Plant and soil responses to wilderness recreation: a synthesis of previous research.

Impacts may directly or indirectly affect plant and soil constituents of an ecosystem. Plants and soils vary in their sensitivities or resistance to different forms of impact. The changed environment resulting from direct and indirect forms of impact selects for species best adapted to change. Responses of plants and soils to impacts are influenced by not only genetic or generic considerations but also by factors of their immediate environment. The nature and magnitude of recreation impacts vary according to type of recreational activity. Responses to impacts may be use intensity dependent or independent.-from Authors