Ecological and Social Carrying Capacities as Management Challenges for Peri-Urban Biosphere Reserves

Peri-urban biosphere reserves are confronted with high-use levels caused by day visitors from metropolitan areas, local residents, and nature-interested tourists, often exceeding ecological and social carrying capacities. There is a need for a monitoring of social and ecological carrying capacities of these reserves, however, knowledge about this topic is not existent or limited. As social carrying capacities and ecological carrying capacities are closely related, it is surprising that integrated research on both topics has scarcely been done yet. Prerequisite for the analysis of social and ecological carrying capacities is a complex monitoring scheme using several social and wildlife science methods in a comparative manner and over a longer period. The overall goal of the three year project is to improve the management of the heavily used peri-urban biosphere reserve Lobau/Vienna by the integration of social and ecological carrying capacities. More specifically, the objectives are: · Assessing impacts of high-use levels and visitor behaviour on local resident and visitor outdoor recreation experience · Assessing impacts of different human use levels on wildlife using social and wildlife monitoring methods in parallel over the period of nearly two years; The indicator species will be: red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and beaver (Castor fiber); · Analysing compensatory strategies of visitors´ and local residents´ use due to overcrowding perceptions (use displacement, route choice, off-trail use) · Analysing the impact of use displacement behaviour of visitors on indicator species · Investigation of effects of different user characteristics (e.g. dog walkers) and user behaviour (e.g. dogs off leash or off-trail use) on the indicator species · Analysing impacts of modified spatio-temporal activity pattern of wildlife (caused by recreation use and use displacement behaviour) on agriculture · Establishing a stakeholder participation process to develop recommendations for an improved zoning concept and a better integration of the biosphere reserve in the urban / suburban context (housing and traffic developments, agriculture, tourism, nature conservation, etc.) · Developing recommendations for an integrative and sustainable management and monitoring of the BR Lobau (a) to reduce use conflicts between land users in and outside the BR, (b) to reduce impacts of visitors on wildlife as well as (c) impacts of wildlife on the vegetation in and outside the BR and (d) to maintain the quality of outdoor recreation (incl. addressing the question how peri-urban biosphere reserves may serve as part of the everyday environment of local residents).