Effects of human trampling on the sub-Antarctic vegetation of Macquarie Island
Abstract The effects of trampling on six types of vegetation and their underlying soils were investigated on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. One hundred and fifty foot-passes per year for at least the past 10 years have occurred on a typical 6-km stretch of walking track on the island's upland...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1994
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740002427x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740002427X |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s003224740002427x 2024-06-23T07:47:46+00:00 Effects of human trampling on the sub-Antarctic vegetation of Macquarie Island Scott, J. J. Kirkpatrick, J. B. 1994 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740002427x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740002427X en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Polar Record volume 30, issue 174, page 207-220 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 journal-article 1994 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s003224740002427x 2024-06-12T04:04:03Z Abstract The effects of trampling on six types of vegetation and their underlying soils were investigated on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. One hundred and fifty foot-passes per year for at least the past 10 years have occurred on a typical 6-km stretch of walking track on the island's upland plateau. Trampling favours vascular plants including exotics, especially Poa annua , while bryophytes and lichens are more common in undisturbed vegetation. The abundance of 19 of the 39 most common species appears to be affected by trampling. Track width is positively correlated with exposure and wet soils, and trampling increases the soil bulk density of the track. The contrast between the soil bulk density of the trampled and untrampled soils increases with increasing exposure. While present environmental damage is within an acceptable range over the majority of the island, the extreme environments are likely to suffer unacceptable levels of damage if increased usage occurs with more tourism or expansion of scientific and related activities. This is demonstrated by the diversion of a short section of plateau track in an atypically heavily used area; the diversion sustained substantial damage after 890 foot-passes during a 15-month period. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Macquarie Island Polar Record Cambridge University Press Antarctic Polar Record 30 174 207 220 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The effects of trampling on six types of vegetation and their underlying soils were investigated on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. One hundred and fifty foot-passes per year for at least the past 10 years have occurred on a typical 6-km stretch of walking track on the island's upland plateau. Trampling favours vascular plants including exotics, especially Poa annua , while bryophytes and lichens are more common in undisturbed vegetation. The abundance of 19 of the 39 most common species appears to be affected by trampling. Track width is positively correlated with exposure and wet soils, and trampling increases the soil bulk density of the track. The contrast between the soil bulk density of the trampled and untrampled soils increases with increasing exposure. While present environmental damage is within an acceptable range over the majority of the island, the extreme environments are likely to suffer unacceptable levels of damage if increased usage occurs with more tourism or expansion of scientific and related activities. This is demonstrated by the diversion of a short section of plateau track in an atypically heavily used area; the diversion sustained substantial damage after 890 foot-passes during a 15-month period. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Scott, J. J. Kirkpatrick, J. B. |
spellingShingle |
Scott, J. J. Kirkpatrick, J. B. Effects of human trampling on the sub-Antarctic vegetation of Macquarie Island |
author_facet |
Scott, J. J. Kirkpatrick, J. B. |
author_sort |
Scott, J. J. |
title |
Effects of human trampling on the sub-Antarctic vegetation of Macquarie Island |
title_short |
Effects of human trampling on the sub-Antarctic vegetation of Macquarie Island |
title_full |
Effects of human trampling on the sub-Antarctic vegetation of Macquarie Island |
title_fullStr |
Effects of human trampling on the sub-Antarctic vegetation of Macquarie Island |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of human trampling on the sub-Antarctic vegetation of Macquarie Island |
title_sort |
effects of human trampling on the sub-antarctic vegetation of macquarie island |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1994 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740002427x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740002427X |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Macquarie Island Polar Record |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Macquarie Island Polar Record |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 30, issue 174, page 207-220 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s003224740002427x |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
30 |
container_issue |
174 |
container_start_page |
207 |
op_container_end_page |
220 |
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1802637924633673728 |