Does horse ridding along trails in protected conservation areas risk the introduction of weeds?

What is it about?

Road and trail networks within conservation areas are fundamental. They provide access for the purposes of recreational use, extraction of forest products, fire control and routine resource management. This also provides exposure to a multitude of vectors and high risk of invasion of weeds. In this study we assessed the potential impacts of horse ridding on what was traditionally horse ridding forests but has now been converted into protected conservation tenure that fundamentally excludes the use by domestic animals including horses due to potential risks of being vectors of weed dispersal.

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Why is it important?

Our finding show that the contribution of horses as vectors for weed invasion is meagre compared to that of vehicles and other vectors. We also demonstrated that though many weed species do germinate and establish along trails ( mainly characterised by open canopy), few are able to colonise adjacent intact and dense canopy forests.

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