Visitors off the trail: Impacts on the dominant plant, bryophyte and lichen species in alpine heath vegetation in sub-arctic Sweden
Alpine ecosystems are under increasing pressure due to tourism and recreational activities. When leaving designated trails as is frequently observed, visitors can cause unintentional damage to vegetation. This study investigated the effect of human trampling on the dominant species of vascular plant...
Published in: | Environmental Challenges |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
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Elsevier
2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100050 https://doaj.org/article/3c0fd7a112f247d7a400f0fa808d00a4 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:3c0fd7a112f247d7a400f0fa808d00a4 2023-05-15T15:02:09+02:00 Visitors off the trail: Impacts on the dominant plant, bryophyte and lichen species in alpine heath vegetation in sub-arctic Sweden Monika Rawat Annika K. Jägerbrand Ulf Molau Yang Bai Juha M. Alatalo 2021-04-01 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100050 https://doaj.org/article/3c0fd7a112f247d7a400f0fa808d00a4 en eng Elsevier 2667-0100 doi:10.1016/j.envc.2021.100050 https://doaj.org/article/3c0fd7a112f247d7a400f0fa808d00a4 undefined Environmental Challenges, Vol 3, Iss , Pp 100050- (2021) Tundra disturbance Hiking Mountains Tourism Trampling envir geo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2021 fttriple https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100050 2023-01-22T17:53:24Z Alpine ecosystems are under increasing pressure due to tourism and recreational activities. When leaving designated trails as is frequently observed, visitors can cause unintentional damage to vegetation. This study investigated the effect of human trampling on the dominant species of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens along an infrequently used hiking trail in an alpine ecosystem in sub-arctic Sweden. The hypothesis tested was that proximity to the trail (as an effect of more people leaving the trail for a short distance compared to a longer distance) causes a decrease in species with low resistance to trampling. With a greater decrease in taller forbs and shrubs than in graminoids and prostrate plants, a greater decrease in lichen than in bryophyte species, and a change in vegetation composition. The results showed that proximity to the trail did not cause a decrease in the majority of dominant species, with none of the eight most dominant vascular plants showing any significant effects of proximity to the trail. One bryophyte species (Dicranum elongatum) among the six most commonly found decreased with proximity to the trail. Three lichen species (Cladonia arbuscula, Cladonia uncinalis, Ochrolechia frigida) among the eight most common species decreased with proximity to the trail. There was no evidence that taller species decreased with proximity to the trail, although the deciduous shrub Betula nana showed a tendency for a decrease. Proximity to the trail caused a greater decrease in lichen species than in bryophyte species. Multivariate analyses showed that distance from trail and transect direction had significant effects on overall vegetation composition. The level of low-intensity trampling recorded indicates that current numbers of hikers at the site can be sustained for longer periods with minimum impact on vascular plant species, but to get a more general understanding of the impact of low-intensity trampling data from additional sites are needed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Betula nana Tundra Unknown Arctic Environmental Challenges 3 100050 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English |
topic |
Tundra disturbance Hiking Mountains Tourism Trampling envir geo |
spellingShingle |
Tundra disturbance Hiking Mountains Tourism Trampling envir geo Monika Rawat Annika K. Jägerbrand Ulf Molau Yang Bai Juha M. Alatalo Visitors off the trail: Impacts on the dominant plant, bryophyte and lichen species in alpine heath vegetation in sub-arctic Sweden |
topic_facet |
Tundra disturbance Hiking Mountains Tourism Trampling envir geo |
description |
Alpine ecosystems are under increasing pressure due to tourism and recreational activities. When leaving designated trails as is frequently observed, visitors can cause unintentional damage to vegetation. This study investigated the effect of human trampling on the dominant species of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens along an infrequently used hiking trail in an alpine ecosystem in sub-arctic Sweden. The hypothesis tested was that proximity to the trail (as an effect of more people leaving the trail for a short distance compared to a longer distance) causes a decrease in species with low resistance to trampling. With a greater decrease in taller forbs and shrubs than in graminoids and prostrate plants, a greater decrease in lichen than in bryophyte species, and a change in vegetation composition. The results showed that proximity to the trail did not cause a decrease in the majority of dominant species, with none of the eight most dominant vascular plants showing any significant effects of proximity to the trail. One bryophyte species (Dicranum elongatum) among the six most commonly found decreased with proximity to the trail. Three lichen species (Cladonia arbuscula, Cladonia uncinalis, Ochrolechia frigida) among the eight most common species decreased with proximity to the trail. There was no evidence that taller species decreased with proximity to the trail, although the deciduous shrub Betula nana showed a tendency for a decrease. Proximity to the trail caused a greater decrease in lichen species than in bryophyte species. Multivariate analyses showed that distance from trail and transect direction had significant effects on overall vegetation composition. The level of low-intensity trampling recorded indicates that current numbers of hikers at the site can be sustained for longer periods with minimum impact on vascular plant species, but to get a more general understanding of the impact of low-intensity trampling data from additional sites are needed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Monika Rawat Annika K. Jägerbrand Ulf Molau Yang Bai Juha M. Alatalo |
author_facet |
Monika Rawat Annika K. Jägerbrand Ulf Molau Yang Bai Juha M. Alatalo |
author_sort |
Monika Rawat |
title |
Visitors off the trail: Impacts on the dominant plant, bryophyte and lichen species in alpine heath vegetation in sub-arctic Sweden |
title_short |
Visitors off the trail: Impacts on the dominant plant, bryophyte and lichen species in alpine heath vegetation in sub-arctic Sweden |
title_full |
Visitors off the trail: Impacts on the dominant plant, bryophyte and lichen species in alpine heath vegetation in sub-arctic Sweden |
title_fullStr |
Visitors off the trail: Impacts on the dominant plant, bryophyte and lichen species in alpine heath vegetation in sub-arctic Sweden |
title_full_unstemmed |
Visitors off the trail: Impacts on the dominant plant, bryophyte and lichen species in alpine heath vegetation in sub-arctic Sweden |
title_sort |
visitors off the trail: impacts on the dominant plant, bryophyte and lichen species in alpine heath vegetation in sub-arctic sweden |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100050 https://doaj.org/article/3c0fd7a112f247d7a400f0fa808d00a4 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Betula nana Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Betula nana Tundra |
op_source |
Environmental Challenges, Vol 3, Iss , Pp 100050- (2021) |
op_relation |
2667-0100 doi:10.1016/j.envc.2021.100050 https://doaj.org/article/3c0fd7a112f247d7a400f0fa808d00a4 |
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op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100050 |
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Environmental Challenges |
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3 |
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100050 |
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