The effects of land use on fine-scale geodiversity: Ski resorts as an example

Human activities pose a threat to geodiversity that is the natural diversity of the Earth's bedrock, soil, geomorphology, and hydrology. However, the impact of land use on fine-scale geodiversity has not been quantified. In this study, we analyze how fine-scale geodiversity varies under different levels of land use disturbance in ski resorts located in northern Finland. Specifically, we study how land use affects 1) alpha-geodiversity (georichness, i.e. the number of different geofeatures), 2) specific soil properties 3) beta-geodiversity (composition of geofeatures among sites), and how these are linked. We assessed fine-scale geodiversity and took soil samples from 131 sites situated in 16 rounded low-lying mountains across Northern Finland, including both built and natural environments. Sites were classified into three classes (undisturbed, semi-disturbed and disturbed) based on intensity of land use disturbance. We performed analysis of variance to explore how average georichness and soil properties vary between different land use classes. Of these variables, only pH showed statistically significant differences (based on one-way ANOVA), being highest at the disturbed sites. However, accumulation curves generated for georichness revealed that the number of different encountered geofeatures was the lowest in disturbed class but highest in semi-disturbed class. Beta-geodiversity was studied with Jaccard's dissimilarity, non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination and permutational analysis of variance (PERMANOVA). According to PERMANOVA, the composition of different geofeatures varied significantly among land use classes. To conclude, fine-scale geodiversity is affected by land use. These results improve our understanding of how ski tourism affects geodiversity and can be implemented on more sustainable land use planning.