Intensity-dependent impact of sport climbing on vascular plants and land snails on limestone cliffs

Schmera, Dénes; Rusterholz, Hans‐Peter; Baur, Anette; Baur, Bruno

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2018.05.012

Cited by 14 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Moreover, the procedure of reducing the sampling surface to the narrow strips besides the hiking routes [18,20,23] represents a potential bias affecting the gathered data due to the exclusive features of the rocky face selected for hiking purpose [61]. A further bias of such a procedure is that the surface "selected" for the sampling may result in not representative of the microsites hosting the plants The use of optical tools as well as of Fixed Point Photography and/or Photo Point Monitoring [25,26,28] has been suggested in the past in case of habitats inaccessible, but some limitation can be underlined on these methods due to perspective issues. In both methods, the point of observation is on the ground, at the base of the cliff, and usually not very far from it; consequently, regardless of the method of observation, there is clear bias due to the different distance of the same plant individuals living on the bottom or on the top of the cliff.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To overcome the inaccessibility of such habitats, remote data collection by means of optical tools (i.e., binoculars, telescopes, telephoto lenses) is often used [25][26][27]. In case of long-term monitoring, the Fixed Point Photography (FPP) or Photo Point Monitoring (PPM) technique was used [28]; it consists in taking multitemporal terrestrial photographs of a site, from a fixed point (x,y,z coordinates) and angle, using always the same lens focal length.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Monitoring of Plant Species and Communities on Coastal Cliffs: Is the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Suitable?

et al. 2020

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Cliffs are reservoirs of biodiversity; therefore, many plant species and communities of inland and coastal cliffs are protected by Council Directive 92/43/EEC (European Economic Community), and their monitoring is mandatory in European Union countries. Surveying plants on coastal cliff by traditional methods is challenging and alternatives are needed. We tested the use of a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) as an alternative survey tool, gathering aerial images of cliffs at Palinuro Cape (Southern Italy). Four photo-interpreters analysed independently the derived orthomosaic and plotted data needed for the monitoring activity. Data showed to be not affected by photo-interpreters and reliable for the prescribed monitoring in the European Union (EU). Using the GIS analysis tools, we were able to: (a) recognise and map the plant species, (b) derive and measure the area of distribution on the cliff of habitat and species, and (c) count Eokochia saxicola individuals and gather quantitative data on their projected area. Quality of the images represented the main constraint, but incoming technological improvements of sensors and UAVs may overcome this problem. Overall results support the use of UAVs as an affordable and fast survey technique that can rapidly increase the number of studies on cliff habitats and improve ecological knowledge on their plant species and communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring of Plant Species and Communities on Coastal Cliffs: Is the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Suitable?

et al. 2020

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“…This trend of primarily downward dispersal of climbing chalk on rock faces was also noticeable in raster sampling points without visible climbing chalk traces, but often elevated climbing chalk concentrations (Figure 1d, Figure ). We hypothesize three interdependent main factors influencing the distribution of climbing chalk on climbed rocks: (a) Climbing intensity (Schmera et al., 2018) should be positively correlated with the input of climbing chalk. (b) The climbing routes' microtopography (including slope; Kuntz & Larson, 2006) will affect the amount and frequency by which a climber applies climbing chalk and also the way how climbing chalk is dispersed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the results of the diverse studies that documented impacts of climbing on rock vegetation (Lorite et al., 2017; March‐Salas et al., 2018; Müller et al., 2004; Nuzzo, 1996; Rusterholz et al., 2004; Schmera et al., 2018; Tessler & Clark, 2016), the potential chemical impact due to climbing chalk and the mechanical impacts of climbing such as trampling and removal of soil and vegetation are usually confounded on climbed rocks (Holzschuh, 2016). In contrast, our study assessed the distribution of climbing chalk separately from its impact on species in an experiment, but the real impact of climbing chalk on rock‐dwelling plants under natural conditions is difficult to deduce.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Holzschuh (2016) pointed out that most of the studies on the impact of climbing are based on the direct comparison between climbed and unclimbed rocks (e.g., Müller, Rusterholz, & Baur, 2004; Nuzzo, 1996; Rusterholz, Müller, & Baur, 2004) and thereby might overestimate the impact of climbing because of confounded abiotic differences between climbed and unclimbed rocks such as terrain roughness. Nevertheless, recent studies accounting for this methodological drawback still found negative effects of climbing activities on rock vegetation (March‐Salas et al., 2018; Tessler & Clark, 2016) and showed that increasing climbing intensity goes along with increasing alterations of species communities on rocks (Lorite et al., 2017; Schmera, Rusterholz, Baur, & Baur, 2018). While for rock‐nesting bird species, simple human presence leads to disturbance (Camp & Knight, 1998; Covy, Benedict, & Keeley, 2019), negative effects of rock climbing on sessile rock‐dwelling organisms are mainly attributed to mechanical disturbances such as trampling and removal of soil and vegetation (Holzschuh, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The distribution of climbing chalk on climbed boulders and its impact on rock‐dwelling fern and moss species

Hepenstrick

Bergamini

Holderegger

2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Rock climbing is popular, and the number of climbers rises worldwide. Numerous studies on the impact of climbing on rock‐dwelling plants have reported negative effects, which were mainly attributed to mechanical disturbances such as trampling and removal of soil and vegetation. However, climbers also use climbing chalk (magnesium carbonate hydroxide) whose potential chemical effects on rock‐dwelling species have not been assessed so far. Climbing chalk is expected to alter the pH and nutrient conditions on rocks, which may affect rock‐dwelling organisms. We elucidated two fundamental aspects of climbing chalk. (a) Its distribution along nonoverhanging climbing routes was measured on regularly spaced raster points on gneiss boulders used for bouldering (ropeless climbing at low height). These measurements revealed elevated climbing chalk levels even on 65% of sampling points without any visual traces of climbing chalk. (b) The impact of climbing chalk on rock‐dwelling plants was assessed with four fern and four moss species in an experimental setup in a climate chamber. The experiment showed significant negative, though varied effects of elevated climbing chalk concentrations on the germination and survival of both ferns and mosses. The study thus suggests that along climbing routes, elevated climbing chalk concentration can occur even were no chalk traces are visible and that climbing chalk can have negative impacts on rock‐dwelling organisms.

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Rock climbing affects cliff-plant communities by reducing species diversity and altering species coexistence patterns

et al. 2023

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Cliffs are unique ecosystems with an outstanding but relatively unknown plant diversity, harboring rare, endemic and threatened species, but also rock-specialist or generalist species that can become locally common and dominant on cliffs. The rising popularity of climbing represents an increasing threat to cliff biota, affecting community composition and potentially diminishing diversity and species associations. We used a novel sampling design of closely-paired climbed versus unclimbed points along the cliff-face. We sampled along climbing routes of different climbing intensities in El Potrero Chico (Nuevo León, Mexico), identifying plant species and analyzing species associations and community composition in climbed and unclimbed plots. Diversity on the sampled cliffs was high, even greater than in other regional ecosystems. We found reduced abundance, cover, and diversity in climbed plots, irrespective of climbing intensity. Dominant species on the sampled cliffs were the most negatively affected by rock climbing in terms of abundance, and some locally rare species, including endemics and endangered species, were entirely absent from climbed plots. Co-occurrence analysis showed that the number of associations between pairs of dominant and common species were greatly reduced in climbed plots, and that positive associations between locally rare species existed in unclimbed plots but not in climbed plots, which may contribute to the disappearance of endemic and threatened species. Finally, NMDS analysis revealed that the community composition changed significantly due to climbing. Our results indicate that conservation science should convince stakeholders of the need for a holistic conservation of cliff ecosystems and not focus solely on emblematic or rare species, since plant community dynamics and preservation depend on interactions between plant species.

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Intensity-dependent impact of sport climbing on vascular plants and land snails on limestone cliffs

Cited by 14 publications

References 29 publications

Monitoring of Plant Species and Communities on Coastal Cliffs: Is the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Suitable?

Monitoring of Plant Species and Communities on Coastal Cliffs: Is the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Suitable?

The distribution of climbing chalk on climbed boulders and its impact on rock‐dwelling fern and moss species

Rock climbing affects cliff-plant communities by reducing species diversity and altering species coexistence patterns

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