The objective of the research is to determine the influence of tourism on the processes of soil erosion in the forests of low mountains of the North-West Caucasus and justification of admissible recreational loads. When recreational load and slope steepness increase, the forest litter and grass cover degrade. Their remains are moved down the hill by tourist steps, and soil surface is compacted. Porosity coefficient of topsoil decreases with increasing of recreational loadings. This reduces soil infiltration rate and increases surface runoff. It was found that runoff coefficient, air-dry mass of forest litter and porosity coefficient are closely correlated. These relations show the increase of runoff coefficient when the mass of air-dry forest litter and porosity coefficient decrease. Interrelation of soil erosion, runoff coefficient and slope steepness controls the erosion process. The research has determined the permissible limits of recreational loads without soil erosion: for slope steepness up to 15° – 4.9 person per hectare; for slope steepness from 15° to 20° – 2.1 person per hectare; for slope steepness from 20° to 23° – 0.1 person per hectare. Such recreational loads can minimize erosion processes. For slope steepness more than 23° even minimal recreational load activates erosion process.
Keywords: mountain forest, recreation, tourism, surface runoff, soil erosion, North-West Caucasus.
