2. Materials and methods

natural resources and contain geomorphological structure, climate and rich biological diversity, and these areas have an important place in the continuance of the ecological cycle. These attractions may encourage tourist all over places to come and enjoy the nature. According to Lowman [1], ecotourism could be defined as nature-based tourist experiences where visitors travel regions for the sole purpose of appreciating natural beauty. Pahang National Park provides a diversity of flora and fauna and attracts a growing number of local and international visitors. However, many studies revealed that recreational activities have provided various impacts on natural ecosystems. Human activities such as the trampling and camping activities are the most widespread and can readily lead to recreational degradation of natural ecosystems [2–4]. Given the intricacy of protected area ecosystem, ecotourism activities may result in

Disturbance can be natural or in anthropogenic forms which may influence the structure of forest stands. However, natural disturbances, normally, do not influence the forest ecosystem to the greater extent. Conversely, when it comes to the human intervention to forest ecosystem, it will have possible changes to the biodiversity and its surroundings drastically. Thus, study should be considered to produce information and knowledge to manage, to reduce or to sustain the present forest areas. Protected area is believed to be one of the ways to conserve forest area, but somehow ecotourism activity that developed within its place may affect the forest stand patterns. Many studies have suggested that the ecotourism activities provide influences on the richness, diversity

The forest environment is a part and vital for propagation and growth for many kinds of vegetation including herbs, shrubs, bamboo, palm, trees and others. Besides that, vegetation condition in the forest is sensitive toward some levels of disturbance which affect the growth of stand structure within forest ecosystem. Extensive ecotourism activities can cause disturbance which may result in temporal and spatial changes in the morphology of the canopy structure of the forest. A study [9] mentioned that forest stand structure influences the quantity, spectral quality and temporal and spatial variability of solar radiation received by the understory. Some levels of disturbance to the surrounding vegetation may reflect or change the light condition. Forest canopy structure comprises the complex spatial arrangement of foliage, branches and the stem of trees, which influence a wide range of biophysical and ecological processes to the properties of the understory environment in a forest ecosystem [10, 11]. Studies have shown that a strong relationship exists between forest canopy structure and understory light transmittance [12, 13]. In addition, light is one of the most important factors regulating survival and growth of understory trees where light is an essential component in

Among popular activities that occur in Pahang National Park are hiking, trampling and camping. These activities may provide impact to the soil condition and suitability for tree growth. As part of maintenance, trail condition and camping area should be maintained to ensure a minimal ecological disturbance to the protected area and to preserve natural conditions. These were implemented by the park managers to minimize impacts on environment and natural resources. According to Wimpey and Marion [14], formal trails could be developed by the park managers to provide recreational opportunities to visitors, and hence they

ecosystem disturbance, thus affecting vegetation growth and surface profile.

and ecological interaction in many forest areas on earth [5–8].

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photosynthetic process for trees and other plants.

#### 2.1. Study area and data collection

This study was carried out in Pahang National Park (approximately latitude 4� 19' N, longitude 102� 23<sup>0</sup> E) near Jerantut, Pahang. The elevation ranges between 120 and 200 m above sea level. Pahang National Park covers a total forested area of 2477 km2 . The topography consists mainly of lowland, undulating and riverine areas. Data were collected in eight locations of forest in Pahang National Park including Kuala Keniyam, Lata Berkoh, Crossing Point, Bukit Terisik, Canopy Walkway, Lubuk Simpon, Jenut Muda and Kuala Terenggan (Figure 1). A study by Suratman [16] indicated that the weather in Pahang National Park is characterized by permanent high temperatures ranging from 20�C at night and 35�C in the day with high relative humidity (above 80%). The rainfall at this park is ranging from 50 to 312 mm throughout the year of 2012. The topography consists mainly of lowland, undulating and riverine areas. The overall vegetation in Pahang National Park is lowland dipterocarp forests which are characterized by high proportion of species in the family of Dipterocarpaceae and Euphorbiaceae as dominant families. Hydrologically, Pahang National Park consists of two headstreams of Tahan River and Tembeling River with the presence of riparian tree species mainly Keruing neram (Dipterocarpus oblongifolius) along the bank of these two rivers.

This study adopted a standard experimental procedure for studying recreational trampling on vegetation as proposed by Cole and Bayfield [17] with some modifications. Their study has derived conclusions by comparing the vegetation in trampled sites with the vegetation of untrampled site. For study site selection, Department of Wildlife and Protected Parks of Malaysia (DWNP), the custodian of Pahang National Park has listed out a few suggested study sites within this park. Thus, the selected study sites as in Figure 1 were chosen with respect to the safety concern by the DWNP. With regard to the restriction, the data collection activities were focused to the main recreation areas, i.e., seven sites for trekking trail and three sites for camping

The field measurement activities within 10 study sites of the park began in August 2014 and ended in November 2015. The forest inventory, light intensity and soil compaction measurements were recorded for each site over a 2-week working time of a particular month along the stated field study duration. However, data collection activities were entirely depending on the weather condition of Pahang National Park. Methods of light intensity and soil compaction

Light Intensity and Soil Compaction as Influenced by Ecotourism Activities in Pahang National Park, Malaysia

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To determine the light intensity in the forest understory, nine points were laid out randomly in each plot. The measurements of light intensity were made at each point using the hemispherical photography (Figure 2). All hemispherical photographs were taken with Nikon Coolpix 4500 digital camera (Nikon, Tokyo, Japan) fitted with a Nikon FC-E8 fisheye converter (Figure 3). The camera was mounted on a monopod at the height of approximately 1 m above the ground. The camera and lens were leveled with the aid of a spirit level and oriented to magnetic north. Lhotka and Loewenstein [13] suggested that the measurements were made under overcast conditions, usually in the late morning hours. The digital images were processed based on a procedure developed by Ishida [18]. All images were analyzed to calculate the percentage of diffuse light

intensity under the canopy (SOC percentage) using RGBFisheye ver.2.01 (Gifu, Japan).

Measurements of soil resistance were conducted using a hand-held cone penetrometer which is known as static cone penetrometers. This tool was used to measure soil resistance to vertical penetration of a probe or cone as in Figure 4. Soil compaction is often characterized by changes in soil bulk density, typically expressed in Mg/m3 or g/cc. Soil density is also related to soil resistance, which can be measured using a penetrometer much more rapidly than bulk density can be obtained [19]. Some soils are difficult to sample consistently due stony, light-textured or highly friable soils by hammer-type bulk density samplers using corers and rings. Therefore,

2.3. Measurements of soil compaction using static cone penetrometer

Figure 2. Measuring of light intensity through hemispherical photography.

measurements are explained in the next subsequent section.

2.2. Measurement of light intensity under tree canopy

Figure 1. Map of Pahang National Park and distribution of study plots.

area. The imbalance number of study sites between trekking trail and camping area was due to the limited number of camping area within Pahang National Park. On the selected study sites, the plots for trekking activity were established on the middle of the trekking trail sites, while the plots for camping activity were developed on the middle of the camping area sites. In this study, a total of 28 plots for trekking trail and 12 plots for camping area (each plot 20 m 25 m in size, as workable units) which consist of 4 plots of each for undisturbed and disturbed area, respectively, were established. Therefore, the accumulated total study area was 2 ha. For undisturbed area, the plots were located 10 m away from disturbed area plots and were selected randomly either on the left or the right side. All undisturbed condition plots were marked as natural areas while the disturbed condition plots either trekking trail or camping area.

The field measurement activities within 10 study sites of the park began in August 2014 and ended in November 2015. The forest inventory, light intensity and soil compaction measurements were recorded for each site over a 2-week working time of a particular month along the stated field study duration. However, data collection activities were entirely depending on the weather condition of Pahang National Park. Methods of light intensity and soil compaction measurements are explained in the next subsequent section.

#### 2.2. Measurement of light intensity under tree canopy

To determine the light intensity in the forest understory, nine points were laid out randomly in each plot. The measurements of light intensity were made at each point using the hemispherical photography (Figure 2). All hemispherical photographs were taken with Nikon Coolpix 4500 digital camera (Nikon, Tokyo, Japan) fitted with a Nikon FC-E8 fisheye converter (Figure 3). The camera was mounted on a monopod at the height of approximately 1 m above the ground. The camera and lens were leveled with the aid of a spirit level and oriented to magnetic north. Lhotka and Loewenstein [13] suggested that the measurements were made under overcast conditions, usually in the late morning hours. The digital images were processed based on a procedure developed by Ishida [18]. All images were analyzed to calculate the percentage of diffuse light intensity under the canopy (SOC percentage) using RGBFisheye ver.2.01 (Gifu, Japan).

#### 2.3. Measurements of soil compaction using static cone penetrometer

Measurements of soil resistance were conducted using a hand-held cone penetrometer which is known as static cone penetrometers. This tool was used to measure soil resistance to vertical penetration of a probe or cone as in Figure 4. Soil compaction is often characterized by changes in soil bulk density, typically expressed in Mg/m3 or g/cc. Soil density is also related to soil resistance, which can be measured using a penetrometer much more rapidly than bulk density can be obtained [19]. Some soils are difficult to sample consistently due stony, light-textured or highly friable soils by hammer-type bulk density samplers using corers and rings. Therefore,

Figure 2. Measuring of light intensity through hemispherical photography.

area. The imbalance number of study sites between trekking trail and camping area was due to the limited number of camping area within Pahang National Park. On the selected study sites, the plots for trekking activity were established on the middle of the trekking trail sites, while the plots for camping activity were developed on the middle of the camping area sites. In this study, a total of 28 plots for trekking trail and 12 plots for camping area (each plot 20 m 25 m in size, as workable units) which consist of 4 plots of each for undisturbed and disturbed area, respectively, were established. Therefore, the accumulated total study area was 2 ha. For undisturbed area, the plots were located 10 m away from disturbed area plots and were selected randomly either on the left or the right side. All undisturbed condition plots were marked as natural areas

while the disturbed condition plots either trekking trail or camping area.

Figure 1. Map of Pahang National Park and distribution of study plots.

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soil at a constant velocity. The force is expressed in Newton (N). The manometer values

Light Intensity and Soil Compaction as Influenced by Ecotourism Activities in Pahang National Park, Malaysia

As the penetrometer was being pushed down to the soil, the compaction value was recorded for each sample in a plot in a datasheet. While the methods for static cone penetrometer operation have been standardized, there are some precautions for its usage. Static penetrometer must be moved through the soil at a constant velocity (i.e. pressure); different rates of

All data in this study were managed using Microsoft Excel worksheets, and all statistical analyses were performed using R Statistical Software Version 3.2.0 and Rcmdr Packages [22].

Table 1 shows a summary of light intensity percentage for three study sites. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), it was found that there is a significant difference in the means of light intensity between the three study sites (p < 0.05). This suggests that ecotourism activities have significantly influenced to the amount of light penetration within forest understory. Next, a multiple comparison test (i.e., Tukey's test) indicated that there is no significant difference in the means of light intensity between camping area vs. trekking trail and camping area vs. natural area (p > 0.05). However, the light intensity in the trekking trail is significantly greater than in natural area (18.87% vs. 13.13%). The mean value recorded for trekking trail is the highest among three study sites (Table 1). Therefore, trekking and hiking activities are influe-

This study also recorded the composition of tree species in all study sites. Information on the uniformity of tree species in all study sites is crucial to the study as ecological adaptions of

Note: All values for percentage of light intensity are mean � SD. Means with same letter indicate no significant difference

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for light intensity between camping area, trekking trail and natural area of Taman Negara

(%)

Minimum light intensity

Maximum light intensity

(%)

ncing the trend of light intensity within the forest area of Pahang National Park.

Percentage of light intensity

Camping area 54 17.06 � 11.74a,b 3.16 49.30 Trekking trail 126 18.87 � 12.91<sup>b</sup> 3.39 64.24 Natural area 180 13.13 � 10.11<sup>a</sup> 2.35 71.32

cone resistance ¼ ð Þ manometer reading =ð Þ base are of cone (1)

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recorded were then converted into mega pascals (MPa) using the following formula:

where manometer is in Newton and base area of cone is in cm.

insertion by different operators can yield variable results [21].

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Light intensity

Study site No. of

at p < 0.05.

Pahang.

sample

(%)

Figure 3. Camera and Nikon FC-E8 fisheye converter.

cone penetrometers are commonly used to measure soil compaction because of their easy, rapid and economical operation [20].

In this study, hand penetrometer Eijkelkamp was used to measure soil compactions. Five points were sampled randomly and assessed in each plot. The measurement of soil compaction using a static cone penetrometer measures the force required to push a metal cone through the

Figure 4. Measuring of soil compaction through penetrometer.

soil at a constant velocity. The force is expressed in Newton (N). The manometer values recorded were then converted into mega pascals (MPa) using the following formula:

$$\text{(cone resistance} = \text{(manometer reading)} / \text{(base are of cone)} \tag{1}$$

where manometer is in Newton and base area of cone is in cm.

As the penetrometer was being pushed down to the soil, the compaction value was recorded for each sample in a plot in a datasheet. While the methods for static cone penetrometer operation have been standardized, there are some precautions for its usage. Static penetrometer must be moved through the soil at a constant velocity (i.e. pressure); different rates of insertion by different operators can yield variable results [21].

All data in this study were managed using Microsoft Excel worksheets, and all statistical analyses were performed using R Statistical Software Version 3.2.0 and Rcmdr Packages [22].
