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Numerous ecological issues will arise from the expansion of tourism-related infrastructure and activities, potentially having a major effect on the ecosystem. However, its impact on landscape ecological risk (LER) is still poorly understood. Taking the Min River Basin as an example, an improved LER evaluation method was adopted in this study, which uses landscape disturbance based on landscape pattern and incorporates ecosystem services (ESs) represent landscape vulnerability. On this basis, the impacts of tourism-related infrastructure and activities on ecology environment were comprehensively considered, and buffer zone analysis, scenario analysis, response index (RI), and the bivariate Moran’s I approaches were applied to identify the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of LER under tourism interference. The results show that: (1) The Min River Basin’s LER from 2000 to 2020 demonstrates a trend of gradually decreased, primarily in the middle and low risk areas. Most of the areas where scenic spots and roads are located are high risk areas, suggesting that tourism disturbances negatively affect LER. (2) There is a spatial gradient effect associated with the influence of tourism infrastructure on LER, and the impact degree varies throughout different tourism infrastructure. (3) The difference of scenic spots causes diverse degrees of LER. Through comparison, it is found that the LER of high-grade and cultural scenic spots is larger than that of low-grade and natural scenic spots. The quantitative results of the RI show that the values inside the influence zones of scenic spots and roads are 5 times and 9 times more than the values outside, respectively. This suggests that tourism infrastructure increases LER. (4)There is a spatial correlation between LER and tourism activities intensity. In order to offer a scientific reference for balancing local tourism development and ecological environmental conservation, this study develops a more thorough and rigorous research framework of the impact of tourism on LER.

• A comprehensive index was constructed to improved landscape ecological risk (LER) evaluation model. • A framework that comprehensively considered the impact of tourism development on LER. • Explored the influence paradigm of different types of scenic spots on LER. • The influence of tourism infrastructure and tourism activities on LER is quantitatively analyzed. Numerous ecological issues will arise from the expansion of tourism-related infrastructure and activities, potentially having a major effect on the ecosystem. However, its impact on landscape ecological risk (LER) is still poorly understood. Taking the Min River Basin as an example, an improved LER evaluation method was adopted in this study, which uses landscape disturbance based on landscape pattern and incorporates ecosystem services (ESs) represent landscape vulnerability. On this basis, the impacts of tourism-related infrastructure and activities on ecology environment were comprehensively considered, and buffer zone analysis, scenario analysis, response index (RI), and the bivariate Moran's I approaches were applied to identify the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of LER under tourism interference. The results show that: (1) The Min River Basin's LER from 2000 to 2020 demonstrates a trend of gradually decreased, primarily in the middle and low risk areas. Most of the areas where scenic spots and roads are located are high risk areas, suggesting that tourism disturbances negatively affect LER. (2) There is a spatial gradient effect associated with the influence of tourism infrastructure on LER, and the impact degree varies throughout different tourism infrastructure. (3) The difference of scenic spots causes diverse degrees of LER. Through comparison, it is found that the LER of high-grade and cultural scenic spots is larger than that of low-grade and natural scenic spots. The quantitative results of the RI show that the values inside the influence zones of scenic spots and roads are 5 times and 9 times more than the values outside, respectively. This suggests that tourism infrastructure increases LER. (4)There is a spatial correlation between LER and tourism activities intensity. In order to offer a scientific reference for balancing local tourism development and ecological environmental conservation, this study develops a more thorough and rigorous research framework of the impact of tourism on LER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of tourism, the contradiction between ecological environment protection and economic development is becoming increasingly prominent. In order to deal with these problems, scholars began to pay attention to how to coordinate the relationship between tourism and ecological factors, and carried out in-depth research on the impact of tourism on plant diversity. It mainly summarizes the research progress of tourism interference on plant diversity at home and abroad, summarizes the influencing factors of plant diversity in the process of tourism, and puts forward the corresponding management countermeasures for the existing problems. Finally, it is pointed out that ecotourism, as a new and vigorous industry, has attracted great attention from the government and academic circles. However, its development is still in its infancy and still faces many unsolved problems. The research on the impact of tourism interference on plant diversity may become an important breakthrough to solve this series of problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism trampling is one of the critical disturbance factors affecting forest structure and function apart from forest management activities. However, how tourism trampling affects soil nitrogen (N) mineralization rate at different altitudes in scenic forest spots is still unclear. To determine whether the responses of soil net N mineralization rate to tourism trampling varies with altitudes, we incubated soils using a field buried pipe method and analyzed soil ammonium N (NH4+-N) and nitrate N (NO3−-N) content at three altitudes (810 m, 1030 m, and 1240 m) at the Baotianman forest scenic spot in Henan Province. The results showed that tourism trampling significantly increased the soil bulk density and soil pH value but substantially reduced soil organic carbon (C) and total N content at all altitudes. Tourism trampling also resulted in a significant decrease in NO3−-N in the soil before and after incubation at all altitudes. The effects of tourism trampling on soil net N mineralization varied with latitudes, showing positive effects at 1030 m altitude (+51.4%), but negative effects at 1240 m altitude (−43.5%). For the soil net N nitrification rate, however, tourism trampling resulted in an increased rate (+141.1%) only at the 810 m altitude. Across all altitudes, soil microbial biomass C is primarily responsible for the variation in the soil net N mineralization rate. This study indicates that the effect of tourism trampling on soil net N mineralization rate varies with altitudes, which is related to the intensity of tourist disturbance and the synthetic effects of vegetation and soil microbes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meadow soil is a vital ecosystem component and can be influenced by meadow vegetation. Evaluating soil quality in mountain meadows subjected to different levels of tourism disturbance is essential for scientific research, ecological restoration, and sustainable management. This study aimed to evaluate meadow soil quality at different tourism-disturbance levels and attempted to establish a minimum data set (MDS) with compatible indicators for soil quality assessment of subtropical mountain meadows. We analyzed fifteen soil physical, chemical, and biological indicators in control check (CK), light disturbance (LD), medium disturbance (MD), and severe disturbance (SD) meadow areas in Wugong Mountain, west of Jiangxi, China. In addition, a soil quality index (SQI) was determined using the established MDS based on the integrated soil quality index. Average soil permeability, soil pH, available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), and number of fungal OTUs were finally introduced into the MDS to evaluate meadow soil quality at different tourism-disturbance levels. The study found that the soil of the Wugong Mountain meadow was acidic, the bulk density was loose, and the nutrient content was rich. Additionally, SQI decreased with increase in tourism-disturbance level. The mean SQI values of the Wugong Mountain meadow areas were: CK, 0.612; LD, 0.493; MD, 0.448; and SD, 0.416. Our results demonstrate that the SQI based on the MDS method could be a valuable tool with which to indicate the soil quality of mountain meadow areas, and the SQI can be regarded as a primary indicator of ecological restoration and sustainable management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism trampling is one of the critical disturbance factors affecting forest structure and function apart from forest management activities. However, how tourism trampling affects soil nitrogen (N) mineralization rate at different altitudes in scenic forest spots is still unclear. To determine whether the responses of soil net N mineralization rate to tourism trampling varies with altitudes, we incubated soils using a field buried pipe method and analyzed soil ammonium N (NH4+-N) and nitrate N (NO3−-N) content at three altitudes (810 m, 1030 m, and 1240 m) at the Baotianman forest scenic spot in Henan Province. The results showed that tourism trampling significantly increased the soil bulk density and soil pH value but substantially reduced soil organic carbon (C) and total N content at all altitudes. Tourism trampling also resulted in a significant decrease in NO3−-N in the soil before and after incubation at all altitudes. The effects of tourism trampling on soil net N mineralization varied with latitudes, showing positive effects at 1030 m altitude (+51.4%), but negative effects at 1240 m altitude (−43.5%). For the soil net N nitrification rate, however, tourism trampling resulted in an increased rate (+141.1%) only at the 810 m altitude. Across all altitudes, soil microbial biomass C is primarily responsible for the variation in the soil net N mineralization rate. This study indicates that the effect of tourism trampling on soil net N mineralization rate varies with altitudes, which is related to the intensity of tourist disturbance and the synthetic effects of vegetation and soil microbes.

Meadow soil is a vital ecosystem component and can be influenced by meadow vegetation. Evaluating soil quality in mountain meadows subjected to different levels of tourism disturbance is essential for scientific research, ecological restoration, and sustainable management. This study aimed to evaluate meadow soil quality at different tourism-disturbance levels and attempted to establish a minimum data set (MDS) with compatible indicators for soil quality assessment of subtropical mountain meadows. We analyzed fifteen soil physical, chemical, and biological indicators in control check (CK), light disturbance (LD), medium disturbance (MD), and severe disturbance (SD) meadow areas in Wugong Mountain, west of Jiangxi, China. In addition, a soil quality index (SQI) was determined using the established MDS based on the integrated soil quality index. Average soil permeability, soil pH, available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), and number of fungal OTUs were finally introduced into the MDS to evaluate meadow soil quality at different tourism-disturbance levels. The study found that the soil of the Wugong Mountain meadow was acidic, the bulk density was loose, and the nutrient content was rich. Additionally, SQI decreased with increase in tourism-disturbance level. The mean SQI values of the Wugong Mountain meadow areas were: CK, 0.612; LD, 0.493; MD, 0.448; and SD, 0.416. Our results demonstrate that the SQI based on the MDS method could be a valuable tool with which to indicate the soil quality of mountain meadow areas, and the SQI can be regarded as a primary indicator of ecological restoration and sustainable management.

In order to explore the effect of tourism disturbance on the mountain scenic spot in west Baiyanggou watershed, we quantitatively estimated the economic loss of water erosion under different disturbance intensities, and then analyzed the change law of water erosion economic loss. The relationship of tourism disturbance with soil physical and chemical properties and vegetation coverage was also evaluated, based on data collected in the national soil erosion survey and the Chinese Soil Loss Equation（CSLE）and water erosion economic loss evaluation model. The results showed that under different tourism disturbance intensities, the soil physical and chemical properties and vegetation coverage were significantly different. Compared with the no disturbance sites, the decrease of soil water content, saturated water content, and soil porosity in severe sites were 51.67%, 32.23%, and 13.30%, respectively. The contents of soil available N, P, and organic matter decreased with increasing disturbance intensity, but the content of soil available K tended to increase. The vegetation coverage of the light, moderate, and severe disturbance sites decreased by 14.18%, 43.32%, and 92.35%, respectively, compared with the control group. With the increase of tourism disturbance intensity, the values of soil erodibility K and biological measure B increased significantly, and soil erosion also significantly increased（P<0.05）. Compared with light disturbance, the increase of soil erosion modulus in moderate and severe disturbance sites were 79.31% and 204.79%, respectively. On-site and off-site economic losses as well as total water erosion economic losses showed an increasing trend with disturbance intensity. Among them, on-site economic loss was much greater than off-site economic loss, and soil nutrient loss and vegetation diversity loss were the main contributors to the total economic loss of water erosion, which accounted for 93.56%, 92.68%, and 94.94% of the total economic loss of water erosion in the mild, moderate, and severe disturbance sites, respectively. When the disturbance intensity increased, the loss of vegetation diversity was higher than the loss of soil nutrients, and it would have a primary water erosion economy loss of 1.17×104 yuan·hm-2 ·a-1 and 2.49×104 yuan·hm-2 ·a-1 in moderate and severe sites, respectively. Vegetation coverage was the most sensitive to water erosion economic loss. Every 1% reduction in vegetation coverage lead to 4.98×104 yuan increasing in water erosion economic loss. The study also indicated that tourism disturbance intensity is a key factor affecting the water erosion intensity and economic loss in mountain scenic spots. Therefore, to control the intensity of tourism disturbance, it should be combined with the analysis of soil erosion parameters, strengthening the management of soil exposure, the use of plant trample resistant vegetation, and assessment of tourism carrying capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature‐based recreational and tourism activities can exert significant direct and indirect impacts on wildlife, through behavioral, physiological and distributional changes. Despite many studies demonstrating such changes, few attempts have been made to quantify the fitness consequences and evaluate their biological significance. Helagsfjällen in Sweden is a core area of the endangered Fennoscandian arctic fox Vulpes lagopus, and a popular area for recreational tourism. Some dens in the area experience daily disturbance from tourism during the summer season, while others are virtually undisturbed. We used a long‐term dataset (2008–2017) of 553 juveniles in 74 litters to investigate summer juvenile survival, which is an important fitness component for the arctic fox. We found that the mean juvenile survival rate increased from 0.56 at undisturbed dens to 0.83 at disturbed den during years of decreasing small‐rodent abundance, where predation on the arctic fox is presumed to be highest. We suggest that the increased survival could be mediated by a human activity‐induced predator refuge for the arctic foxes in close proximity of trails and mountain huts. Our study demonstrates a possible positive indirect effect of nature‐based tourism on wildlife and is one of a few studies attempting to quantify this impact. It highlights the importance of context for how animals are affected by disturbance. We also demonstrate that studying how the effects of tourism activity vary depending on the context could provide opportunities for identifying the mechanisms behind these effects, which can be an important link between scientific research and the management of wildlife and tourism activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grassland tourism is a new form of grassland utilization based on grassland ecological environments. Tourism is a double-edged sword that can solve poverty in pastoral areas, but it also causes ecosystem degradation. The impact of tourism on alpine grassland was analyzed by the community and soil properties. Results showed that the most immediate influences of grassland tourism are frequent trampling and crushing. Tramping significantly decreases species diversity. Tourism reduced litter biomass, soil nutrient supply and soil enzyme activities, thus adversely affecting the whole plant-soil system. Therefore, this problem should attract decision makers' attention to balance the relationship between tourism management and economic benefits. Our results suggest that the premise of trade-off between economic benefits and environmental protection is controlling the number of tourists during the peak tourism season, which should be factored for achieving a win-win outcome to dispose of ecosystem degradation and poverty in pastoral areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the effects of tourism disturbance on the habitat and water quality for Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus, CGS), the interference and characteristics of habitat for CGS under different tourism intensity (high, medium, and low) were investigated, and the physicochemical and microbial index of water were analyzed in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province, China from 2014 to 2016. The results showed that high tourism disturbance (>0.5 million per year) significantly increased noise and reduced the number of dens, decreased dissolved oxygen levels, increased total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and microbial abundance in water, especially that of Escherichia coli. Under high disturbance, the characteristics of habitat and water quality still could meet the requirements of the growth of CGS. According to the National ground water class E standard based on the demands of E. coli in the surface water (2000 ind ⋅ L-1), the theoretical threshold of tourist numbers was 26.0471 million per year. The intensity of tourism interference should be effectively reduced by declining tourist numbers and tourism facilities, for the protection of the habitat quality of the CGS and the promotion of tourism development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the ecological pollution of scenic spots in China is becoming more and more serious, which has attracted wide attention of the society. The rapid detection method of ecological pollution in scenic spots under different tourism disturbance is deeply researched in this paper. On the basis of BP neural network, the ecological pollution in scenic spot can be divided into six factors of sewage, debris, garbage deposits harmful to human body and air, soil physical properties, soil nutrient content, and heavy metal content. Each type of influencing factor can be divided into four levels of very good, good, general and poor. The scenic area ecological pollution detection model is built based on three-layer feedforward of neural network. The classification results of eco-polluted garbage attribute and different tourism disturbance (severe, moderate and mild) are used as input values of the rapid detection model of eco-pollution in scenic spot, and the output values are the influencing factors, impact grades and detection values of eco-pollution in scenic spot. Signoid transform function is used to transform the output value to the interval [0, 1], which realizes the rapid detection of ecological pollution in scenic spots under different tourism disturbances. The results show that the proposed method can effectively detect soil physical properties, soil nutrient content and soil heavy metal content in experimental scenic spots under different tourism disturbance (severe area, moderate area, and mild area). The greater the intensity of tourism disturbance, the lower the soil water content and clay, the higher the soil bulk density and PH, the lower the content of soil organic matter and nutrients, and the higher the content of heavy metal. The average time obtained with the proposed method to detect ecological pollution in three scenic spots is only 1.01 s, which verifies the rapidity of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of vegetation and soil were investigated in Bita Lake and Shudu Lake wetlands in northwest Yunnan Plateau under tourism disturbance. The 22 typical plots in the wetlands were classified into 4 types by TWINSPAN, including primary wetland, light degradation, moderate degradation, and severe degradation. Along the degradation gradient, the plant community density, coverage, species number and Shannon diversity index increased and the plant height decreased in Bita Lake and Shudu Lake wetlands, and Whittaker diversity index increased in Bita Lake wetland. Plant species number, soil organic matter, total nitrogen, porosity, available nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium contents were higher in Shudu Lake wetland than in Bita Lake wetland, but the plant density, height, soil total potassium and pH were opposite. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) by importance values of 42 plants and 11 soil variables showed that soil organic matter, total nitrogen and total potassium were the key factors on plant species distribution in Bita Lake and Shudu Lake wetlands under tourism disturbance. TWINSPAN classification and analysis of vegetation?soil characteristics indicated the effects of tourism disturbance in Bita Lake wetland were larger than in Shudu Lake wetland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From May 2007 to June 2008, an investigation was made on the changes of plant community in Qingshan Lake scenic area of Zhejiang Province under the effects of tourism disturbance. With the increase of tourism disturbance, the importance value of the plants was mainly fastened on a few species such as Pinus hwangshanensis, apt to decrease for tree and shrub species and to increase for herb species, and the individuals of the plants increased. The values of richness index (D) and diversity index (H) were in the order of medium disturbance > slight disturbance > severe disturbance, while the evenness index (J) value was in the order of medium disturbance > severe disturbance > slight disturbance. At the same vegetation layers, only a few species such as Cinnamomum camphora existed under different disturbances, and thereby, the similarity index values were smaller than 0.500. Slight disturbance affected coniferous forest most, with the average values of D, H, and J being the lowest (1.188, 1.056, and 0.697, respectively); severe disturbance affected broadleaf forest and shrub-herbage most, with the D value (2.013) of shrub-herbage and the H value (1.286) and J value (0.807) of broadleaf forest being the lowest; while medium disturbance was favorable to the increase of plant diversity and to the normal exertion of ecosystem function. The eco-safety of the structural elements of plant community in the scenic area was threatened to some extent, resulting in the reduction of indigenous species such as Sinocalycanthus chinensis and the incursion of exotic species as Setaria viridis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to reveal the response characteristics of soil microbial community structure to different degrees of tourism disturbance. To explore the soil microbial community structure's response mechanism, we set up continuous plots with different interference intensities: high disturbance, middle disturbance, and the control area. We collected 0–10 cm topsoil in all plots and used Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing method to obtain and analyze the response characteristics of soil microbial community composition and structure under different tourism disturbances. These results were then combined with alpha diversity and environmental factors to explore the microbial response mechanism. In the tested soil, Acidobacteria, Chlorocurve, and Proteobacteria were the main bacterial phyla, while Basidiomycota and Ascomycota were the main fungal phyla. Based on the phylum, the relative abundance of the microbial community between the interference groups was compared using a significance test, with significant differences found between the interference groups in the phyla Chloroflexus, GAL15, Rokubacteria, and Blastomonas (p < 0.05). The relative abundance of the dominant phyla in the fungal community was significantly different among the groups (p < 0.05). A principal component analysis of the soil microbial community structure suggested that the soil microbial community structure was significantly different for different interference levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the effects of tourism disturbance on the habitat and water quality for Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus, CGS), the interference and characteristics of habitat for CGS under different tourism intensity (high, medium, and low) were investigated, and the physicochemical and microbial index of water were analyzed in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province, China from 2014 to 2016. The results showed that high tourism disturbance (>0.5 million per year) significantly increased noise and reduced the number of dens, decreased dissolved oxygen levels, increased total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and microbial abundance in water, especially that of Escherichiacoli. Under high disturbance, the characteristics of habitat and water quality still could meet the requirements of the growth of CGS. According to the National ground water class 2 standard based on the demands of E. coli in the surface water (2000 ind·L -1 ), the theoretical threshold of tourist numbers was 26.0471 million per year. The intensity of tourism interference should be effectively reduced by declining tourist numbers and tourism facilities, for the protection of the habitat quality of the CGS and the promotion of tourism development.

In tandem with economic growth and rising living conditions, ecotourism has increasingly gained popularity among the Chinese public. Non-human primates, as charismatic animals and the closest relatives of human beings, have shown a strong affinity in attracting the general public and raising money, and for that reason a variety of monkey parks, valleys, and islands are becoming increasingly popular in China. Though successful in raising a substantial sum of money for the managing agency of a nature reserve, there may be negative impacts on monkey groups used in ecotourism. Here, to establish effective guards for non-human primates involved in ecotourism, we present a review on tourism disturbance and summarize the negative impacts on behavioral patterns, reproduction, and health condition of animals.