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Arnesen, T./ A. Lyngstad 2012: Effects from trampling and other activities in recreation areas [Effekter av tråkk og annen ferdsel på vegetasjonen i friluftsområder]. - Blyttia 70(3): 159-172. [RLL List # 231 / Rec.# 34629]
Keywords: biomass/ bog/ fruit/ grassland/ heathland/ lichen/ moss/ recreational activity/ soil moisture/ spatiotemporal analysis/ species richness/ trampling/ vegetation cover/ woodland/ Norway/ Solendet Nature Reserve/ Sor Trondelag
Abstract: The vegetation of recreation areas will be affected by walkers, bikers, skiers and other users. For some activities a retrogressive development has been recorded as vegetation cover and height is reduced and a substantial loss of species richness and biomass may take place. Vegetation and soil in ecosystems with high soil moisture, such as fens, bogs and moist grasslands and woodlands are quite susceptible. Bog mosses Sphagnum spp. are particularly sensitive. The vegetation of heathland with a field layer of wooded species such as blueberry Vaccinium myrtilloides, lingonberry V. vitis-idaea, crowberry Empetrum spp. and heather Calluna vulgaris will also lose much of the cover along tracks and trails or areas that are heavily trampled or affected in similar ways, although the soil may mostly be intact. The same applies to lichen-dominated heathlands with reindeer mosses Cladonia spp. and snow lichens Stereocaulon spp. Vegetation on the moderately moist soils of dry and mesic open and wooded grasslands seems to be the most tolerant to these kinds of pressure. In addition to intensity, damage depends on temporal and spatial variation in usage and moisture. It also depends on differences in the resistance and resilience of the species present. Damage to recreation areas also affects the public's experiences and their feelings for the area. This article aims at giving an overview of the problem and reviewing some important research within the field, with particular emphasis on research in the rural Solendet Nature reserve in Roros and in Bymarka near the city of Trondheim, Central Norway. The effects of public use need to be taken into consideration by national and local authorities, especially in outdoor areas close to larger cities, and it calls for surveys of effects and for regulations of traffic.
Notes: In Norwegian with English abstract.
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