Fuelwood depletion at wilderness campsites: extent and potential ecological significance

Recreational camping in wilderness areas causes a number of biophysical impacts, including loss of woody debris through campfires. Although extensive research has documented trampling impacts to vegetation, few studies have explored the extent of woody material depletion. This study adapted planar transect methods to measure the relative loss of fine (<0.6 cm), small (0.6 to 2.5 cm), medium (2.6 to 7.6 cm) and large (>7.6 cm) diameter materials in three concentric rings extending 0–5 m, 5–10 m and 10–15 m from the centre of 58 campsites in different environments ranging in elevation from 1250 to 2225 m in the Cascades Mountains in Oregon, USA. Compared to matched controls, losses were greatest for small (40%) and medium-sized (63%) materials, but were evident for fine (25%) and large (30%) materials as well. Surprisingly, depletion (across all sizes) was no greater in the centre of sites than in the outer measurement ring, even though the outer ring was often in intact vegetation. This suggests that impacts on woody debris extend beyond those impacts to vegetation typically monitored at campsites. Such recreational impacts to woody debris have rarely been systematically described. However, research on woody debris removal related to forest management indicates possible ecological effects of fuelwood consumption.