Single versus repeated human trampling events: Responses of ground vegetation in sub-urban beech forests

Forests provide important ecosystem services and are often the only natural areas that are freely accessible to the public for outdoor recreation. Large numbers of forest visitors can cause severe damage to forest ecosystems, which in turn can affect the ecosystem functioning. We aimed to assess whether experimental short-term and long-term trampling affect the ground vegetation in deciduous forests and its recovery to a different extent. We used a standard experimental trampling procedure to simulate single and repeated human trampling events of different intensity. Experimental trampling of different intensity was conducted on a single day (single trampling) or on five days at intervals of four weeks (repeated trampling) in three suburban beech forests on different soil types. We recorded the cover, height, species density and species composition of the ground vegetation in the trampling lanes. We also assessed the recovery of the ground vegetation one and two years after trampling.
...

森林提供重要的生态系统服务，且常是公众可免费进入进行户外休闲活动的唯一自然区域。大量森林访客会对森林生态系统造成严重破坏，进而影响生态系统功能。本研究旨在评估实验性短期与长期践踏是否会在不同程度上影响落叶林的地被植被及其恢复过程。我们采用标准实验践踏程序，模拟不同强度的单次及重复人类践踏事件。在三种不同土壤类型的城郊山毛榉林中，我们分别在单日（单次践踏）或间隔四周的五天内（重复践踏）实施了不同强度的实验践踏。我们记录了践踏区域内地被植被的盖度、高度、物种密度及物种组成。我们还评估了践踏后1年及2年的地被植被恢复情况。