Slitage i tre naturreservat på Åland - Skogsstigars inverkan på omgivande markvegetation i hassellund
(2015) MVEM12 20151Studies in Environmental Science
- Abstract
- Despite being precautionary, people visiting nature reserves leave marks. Wear of the vegetation is perhaps the most noticeable effect that can be seen on an area that's being used for recreation, and trampling is usually the primary reason causing the wear of the vegetation. Paths are often being constructed in nature reserves to avoid uncontrolled trampling and wear of natural values. However vegetation surrounding the paths might be affected by the trampling activity on the path, a so called "edge effect", and this might reduce the natural as well as the esthetical value of the site. In order to manage reserves to minimize damage, it is important to study and be aware of the effects recreation activity has on nature.
A survey was... (More) - Despite being precautionary, people visiting nature reserves leave marks. Wear of the vegetation is perhaps the most noticeable effect that can be seen on an area that's being used for recreation, and trampling is usually the primary reason causing the wear of the vegetation. Paths are often being constructed in nature reserves to avoid uncontrolled trampling and wear of natural values. However vegetation surrounding the paths might be affected by the trampling activity on the path, a so called "edge effect", and this might reduce the natural as well as the esthetical value of the site. In order to manage reserves to minimize damage, it is important to study and be aware of the effects recreation activity has on nature.
A survey was made in three nature reserves on Åland islands. The aim of the study was to evaluate wear of ground vegetation after a long-term recreational use, and examine if trampling activity on the path affects the surrounding ground vegetation in traditionally managed semi-natural broad-leaved forest. Vegetation was recorded along transects perpendicular to the path, on five different distances from the path in order to examine how far into the forest the trampling effect extends. The following vegetation parameters were measured: total vegetation percent cover and species richness. Moreover five plant traits: leaf size, leaf dry matter content, leaf distribution , vegetation height and life form were analyzed, in order to examine if the vegetation surrounding the path is more wear resistant compared to the vegetation in the untouched part of the forest. A Two way ANOVA was used for a statistical analyze of the results.
This study shows that there was no significant change in the ground vegetation surrounding the paths. Therefore trampling activity can't be connected to the vicinity of the paths. However, as the three surveyed reserves differed from each other in terms of vegetation, there may be general wear caused by site-specific anthropogenic disturbance masking more subtle effects of path walking on the vegetation. (Less) - Popular Abstract (Swedish)
- För att undvika slitage på naturen kanaliseras människor som besöker naturområden ofta att gå på stigar. Men förutom att vegetationen på stigen påverkas, kan stigens närvaro genom en så kallad "kanteffekt" även ha en inverkan på den omkringliggande markvegetationen.
Slitage av vegetationen är kanske den mest synliga effekt som uppkommer på ett område som används för friluftsliv. Trampet från vandrare kan bland annat minska på växtlighetens täckning och orsaka att känsliga arter försvinner. Detta kan resultera i att både naturliga och estetiska värden försämras.
Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka ifall slitage från friluftslivet har påverkat den lundartade markvegetationen i tre naturreservat på Åland. Eftersom besökarna... (More) - För att undvika slitage på naturen kanaliseras människor som besöker naturområden ofta att gå på stigar. Men förutom att vegetationen på stigen påverkas, kan stigens närvaro genom en så kallad "kanteffekt" även ha en inverkan på den omkringliggande markvegetationen.
Slitage av vegetationen är kanske den mest synliga effekt som uppkommer på ett område som används för friluftsliv. Trampet från vandrare kan bland annat minska på växtlighetens täckning och orsaka att känsliga arter försvinner. Detta kan resultera i att både naturliga och estetiska värden försämras.
Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka ifall slitage från friluftslivet har påverkat den lundartade markvegetationen i tre naturreservat på Åland. Eftersom besökarna kanaliserats att gå på stigar, ville jag utreda ifall trampslitaget på stigen sträcker sig utanför stigen. Jag utvärderade inverkan på vegetationen genom att mäta förändringar i växtartsammansättning och växtlighetens ekologiska egenskaper.
Avståndet till stigen hade ingen inverkan på markvegetationen. Däremot fanns det skillnader i vegetationen mellan de undersökta områdena. Resultaten visar alltså att ett slitage inte kan kopplas till stigen. Det är dock möjligt att det förekommer skillnader i slitage på större skala mellan de tre undersökta reservaten. Dessa skillnader kan inte direkt kopplas till eventuella skillnader i trampintensitet, utan kan möjligen bero på någon annan störning eller på historiska orsaker som överträffar det trampslitage som utgår från stigen.
Det är viktigt att utvärdera friluftslivets inverkan på naturen så att naturreservat kan förvaltas på ett sätt som minimerar skada på naturen. Studien bidrar med information friluftslivets långtidseffekter på markvegetationen, som kan användas vid förvaltningen av naturreservaten. Därtill bidrar resultaten till ökad vetskap om stigars inverkan på omkringliggande markvegetation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/7853155
- author
- Siltala, Linda LU
- supervisor
-
- Johan Ekroos LU
- organization
- course
- MVEM12 20151
- year
- 2015
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Friluftsliv, Trampslitage, Markvegetation
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 7853155
- date added to LUP
- 2015-09-08 09:19:02
- date last changed
- 2015-09-08 09:19:02
@misc{7853155,
abstract = {{Despite being precautionary, people visiting nature reserves leave marks. Wear of the vegetation is perhaps the most noticeable effect that can be seen on an area that's being used for recreation, and trampling is usually the primary reason causing the wear of the vegetation. Paths are often being constructed in nature reserves to avoid uncontrolled trampling and wear of natural values. However vegetation surrounding the paths might be affected by the trampling activity on the path, a so called "edge effect", and this might reduce the natural as well as the esthetical value of the site. In order to manage reserves to minimize damage, it is important to study and be aware of the effects recreation activity has on nature.
A survey was made in three nature reserves on Åland islands. The aim of the study was to evaluate wear of ground vegetation after a long-term recreational use, and examine if trampling activity on the path affects the surrounding ground vegetation in traditionally managed semi-natural broad-leaved forest. Vegetation was recorded along transects perpendicular to the path, on five different distances from the path in order to examine how far into the forest the trampling effect extends. The following vegetation parameters were measured: total vegetation percent cover and species richness. Moreover five plant traits: leaf size, leaf dry matter content, leaf distribution , vegetation height and life form were analyzed, in order to examine if the vegetation surrounding the path is more wear resistant compared to the vegetation in the untouched part of the forest. A Two way ANOVA was used for a statistical analyze of the results.
This study shows that there was no significant change in the ground vegetation surrounding the paths. Therefore trampling activity can't be connected to the vicinity of the paths. However, as the three surveyed reserves differed from each other in terms of vegetation, there may be general wear caused by site-specific anthropogenic disturbance masking more subtle effects of path walking on the vegetation.}},
author = {{Siltala, Linda}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Slitage i tre naturreservat på Åland - Skogsstigars inverkan på omgivande markvegetation i hassellund}},
year = {{2015}},
}