SynthesisEnvironmental management2026
Trail Management Terminology and Decision-Making: A Conceptual and Practical Framework.
Synthesis in Environmental management, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Trail management in protected natural areas seeks to maximize opportunities for outdoor recreation and the provision of cultural ecosystem services while minimizing deleterious changes to trail-associated natural resources. The field's interdisciplinarity, drawing on recreation ecology, trail science, and restoration ecology, enriches the knowledge base and practice of trail management, yet it can also lead to inconsistent use and application of cross-disciplinary terminology. We conducted a systematic literature review with summative content analysis to examine four term sets: (i) terms for deleterious physical changes affecting trail usability (impact, damage, degradation), (ii) terms for the creation of new trails (construction, build), (iii) terms for the care of existing trails (maintenance, repair), and (iv) terms for reversing trail degradation (rehabilitation, restoration, renaturalization, recovery), whether to return a trail to functional use or to advance ecological restoration toward a designated reference. Based on this analysis, we introduce two conceptual outputs that organize terminology and map relationships among terms. Finally, to translate these outputs into practice, we present a decision-making flowchart to support managers in selecting trail interventions aligned with explicit management goals. Clarifying overlaps and transitions among principal terms can improve communication among stakeholders, help identify ecological thresholds, and guide timely choices between sustaining functional trail use and shifting toward strategies that emphasize biodiversity conservation.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.