Several regulatory and management tools are commonly used to prevent negative effects of human trampling on sand dune habitats, but few studies have attempted to evaluate the effects of boardwalks on dune vegetation. We aimed to evaluate changes of species richness and cover, floristic composition and ecological functional guilds among different dune habitats 2 years after the boardwalks had been established, highlighting those habitats mainly affected by these changes. In a Special Protection Area of Molise region (Italy), we sampled 53 square plots before the installation of five wooden boardwalks (control plots) and 57 plots after the boardwalks had been set up (testing plot), across the whole dune system ranging from the upper beach to the pine forest. We compared species richness through rarefaction curves, considering two plant functional groups: focal species (characteristic and diagnostic) and ruderal/exotic species. We finally compared florist composition and cover changes between time intervals, dune habitats and functional groups. In all habitats the total plant richness of testing plots was higher than in the control plots. In beach and mobile dunes habitat focal species drive the increase in both species’ richness and cover. Dune grasslands proved to be the most affected by the presence of ruderal and exotic species, while the more stable fixed dunes habitat was less affected by species changes. Only 2 years after the boardwalks having been set up, we have found a rapid recovery since human trampling was limited. The use of boardwalks could be an effective tool for reducing negative impact of bathing tourism on coastal dunes and requires little and inexpensive maintenance.

通常使用几种监管和管理工具来防止踩踏对沙丘生境的负面影响，但是很少有研究试图评估木板路对沙丘植被的影响。我们的目的是评估在木板路建立两年后不同沙丘生境之间物种丰富度和覆盖度，植物区系组成和生态功能协会的变化，重点介绍那些主要受到这些变化影响的生境。在意大利莫利塞（Molise）地区的一个特殊保护区，我们在安装了五个木板路之前对53个样地进行了采样（对照样地），在木板路建立后对了57个样地（测试样地）进行了抽样，整个沙丘系统范围从上海滩到松树林。我们通过稀疏度曲线比较了物种丰富度，考虑两个植物功能组：重点物种（特征和诊断）和属/外来物种。最后，我们比较了花店的组成和覆盖时间间隔，沙丘生境和功能群之间的变化。在所有生境中，试验样地的总植物丰富度均高于对照样地。在海滩沙丘和流动沙丘中，生境重点物种推动了物种丰富度和覆盖率的增加。事实证明，沙丘草草原受到野蛮和外来物种的影响最大，而更稳定的固定沙丘栖息地受物种变化的影响较小。木板人行道建成仅两年后，由于人为践踏受到限制，我们已迅速恢复。