Egészségbiztonság Nemzeti Laboratórium(RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00006) Támogató: NKFIH
(KKP 144096)
(NKFI PD 137632)
(NKFI FK 135329)
(FK 142428)
Szakterületek:
Növénybiológia
In the Anthropocene, humans are among the most abundant long-distance seed dispersal
vectors globally, due to our increasing mobility and the growing global population.
However, there are several knowledge gaps related to the process of human-vectored
dispersal (HVD) on clothing. In a multi-site field experiment covering various habitat
types in three countries of Central-Europe, we involved 88 volunteer participants
and collected 251 HVD samples and 2008 subsamples from their socks and shoes. We analysed
the number of diaspores and species in the samples. Specifically, we studied the effects
of site characteristics (variables related to habitat types and season), vector characteristics
(activity type, gender, clothing type, shoe type) and plant characteristics (species
pool of the visited habitats and plant traits) on the number of diaspores and array
of species dispersed. We assessed the habits of people that could be relevant for
HVD with a questionnaire survey. A total of 35,935 diaspores of 229 plant taxa were
identified from the samples, which indicates a huge potential of HVD in dispersing
diaspores across habitats and regions. Most diaspores were recorded in grassland habitats,
and more diaspores were dispersed during fieldwork than excursions. Clothing type
also played a decisive role: there were more diaspores and species when wearing short-top
shoes and short trousers than long ones. Even though our study was carried out mainly
in natural or semi-natural habitats, a large number of dispersed species were disturbance-tolerants
and weeds and only a few were specialists, suggesting the controversial role of HVD
in conservation. At the individual level, people can reduce the number of diaspores
through their clothing choices and diaspore removal habits, while providing adequate
equipment for staff, operating cleaning stations, and increasing awareness of employees
are main ways in which unintended diaspore dispersal can be tackled at the institutional
level.
