The impact of recreational activities on the current state of the state landscape reserve «Baydarsky», Mountain Crimea, Ukraine

Abstract

Ukraine is taking measures to continue monitoring of the natural environment in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea. In particular, natural territories and objects subject to special protection, the state of the natural environment, and recording the facts of environmental offenses and crimes are carried out. The issue of the current state of the objects of the nature reserve fund of the Crimea in the conditions of unregulated recreation has not been investigated. We chose a tract the «Bizyuk» of the state landscape reserve «Baydarsky» as an object of research. The state landscape reserve is located on the southwestern north of the macroslope of the Crimean Mountains (height 200–900 m) on the territory of the Sokolinsky, Kuibyshivskyi, Chornorichenskyi, Orlynivskyi and Ternivskyi forest divisions within the Baydar Valley. The purpose of the study was to analyse the ecological, phytocenotic and spatial features of recreational changes in the tract «Bizyuk» of the reserve «Baydarsky». The ecological profile was carried out according to the gradient of the intensity of the recreational load from three experimental plots (EP1 – intensive; EP2 – medium; EP3 – moderate as a control; areas without violations were not detected) in accordance with the principles of ecosystem, comparative analyzes and forestry methods in the last decade of June 2021. Forestry taxation, sanitary and vitality structures of the tree stand were studied. Biomorphological and ecomorphic structure of the herbaceous layer were studied too. The stages of recreational transformation of the soil surface were determined. It was established that changes in the ecological conditions of the «Bizyuk» tract were caused by unregulated recreational activities. The main consequences of recreational activities were the change in the hydrological regime of the soil due to the trampling of the litter and herbaceous layer, clogging, mechanical damage to tree trunks, stripping and trimming of the bark, woodfires, collecting plants, which led to a significant weakening of the stands (III category of state). The state of the soil surface changed along the gradient of recreational transformation from the 1st stage of digression (zone of moderate recreational activities) to the 4th stage of digression of the soil surface (zone of intensive recreational activities). A change in the species composition of the herbaceous cover was recorded. Adventitious, ruderal plants were widespread in all zones of the tract, but most in the zone of intensive recreational transformation. The max share of perennial plants was established in the zone of moderate recreational transformation, the min – in the zone of intensive recreational transformation. Rosetteless herbaceous plants and plants without specialized modifications of underground shoots were predominated. Hemicryptophytes and phanerophytes were dominated. The proportion of therophytes and chamephytes did not correlate with the level of recreational activities. Forest and ruderal plants in various proportions were dominated in all zones. It has been proven that the ecomorphic composition of the herbaceous cover also reflects recreational transformation in the tract. Hydromesophytes and mesophytes were prevailed among hydromorphs. The phytocoenotic contribution of mesophytes was increased in the most transformation plots. Hemistenotopic and hemieurytopic subacidophilous plants were dominated. The share of hemiaerophobes gradually was decreased along the transformation gradient. The intense recreational impact was caused a certain nitrification of ecotopes (distribution by nitromorphs).