Relationships between plant community productivity and diversity vary with trampling disturbance in an Inner-Mongolian steppe

The relationship between diversity and productivity of plant communities is an important issue in grassland restoration. However, the degree to which this relationship varies during the restoration stage after trampling disturbance is not clear. Here, we conducted a five-year study in a steppe after 4-year trampling to detect restoration patterns of plant community and investigate variation in diversity-productivity relationships. Our results showed that community cover, abundance, height, and productivity recovered quickly after the trampling disturbance ceased. However, the recovery of diversity was slower than biomass in the steppe. In addition, grass, annual, and biennial recovery was more rapidly than the recovery of forbs in the steppe. Moreover, following the restoration process, the positive correlation between productivity and diversity was decoupled, and a negative correlation between productivity and diversity developed. Our finding provides the key evidence for the asynchronous relation between productivity and diversity, and reveals that grass restored more rapidly than forbs in plant community restoration after disturbance. This study indicates that the trade-off between plant community structure and function can vary with the restoration process, and implicates that future modeling and experimental studies should focus on the different responses of productivity and diversity in plant community restoration.

The Ability of Tourist Natural Trails to Resist Tourism Load and Possibilities for Reducing the Environmental Impacts : Case Study of the Slovak Paradise National Park (Slovakia)

The strictly protected natural area of Sucha Bela Gorge, located in the Slovak Paradise National Park, Slovakia, is exposed to environmental degradation by heavy tourist loads. Although educational and technical measures have been put in place, there is ongoing debate whether and how to limit the intensity of tourist visits. This study evaluates the ability of the trail leading through the gorge to resist trampling disturbance and to minimise the environmental impacts in the wider area of Sucha Bela by keeping tourists from moving off the designated areas. Aspects of trail layout, geological and geomorphological structures, terrain altering during the summer season, and acceptable tourist flow were investigated.The results show the current development would be acceptable in the case of limited off-trail movement. It therefore seems appropriate to review the trail allocation and marking, and to focus on environmental education rather than on limiting tourist visits.