Trail Impacts In A Tropical Rainforest National Park

Abstract

Generally considered a sustainable economic activity, tourism can generate environmental deterioration due to a lack of planning. In this case, the edge effect is utilized to assess the degree of human interference in the environment. Although the Atlantic Forest is known as a hotspot because of its high species richness and endemism, it is also a threatened biome. In this context of anthropogenic pressure, our work assesses the edge-interior gradient in the regenerating forest based on the physical characteristics of vegetation and floristic composition, in addition to providing overall guidelines to effectively assist in its management. For this study, 30 plots of 25 m² (10 m x 2.5 m) equally distributed among the edges of trails and locations 20 and 40 m away from them were established, with the greatest length measured parallel to the edge of the tracks. Overall, 443 individuals of 122 species were investigated. More than 60 of them were endemic to Brazil, 13.3% were threatened and 9.1% were widely distributed species. Some species were present at all distances from the trails, others co-occurred, but the majority were exclusive to a single plot category. Differences in species diversity were also observed with an increasing trend in dominance at the edges of trails along with a decreased richness at the same distance.