Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Environ Manage. 2012 Dec;50(6):1164-76. doi: 10.1007/s00267-012-9954-y. Epub 2012 Oct 16.
Studies on the effects of off-road driving on soils were conducted in the Makuleke Contractual Park of the Kruger National Park. The studies were conducted on three different soils with different textures and soil compactibilities. Traffic pressure was applied with a game drive vehicle loaded with 11 sand bags, each weighing 70 kg. This gave a total vehicle mass of 3,795 kg, simulating a vehicle fully laden with tourists. The study included: (i) comparing of the effects of four different tyre pressures; (ii) comparing the effects of 1-3 vehicle passes over the same tyre tracks; (iii) comparison of traffic effects under dry and wet soil moisture conditions, on soil compaction, respectively. After each pass penetration resistances were measured (a) on the tyre tracks, (b) between the tyre tracks and (c) at different distances outside the tyre tracks. As expected, vehicular traffic caused soil compaction below the wheel tracks. Lower tyre pressures caused less compaction than higher tyre pressures. Fewer vehicle passes also caused less compaction than more passes on the same tracks, but most compaction occurred during the first pass. Thus, driving on the same tracks more than once is less damaging than driving once on different tracks. Controlled traffic should be considered when developing management strategies for off-road driving in wildlife protected areas.
在克鲁格国家公园马库莱克契约公园对越野驾驶对土壤的影响进行了研究。研究在三种具有不同质地和土壤紧实度的不同土壤上进行。使用一辆装有 11 个沙袋的游戏驱动车辆施加交通压力，每个沙袋重 70 公斤。这使得车辆总质量达到 3795 公斤，模拟了一辆满载游客的车辆。研究包括：（i）比较四种不同轮胎压力的影响；（ii）比较在同一轮胎轨迹上进行 1-3 次车辆通过的影响；（iii）分别比较在干土和湿土水分条件下交通对土壤压实的影响。在每次通过后，测量穿透阻力（a）在轮胎轨迹上，（b）在轮胎轨迹之间，（c）在轮胎轨迹外的不同距离处。正如预期的那样，车辆交通导致车轮轨迹下方的土壤压实。较低的轮胎压力比较高的轮胎压力造成的压实度小。在同一轨迹上通过的车辆次数越少，比在相同轨迹上通过的车辆次数越少，造成的压实度越小，但大多数压实度发生在第一次通过时。因此，在同一轨迹上多次行驶比在不同轨迹上行驶一次的破坏性更小。在制定野生动物保护区越野驾驶管理策略时，应考虑受控交通。
