Trail Management Terminology and Decision-Making: A Conceptual and Practical Framework.

Area of Science:

• * Interdisciplinary field integrating recreation ecology, trail science, and restoration ecology.
• * Focuses on balancing outdoor recreation and ecosystem services with natural resource protection.

Background:

• * Trail management in protected areas faces challenges due to inconsistent terminology across disciplines.
• * Lack of standardized terms can hinder effective communication and application of best practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To systematically review and analyze terminology related to trail impacts, creation, maintenance, and degradation.
• * To organize and clarify the relationships among key terms used in trail management.
• * To provide practical tools for managers to select appropriate trail interventions.

Main Methods:

• * Conducted a systematic literature review.
• * Employed summative content analysis to examine four sets of trail management terms.
• * Developed conceptual outputs and a decision-making flowchart.

Main Results:

• * Identified and analyzed terms for trail impacts, new trail creation, maintenance, and degradation reversal.
• * Organized terminology into conceptual frameworks mapping term relationships.
• * Created a flowchart to aid managers in selecting interventions based on management goals.

Conclusions:

• * Clarifying terminology improves stakeholder communication and understanding of ecological thresholds.
• * Standardized terms support informed decisions between sustaining trail function and prioritizing biodiversity conservation.
• * The developed tools aid managers in aligning trail interventions with explicit conservation and recreation objectives.