Impacts of tourism on water storage and regulation of meadow soil in Napahai lakeshore wetlands

The impact of the tourist disturbances on the water storage and regulation of the meadow soil is analyzed based on the field investigation and the laboratory analysis. The results show that tourist activities destroy the upper layer of the meadow soil badly. With the rise of the disturbance intensity, the soil bulk density increases in the upper 0～20 cm, the soil porosity and water holding capacity declines rapidly, and the saturated water content decreases by 10%, 48% and 75% in the slight, moderate and severe disturbance intensity, respectively. It indicates that the water storage of the meadow soil degrades badly. In the non-disturbance meadow soil, the hydrological spaces, the non-capillary porosity, the initial infiltration rate and steady infiltration rate are 1 897g/kg, 44%, 3.14 mm/min and 1.92mm/min, while in strong disturbance area they decrease by 77%, 43%, 94% and 96%, therefore, the water storage and the regulation of meadow soil degrades badly by the tourist disturbances in Napahai lakeshore.