Recreational trails facilitating weeds: insights from the Australian Alps and Andes

CATHERINE PICKERING; ALVAREZ, MARÍA ALISA; BARROS, AGUSTINA

Simposio; 65th Symposium of the International Association for Vegetation Science; 2023

Alpine ecosystems have high levels of plant biodiversity but are often threatened by biological invasions as well as other factors such as climate change. This talk summaries research projects in the Australian Alps and Andes that assess the role of tourism and recreation including trails in facilitating the spread of environmental weeds. In both regions similar types of non-native plants, mostly of European origin, benefit from the construction and use of recreation trails including increasing networks of formal (official) and informal (user created) trails in otherwise remote alpine areas. With the promotion of tourism and recreation in many alpine regions, there is increased potential for the unintentional dispersal of seed by hikers and others, with seed from hundreds of species recorded attaching to hikers clothing. Disturbance including from trampling damage to vegetation on and adjacent to trails can then favour the establishment of non-native species with ruderal functional traits over local alpine species that may have more stress related traits. Some non-native plants can then spread away from trails becoming significant environmental weeds in otherwise natural ecosystems. Unfortunately, increased tourism, diversification of recreational activities, combined with climate change and other factors are likely to further favour the spread of environmental weeds in these regions. Strategies including cleaning clothing and equipment of seed, closing inappropriately located (informal) trails and then restoring vegetation, better design and location of formal trails and control of environmental weeds that are already established can help reduce biological invasions in these regions of high conservation value