Zróżnicowanie spektralne wybranych gatunków muraw wysokogórskich Doliny Gąsienicowej narażonych na wydeptywanie

This paper presents analysis of plant cover condition in Gasienicowa Valley in the Tatra Mts. depending on various trampling intensity. Measurements were taken with ASD FieldSpec 3 spectrometer (its spectral range is 350-2500nm) on 8 dominant plant species of alpine swards: Juncus trifidus, Oreochloa disticha, Agrostis rupestris, Deschampsia flexuosa, Festuca airoides, Festuca picta, Luzula alpino-pilosa, Nardus stricta. These plant species were located: 0-5m, 5-10m and more than 10m distant from a touristic trail (control point). Spectral characteristics as well as vegetation indices were analyzed with ANOVA test, which showed differiential resistance to trampling of investigated plant species. The most resistant species were: Nardus stricta and Deschampsia flexuosa, whereas Oreochloa disticha and Festuca airoides appeared to be vulnerable to trampling. However, all vegetation indices for plant species were in its optimum range, so it proves that they are in a good condition. The analysis of vegetation indices enabled choosing those groups, which are the most useful in the research of mountain vegetation condition. They are: NDVI, ARVI, EVI from the broadband greeness group and mSR705 and mNDVI from narrowband greenness group (measuring chlorophyll content and cell structure), as well as WBI, NDWI, NDII from canopy water content group. The most important factor that effects investigated plant species condition is water content. The research showed that hyperspectral analysis is useful in studying human impact on vegetation cover and needs to be developed.