Table 25 — Relative resistance, resilience, and tolerance of species in North 

 Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains 



Species Resistance^ 



Resilience^ 



Tolerance^ 



Graminoids 









Carex pensylvanica (1 )'' 



h 



1 



1 



1 



1 



Carex swanii (2) 



m 



1 



1 



Holcus lanatus (2) 



m 



h 



h 



LUZUia &Cnin3la 



m 



m 



m 





1 



h 



h 



Ferns 









Asplenium platyneuron (2) 



1 



h 



h 



Dryopteris campyloptera (4) 



1 



h 



h 



Forbs 









Agrimonia parviflora (2) 



m 



m 



m 







. 1 



1 



Aster divaricatus (3) 



1 



h 



h 



Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (2) 



1 



1 



1 



Clintonia borealis (4) 



1 



m 



1 



Dioscorea villosa (^) 



1 



1 



1 



Fraaaria virniniana (2) 



1 



m 



m 



(^firfinium m^inili^tiim C^) 



1 



m 



m 



Geum virginianum (3) 



1 



1 



1 



Imoatipn^ caopn^i^ (3) 



III ikyci 11 ^1 1^ K^Of^^i \^/ 



1 



m 



m 



Laportea canadensis (3) 



1 



h 



h 



Medeola virginiana ( 1 ) 



1 



1 



1 



0^mnrhi7R rlRvtnnii 



\^fji 1 i\yi 1 ii£, ct \^icLy i\ji III I w 1 



1 



1 



1 



Oxali<^ ficfitn'iplla IA\ 



1 



1 



1 



Parthpnnrit'iij'^ niiinniififnii?) l"? ^\ 



1 Ctl 11 Id IV^I^OU^ I^UII HJUdUIICI l^,OJ 



1 



m 



m 



Phlox stolonifera (3) 



m 



1 



1 



Potentilla simplex (2) 





1 



1 



Prunella vulaari'i 12\ 



1 1 1 i\,fii(A V u 1 Wwii r C7 \ ^ / 



m 



h 



h 



Rubus canadpnsi'i ( 1 2^ 



l-m 



m-h 



m 



Rudbeckia hirta (2) 





m 



m 



Sanicula trifoliata (3) 



1 



1 



1 



Senecio rugelii (4) 





m 



1 



ooiiaago giganiea 





h 



h 



Thaspium trifoliatum (3) 





h 



h 



Verbesina alternifolia (3) 





m 



m 



l//o/a papilionacea (3) 





m 



m 



Other 









Mosses (3,4) 



m-h 



h 



h 



'Resistance classes are based on the minimum number of passes that reduced cover 

 by 50 percent: h > 500 passes; m = 200 passes; I < 75 passes. 



^Resilience classes are based on recovery after cover was reduced nearly to zero: 

 h = cover 1 year after trampling was more than two-thirds of the original cover; m = cover 

 1 year after trampling was between one-third and two-thirds of original cover; I = cover 

 1 year after trampling was less than one-third of original cover. 



^Tolerance classes are based on the maximum number of passes that could be toler- 

 ated and still have at least 75 percent of original cover 1 year after trampling: h > 500 

 passes; m = 200 passes; I < 75 passes. 



"•Vegetation types: 1 = Carex pensylvanica; 2 = Potentilla simplex; 3 = Amphicarpa 

 bracteata; 4 = Dryopteris campyloptera. 



As mentioned earlier, the amount of trampling that 

 leaves an evident path is a significant threshold of 

 impact. Once a path forms it tends to attract further 

 use, initiating a positive feedback mechanism that 

 leads to more concentrated and pronounced impact. 



This leads to the development of multiple trails, social 

 trails, and trails and campsites in remote areas with- 

 out trails. In Dryopteris, a path was evident after just 

 25 passes; in Carex nigricans, Trifolium, and Kobresia, 

 paths were evident only on lanes trampled at least 



47 



