Trampling Effects on Vegetation Composition in Romanian Ltser Sites

Abstract

This paper presents the trampling effects on vegetation composition in three Long Term Socio-Ecological Research sites (LTSER), respectively Neajlov Catchment, Bucegi-Piatra Craiului and Braila Islands (distributed within different biogeographical regions: continental, alpine and steppic), over a period of 3 years (2007-2009). The degree of damage is related to trampling intensity. In forest ecosystems significant declines in species richness was observed two weeks after trampling, from 75 passes onward, with the exception of Neajlov Catchment site (Vadu Lat). The tolerance to different intensity of trampling (25, 75, 250 and 500 passes) depended on the proportion of growth form, the sensitivity being associate with vertical species. The analysis of vegetation composition is a simple and effective method for the assessment of his resistance to trampling and serves to development of management strategy for recreational areas concerning: the configuration of the tourist routes, sizing the pressure through the flow of visitors, number and frequency of visits.

Changes in functional traits and diversity of typical alpine grasslands after a short-term trampling disturbance

“…Each experimental block consisted of five trampling plots (0.5 m wide and 2.0 m long) separated by 0.5 m wide buffer zones. Following the standardized experimental design by Cole, Bayfield and other researchers (Cole and Bayfield, 1993;Monz, 2002;Roovers et al, 2004;Dumitraşcu et al, 2017), different treatments (25, 75, 250, and 500 passes) were randomly assigned to four plots, leaving one plot as an undisturbed control plot that receives no pedestrian pressure. The trampling experiment was conducted once on a typical sunny summer day.…”

The Effect of Visitors on the Properties of Vegetation of Calcareous Grasslands in the Context of Width and Distances from Tourist Trails

“…To date, investigations of the impact of intensity, frequency and season of human trampling on vegetation properties and traits of selected plants have been the main focus of numerous experimental research on sustainable use of natural habitats for recreation in many different habitat types around the world e.g., [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. In the last decades, an increase in the number ofstudies focusing on the impact of trampling and tourist dispersion on the surrounding environment has been observed.…”