized off-roading, and camping) on soil organic carbon, biocrust cover, soil stability, and invasive species cover compared to control sites, which are undisturbed by recreational activities. A total of thirty sampling sites were selected using stratified random sampling across different recreation types. Repeat measurements of biocrust cover, vegetative cover, and soil stability were conducted over the course of the active growing season, and carbon analyses were performed on soil samples. Results indicate significant differences among recreation types in terms of soil stability, presence of biocrust, soil organic carbon, and the presence of some invasive species. On average, sampling locations that do not have biocrust present have a stability rating that is 1.9 stability units lower than sampling locations that do have biocrust present (p < 0.0001). Camping sites have the greatest negative impact on biocrust cover, as the 25 m gradients adjacent to the campsites have, on average, 50% less biocrust cover when compared to undisturbed sites (p < 0.0001). The 25 m gradient adjacent to foot trails have 38% less biocrust cover when compared with undisturbed sites (p < 0.0001), and motorized off-roading sites have 32% less biocrust presence than undisturbed sites (p < 0.0001). Soil organic carbon content at foot trail sites averaged 0.46% and was significantly higher than the 0.13% average observed at undisturbed sites (p = 0.0014) . There were no significant differences in soil organic carbon content found when comparing camping sites (0.233%) with undisturbed sites or motorized off-roading sites (0.159%) with undisturbed sites. However, the range of observed soil total organic carbon values for camping sites (Q25 = 0.14, Q75 = 0.36) was much greater than the range for undisturbed (Q25 = 0.11, Q75 = 0.14) or motorized off-roading sites (Q25 = 0.13, Q75 = 0.21). When looking at overall invasive annual species cover, foot trail sites have 25.0% more invasive annual species compared to undisturbed sites (p = 0.0057). The cumulative impacts of recreation highlight the need to mitigate degradation while allowing for continued land use. Implementing sustainable land management practices can help balance recreational access with conservation goals. Balancing sustainable land use and conservation in desert areas, where various recreational interests coexist, is a complex challenge. Understanding the effects of recreation is a critical foundation for devising effective conservation strategies and promoting sustainable land use in desert ecosystems.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Life Sciences; Plant and Wildlife Sciences

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2025-08-05

Document Type

Thesis

Keywords

desert, soil carbon, biological soil crust, soil organic carbon storage, invasive species, cheatgrass, disturbance, recreation, gradient, foot trails, camping, motorized off-road, carbon cycle, Indian Creek, Bears Ears National Monument

Language

english

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