Zani Deborah, Lischke Heike, Åkerman Jonas, Lehsten Veiko
Dynamic Macroecology/Land Change Science Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL Birmensdorf Switzerland.
Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science Lund University Lund Sweden.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Jan 9;15(1):e70809. doi: 10.1002/ece3.70809. eCollection 2025 Jan.
High-Arctic environments are facing an elevated pace of warming and increasing human activities, making them more susceptible to the introduction and spread of alien species. We investigated the role of human disturbance in facilitating the spread of a native plant () in a high-Arctic natural environment close to Isfjord Radio station and along adjacent hiking trails at Kapp Linné, Svalbard. We reconstructed the spatial pattern of the arrival and spread of at Kapp Linné by combining historical records of the species occurrence (1928-2018) with a contemporary survey of the plant abundance along the main hiking trail (2023 survey) and tested the relative effects of altitude and proximity to hiking trails on the species density via a generalised linear model (GLM). We then compared historical records with the simulated annual spread of the species by assuming either only local spread or local spread plus spread from hiking trails. Finally, we used a fine-scale UAV-derived brightness index to test for terrain preference by applying a randomisation test. Distance from the station (56% explained variation) and minimum distance from the trail (28%) significantly explained the species density across the research area (best GLM = 0.755). The modelled species spread including the trail effect (fitted spread 30 m yr.) managed to capture the maximum extent of the occupied area, whereas simulations assuming only local spread (2 m yr.) underestimated the historical extent. A randomisation test showed that has a significant preference for gravel soils with low vegetation cover due to either trail trampling and/or natural processes. Along with climate warming, human activities can increase the rate of species range shift by providing hot spots of introduction (human settlements) and spreading corridors (hiking trails). Our results show that spatially explicit models can be applied to accurately predict the potential spread of species, leading to a more efficient monitoring plan. Systematic monitoring of alien species and sanitisation measures should be prioritised in polar habitats with a high incidence of human disturbances.
北极高纬度地区的环境正面临着加速变暖以及人类活动增加的情况，这使得它们更容易受到外来物种的引入和传播影响。我们研究了人类干扰在促进一种本地植物（）在靠近伊斯峡湾电台的北极高纬度自然环境以及斯瓦尔巴群岛卡普林内相邻徒步小径上扩散中的作用。我们通过将该物种出现的历史记录（1928 - 2018年）与沿着主要徒步小径的植物丰度当代调查（2023年调查）相结合，重建了卡普林内该物种到达和扩散的空间模式，并通过广义线性模型（GLM）测试了海拔高度和与徒步小径的距离对物种密度的相对影响。然后，我们通过假设仅本地扩散或本地扩散加上来自徒步小径的扩散，将历史记录与该物种的模拟年扩散进行了比较。最后，我们使用无人机获取的精细尺度亮度指数，通过随机化测试来检验其对地形的偏好。离电台的距离（解释变异的56%）和离小径的最小距离（28%）显著解释了整个研究区域的物种密度（最佳GLM = 0.755）。包括小径效应的模拟物种扩散（拟合扩散约为30米/年）成功捕捉到了占领区域的最大范围，而仅假设本地扩散的模拟（约为2米/年）低估了历史范围。随机化测试表明，由于小径踩踏和/或自然过程，该物种对植被覆盖低的砾石土壤有显著偏好。随着气候变暖，人类活动可以通过提供引入热点（人类住区）和扩散走廊（徒步小径）来增加物种范围转移的速度。我们的结果表明，空间明确的模型可用于准确预测物种的潜在扩散，从而制定更有效的监测计划。在人类干扰发生率高的极地栖息地，应优先对外来物种进行系统监测和采取消毒措施。
