Assessing the impact of human trampling on vegetation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental evidence
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Biodiversity, Conservation Biology, Ecology, Ecosystem Science, Plant Science
- Keywords
- Recreation, Relative Vegetation Cover, Evidence-Based Management, Plant Functional Traits, Resilience, Public access, Raunkiaer life-form
- Copyright
- © 2014 Pescott et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2014. Assessing the impact of human trampling on vegetation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental evidence. PeerJ PrePrints 2:e315v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.315v1
Abstract
Vegetation trampling resulting from recreation can adversely impact natural habitats, leading to the loss of vegetation and the degradation of plant communities. A considerable primary literature exists on this topic, therefore it is important to assess whether this accumulated evidence can be used to reach general conclusions concerning vegetation vulnerability to inform conservation management decisions. Experimental trampling studies on a global scale were retrieved using a systematic review methodology and synthesised using random effects meta-analysis. The relationships between vegetation recovery and each of initial vegetation resistance, trampling intensity, time for recovery, Raunkiaer life-form (perennating bud position), and habitat were tested using random effects multiple meta-regressions and subgroup analyses. The systematic search yielded 304 studies; of these, nine reported relevant randomized controlled experiments, providing 188 vegetation recovery effect sizes for analysis. The synthesis indicated there was significant heterogeneity in the impact of trampling on vegetation recovery. This was related to resistance and recovery time, and the interactions of these variables with Raunkiaer life-form, but was not strongly dependent on the intensity of the trampling experienced. The available evidence suggests that vegetation dominated by hemicryptophytes and geophytes recovers from trampling to a greater extent than vegetation dominated by other life-forms. Variation in effect within the chamaephyte, hemicryptophyte and geophyte life-form sub-groups was also explained by the initial resistance of vegetation to trampling, but not by trampling intensity. Intrinsic properties of plant communities appear to be the most important factors determining the response of vegetation to trampling disturbance. Specifically, the dominant Raunkiaer life-form of a plant community accounts for more variation in the resilience of communities to trampling than the intensity of the trampling experienced, suggesting that simple assessments based on this trait could guide decisions concerning sustainable access to natural areas. Methodological and reporting limitations must be overcome before more disparate types of evidence can be synthesised; this would enable more reliable extrapolation to non-study situations, and a more comprehensive understanding of how assessments of intrinsic plant traits can be used to underpin conservation management decisions concerning access.
Supplemental Information
Study level details for studies not included in the meta-analysis
A methodological overview of articles not included in the meta-analysis, but which used a comparator or control in their experimental design.
Enhanced forest plot of main effect sizes
Trial identifiers, trampling intensities and Cohen’s d effect sizes (with 95% confidence intervals) are provided in this forest plot for closer inspection.
Studies either not using a comparator or control, or which could not be accessed.
Lists of studies not using a comparator or control, and of those studies which could not be retrieved within the resource constraints of the project.