Grassland degradation caused by tourism activities in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China

8th International Symposium of the Digital Earth

地球科学;计算机科学

Le, C.^1 ; Ikazaki, K.^1 ; Siriguleng, S.^1 ; Kadono, A.^2 ; Kosaki, T.^1

Department of Tourism Science, Graduate School of Urban Environment Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan^1

Center of General Education, Tottori University of Environmental Studies, Japan^2

关键词: Above ground biomass;    Dominant plants;    Grassland degradation;    Indicator plants;    Physical and chemical analysis;    Soil degradation;    Spatial dependence;    Tourism activities;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/18/1/012137/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1755-1315/18/1/012137

学科分类：计算机科学（综合）

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

The recent increase in the number of tourists has raised serious concerns about grassland degradation by tourism activities in Inner Mongolia. Thus, we evaluated the effects of tourism activities on the vegetation and soil in Hulunbuir grassland. We identified all the plant species, measured the number and height of plant and plant coverage rate, and calculated species diversity, estimated above-ground biomass in use plot and non-use plot. We also measured soil hardness, and collected soil samples for physical and chemical analysis in both plots. The obtained results were as follows: a) the height of the dominant plants, plant coverage rate, species diversity, and above-ground biomass were significantly lower in use plot than in non-use plot, b) Carex duriuscula C.A.Mey., indicator plant for soil degradation, was dominant in use plot, c) soil hardness was significantly higher in use plot than in non-use plot, and spatial dependence of soil hardness was only found in the use plot, d) CEC, TC, TN and pH in the topsoil were significantly lower in use plot than non-use plot. On the basis of the results, we concluded that the tourism activities can be another major cause of the grassland degradation in Inner Mongolia.