The Impact of Tourist Traffic on the Condition and Cell Structures of Alpine Swards

This research focuses on the effect of trampling on vegetation in high-mountain ecosystems through the electromagnetic spectrum’s interaction with plant pigments, cell structure, water content and other substances that have a direct impact on leaf properties. The aim of the study was to confirm with...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Remote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2018-02, Vol.10 (2), p.220
Main Authors: Kycko, Marlena, Zagajewski, Bogdan, Lavender, Samantha, Romanowska, Elżbieta, Zwijacz-Kozica, Magdalena
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agrostis rupestris
Air temperature
Cellular structure
Chlorophyll
Cytology
Dominant species
Festuca picta
Fluorescence
High Tatras
Juncus trifidus
Leaves
Luzula alpino-pilosa
Moisture content
Mountain ecosystems
Oreochloa disticha
Photosynthetically active radiation
Pigments
Reflectance
spectroscopy
Surface temperature
Sward
Tourists
Trampling
Vegetation
vegetation indices
Water content
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This research focuses on the effect of trampling on vegetation in high-mountain ecosystems through the electromagnetic spectrum’s interaction with plant pigments, cell structure, water content and other substances that have a direct impact on leaf properties. The aim of the study was to confirm with the use of fluorescence methods of variability in the state of high-mountain vegetation previously measured spectrometrically. The most heavily visited part of the High Tatras in Poland was divided into polygons and, after selecting the dominant species within alpine swards, a detailed analysis of trampled and reference patterns was performed. The Analytical Spectral Devices (ASD) FieldSpec 3/4 were used to acquire high-resolution spectral properties of plants, their fluorescence and the leaf chlorophyll content with the difference between the plant surface temperature (ts), and the air temperature (ta) as well as fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fAPAR) used as reference data. The results show that, along tourist trails, vegetation adapts to trampling with the impact depending on the species. A lower chlorophyll value was confirmed by a decrease in fluorescence, and the cellular structures were degraded in trampled compared to reference species, with a lower leaf reflectance. In addition, at the extreme, trampling can eliminate certain species such as Luzula alpino-pilosa, for which significant changes were noted due to trampling.
ISSN:2072-4292
2072-4292
DOI:10.3390/rs10020220