Trampling resistance of tropical rainforest soils and vegetation in the wet tropics of north east Australia

Controlled trampling was conducted to investigate the trampling resistance of contrasting high fertility basaltic and low fertility rhyolitic soils and their associated highland tropical rainforest vegetation in north east Australia's Wet Tropics. Although this approach has been taken in numerous studies of trampling in a variety of ecosystem types (temperate and subtropical forest, alpine shrubland, coral reef and seagrass beds), the experimental method does not appear to have been previously applied in a tropical rainforest context. Ground vegetation cover and soil penetration resistance demonstrated variable responses to trampling. Trampling, most noticeably after 200 and 500 passes reduced organic litter cover. Bulk density increased with trampling intensity, particularly on basalt soils as rhyolite soils appeared somewhat resistant to the impacts of trampling. The permeability of the basalt and rhyolite soils decreased markedly with increased trampling intensity, even after only 75 passes. These findings suggest physical and hydrological changes may occur rapidly in tropical rainforest soils following low levels of trampling, particularly on basalt soils.