Slitage i tre naturreservat på Åland - Skogsstigars inverkan på omgivande markvegetation i hassellund

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 Aland 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.