%0 Research Notes
%T Trampling experiment on a drained dwarf-shrub-rich pine swamp
%A Veijalainen, Heikki
%D 1975
%J Suo - Mires and peat
%V 26
%N 3-4
%U http://suo.fi/article/9441
%X The study deals with the trampling tolerance of a drained pine swamp type, very common in Finland. Measurements of the sinking and wearing of peat and vegetation were performed at Jaakkoinsuo near Vilppula (62°04'N, 24° 34'E) on a thick (1—2 m) peat layer drained in 1909 (Fig 1).
An assistant, weighing 70 kg made the trampling along the 5 meter long lines at the following levels: 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30 and 50 times per week during 12 weeks (experiment a) and 0 or 100 times in June, July or august (experiment b). Measurements were carried out with ten replications.
The main results of the study were as follows: All trampling levels differed significantly from 0 level. Trampling levels 1-8 did not differ significantly from each other. Trampling levels 30 and 50 differed from all the other levels significantly (Fig 2). This means that trampling 12 times per summer makes a visible path into
the peat surface. Trampling 180—360 times per summer makes almost all living parts of the vegetation to die, small roots to crack and thicker roots to denude resulting obvious damages in rhizosphere. The monthly trampling experiment revealed that the august trampling produced the deepest pathway in the peat (Fig 3).
A year after the trampling was carried out, another measurement at experiment a was conducted. No significant development was observed (Fig 4). It means that pathways, on peat-land types in question, take several years to recover after the trampling. Even the lowest levels of trampling were measurable and visible after one summer without trampling.
All this calls our attention to the question about pathway construction on our experimental areas, along the excursion routes everywhere with more than 200 visitors per year.