Su Hu, Jiang Hu, Stewart Carly Anderson, Clark Dina, Liu Sukuan, Manzitto-Tripp Erin A
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, UCB 334, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.
Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado, UCB 350, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.
Stress Biol. 2025 Jun 9;5(1):40. doi: 10.1007/s44154-025-00227-8.
Trail development is more prevalent as tourism develops globally. The depth effect of trail development on plant diversity and native species' stress response via tuning flavonoids in natural ecosystems remain relatively poorly understood. We investigated the depth effects by comparing plant species diversity and flavonoid contents (of six common native species) in sampling plots plots (Rabbit Mountain Open Space, Boulder County, CO, USA) with varying distances away from trail. We found plant diversity to be lowest in plots immediately proximal to trails and highest in intermediate plots. We also found the concentrations of total flavonoids to vary significantly between plots closer and away from trails. Specifically, we found the concentrations of isoorientin and myricetin higher in plots closer to trails. On the contrary, the concentrations of vitexin and kaempferol were higher in plots away from trails. Quercetin was higher in the intermediate plots. Overall, trail development negatively impacted herbaceous plant diversity, which was evident as depth effects. The plant species responded to environmental stresses imposed by trail development through fine-tuned flavonoid accumulation.
随着全球旅游业的发展，步道开发愈发普遍。然而，在自然生态系统中，步道开发通过调节黄酮类化合物对植物多样性和本地物种应激反应的深度影响仍相对缺乏了解。我们通过比较美国科罗拉多州博尔德县兔子山开放空间采样地块中不同距离步道的植物物种多样性和黄酮类化合物含量（六种常见本地物种）来研究深度影响。我们发现，紧邻步道的地块植物多样性最低，中间地块最高。我们还发现，靠近步道和远离步道的地块之间总黄酮浓度差异显著。具体而言，我们发现靠近步道的地块中异荭草苷和杨梅素的浓度较高。相反，远离步道的地块中牡荆素和山奈酚的浓度较高。槲皮素在中间地块中含量较高。总体而言，步道开发对草本植物多样性产生了负面影响，这在深度影响中很明显。植物物种通过微调黄酮类化合物的积累来应对步道开发带来的环境压力。
