The effects of the disturbance of tourism activities on Rhododendron chrysanthum in Changbai Mountain Reserve

The effects of tourism disturbance on the community structure composition and variation of species diversity of Rhododendron chrysanthum population in the alpine tundra of Changbai Mountain were studied to provide reference for better protection of the ecological environment of Changbai Mountain. At different altitudes in the alpine tundra, the regions close to and far from the tourist routes were selected as the study sites, and the typical Rhododendron chrysanthum community in the alpine tundra was selected as the research object. The results showed that tourism disturbance would affect the plant growth of Rhododendron chrysanthum community. The average height, relative coverage and relative density of Rhododendron chrysanthum decreased, leading to the decrease of the important value and dominance of Rhododendron chrysanthum in the whole community. The higher the intensity of tourism disturbance was, the more significant the characteristics of Rhododendron chrysanthum were. In addition, the variation of the biodiversity of Rhododendron chrysanthum community under different tourist disturbance intensity in the middle and low altitude areas of Changbai Mountain alpine tundra was consistent with the theory of “moderate disturbance hypothesis”. At high altitude, Shannon-Wiener species diversity index, Pielou evenness index and Simpson dominance index of Rhododendron chrysanthum community all decreased with the decrease of disturbance intensity. Therefore, in order to achieve a better development of tourism in Changbai Mountain, some measures should be taken to reduce the impact of the disturbance intensity of tourism activities on the plant community in the scenic area.