**Figure 23.**

*Expansion cracks on the hiking trail after melting of the snow field on the SW slope of the Belianske Tatras (Hreško, 2009).*

#### **Figure 24.**

*Exemplary locations of the effect of eolic deflation of soil-weathered cover in the vicinity of Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) (Hreško, 2009).*

*Impacts of Human Activities on the High Mountain Landscape of the Tatras… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105601*

**Figure 25.** *Vyšné Kopské sedlo, 1933 m MSL (Hreško, 2009).*

and marls in the area of the Western and Belianske Tatras. The existing knowledge on the occurrence of eolic-deflationary forms is incomplete.

The slope gravity processes were activated in the form of shallow landslides of the soilweathered cover as a result of intense rainfall or melting of snowfields (**Figure 26a, b**). In 2009, we found a landslide of the soil-weathered cover together with the vegetation cover of shrubland on the trail route in a shallow concave depression. The lithological properties of the geological subsoil were also applied to the formation of the landslide. In the area of interest, poorly reinforced, Mesozoic, hydrothermal altered limestone, lime, marly limestone, marl and shale are particularly susceptible to the formation of landslides.

#### *6.2.5 Bearing capacity of trails in terms of their abiotic properties*

The bearing capacity of the territory for the given traffic was addressed by several authors [100–104]. We have chosen the following parameter to evaluate the abiotic properties of trails and rest areas: gradient of the hiking trail, gradient of relief of terrain, rock resistance, soil types, surface coverage of hiking trails and the possibility of leaving the trail, according to the methodology [105].

According to our research [106], the trail leading from the Veľ ké Biele pleso tarn (1615 m MSL) to the Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) was characterized by medium bearing capacity in the lower sections and high bearing capacity in the higher parts. Therefore, in the vicinity of the trail we recommend to observe the erosion of the trail itself, the emergence of turf overhangs, in the event of trail impassability to strengthen its surface, we also recommend to intensify the patrol of nature guards in order to more closely monitor the frequency of attendance of the trail (rest area) and the movement of tourists outside the tourist-accessible places. The same applies to rest areas on the trail.

**Figure 26.**

*Retrospective development of the slope along the tourist trail (1660 m MSL) below Hlúpy vrch (2061 m MSL) (Hreško, 11 October 2005, 2 July 2016).*

In terms of abiotic properties of the trail and its surroundings, we can evaluate the bearing capacity of the trail from Tatranská Javorina (1000 m MSL) to Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) in the lower sections as high, in the higher sections as medium and

*Impacts of Human Activities on the High Mountain Landscape of the Tatras… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105601*

in the final part before entering the Kopské sedlo as low. While in the lower parts we recommend to monitor the erosion of the trail itself, the emergence of turf overhangs, in the case of impassability of the trail to strengthen its surface, we also recommend to intensify the patrol of the nature guards due to a closer monitoring of the frequency of attendance of the trail (rest area) and the movement of tourists outside the tourists-accessible places. In the section before entering the saddle it would be necessary to reduce the frequency of attendance of the trail (rest area) by 50%, i.e., to leave the trail open only in one direction. Due to the entire length of the trail, it is possible to keep the current attendance.

The trail leading from the Široké sedlo (1825 m MSL) to the Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) is characteristic in terms of abiotic properties of the area through which it extends, medium and high bearing capacity (medium over high). Therefore, in the vicinity of the trail we recommend to observe the erosion of the trail itself, the emergence of turf overhangs, in the event of trail impassability to strengthen its surface, we also recommend to intensify the patrol of nature guards in order to more closely monitor the frequency of attendance of the trail (rest area) and the movement of tourists outside the tourist-accessible places.

## **7. Conclusions**

The High Tatras mountains represent a unique alpine landscape with which humans have been connected since the past. The Belianske Tatras represent the limestone part of the mountain range. With rare communities and many endemics and glacial relicts, they are among the rarest and most endangered mountains of Slovakia. The High Tatras with glacial relief on crystalline basement and specific climatic conditions, represent the most attractive area of the Slovak high mountains. Tatras are the smallest mountains in the world. Like any other mountain range, the Tatras were first recognized by man, later he harvested wood, mineral richness, used grasslands as alpine pastures. Over time, however, one realized the uniqueness, rarity and value of the alpine landscape and began to protect it. At present, this area is protected as a national park, the Tatras Biosphere Reserve, the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive. In the study area, all activities except recreation, sport, tourism, research, education and the construction of the necessary infrastructure are excluded.

With the enactment of the Tatra National Park in 1949, there were changes in the use of the territory of the Tatras. Since the Middle Ages, most villages in the Tatras had not been satisfied with the use of their mountain pastures and began to practise seasonal grazing on Tatra grasslands. After the end of this most intensive activity in the studied area, there has been a secondary succession towards greater stability. However, this process is not yet complete. In general, it can be stated from the results of the research that the former pastures gradually overgrow with forest cover and that the shrubland enters higher parts. The regeneration process is slow, as the recovery of this species in mountainous conditions is more difficult. Since the enactment of the national park (1949), the study area has gradually regenerated, but until now it has been mainly dealing with the surface grubbing-up of shrubland and grazing.

However, adverse changes in the studied area occurred even after the national park was enacted. They consist of visual disturbances, symptoms, as negative signs in the form of erosive manifestations that arose as a result of mass tourism on the ridge parts of the Belianske Tatras. The protection of the territory ensured the exclusion of those activities. Although there has been no development of tourism and infrastructure

construction in the area, the Belianske Tatras ridge trail has been closed since 1978, one of the trails leading through the Monkova Valley has been open since 1993 in one way, and since 2008 again in two ways. The closed ridge trail regenerates here very slowly despite the long period of time. Most of the trails in the Belianske Tatras were inappropriately founded. In addition, the practice of guarding nature reveals numerous non-compliance with the entry ban. The most devastated parts of the trails here include places on long straight horizontal to diagonal traverses approximately in the middle parts of steep grass-herbal slopes, where disruption of the vegetation and soil-weathering layer created a local erosion base for water-gravity processes. All hiking trails in the area are endangered by many morphodynamic processes and the devastated parts of the trails form obstacles for tourists.

Tourist attendance has a number of direct and indirect impacts on the natural environment [107], so its monitoring is important. The situation in Slovakia is relatively non-specific in this case compared to other countries, as the systematic collection of tattendance data is missing. In most cases, the application of direct methods within Slovakia was associated only with the implementation of specific short-term projects [108] and so far there is no year-round continuous automatic monitoring of attendance, which cannot fully replace even several-day annual manual counting of visitors in the summer season in some areas of the Tatra Mountains [55].

From the point of view of sustainable development, it would make sense for the tourist closure of the ridge trail of the Belianske Tatras to continue with an appeal for preservation for future generations. Since uncontrolled tourism in a forbidden environment is more dangerous than a limited variant of ecotourism, the authors of the study [57] have reached the possibility of managing soft tourism in the territory, with supervision in the form of a guide. We recommend to monitor attendance and damaged habitats in the territory. A significant shortfall in mass tourism still remains minimal work with visitors to raise their environmental awareness as a means of reducing negative impacts on nature. What contributes to this is the lack of experience of municipalities, owners and administrators of protected areas in the regulation of tourism, as well as the lack of cooperation between the administrators of protected areas and tourism representatives.
