The effects of dispersal and nitrogen fertilizer on leaf litter arthropod communities

• In Event: Poster Presentation and Judging for: Anthropology; Botany; Conservation Ecology; Environmental Science; Freshwater Science; Geosciences; Mathematics & Computer Science; Neuroscience; Physics & Eng; Science Education; Terrestrial Ecology & Management.
  In Poster Session: Terrestrial Ecology Poster Session

Abstract

Community composition in an area is affected by both available resources and the dispersal patterns of local pools of organisms. To examine the strength of each of these factors, we tested the effects of nitrogen addition and dispersal on leaf litter arthropod communities in central Texas. Our experiment used a 2x3 factorial design and took place in thirty 0.25m 2 sample plots. We used pulse and press additions of nitrogen fertilizer in our nutrient addition treatments, as well as a control treatment. For our dispersal treatment, we temporarily relocated 1L leaf litter from surrounding areas to our sample plots. We then removed that leaf litter the following day. At the conclusion of our experiment 3 weeks later, leaf litter was collected from sample plots, and Berlese funnels were used to extract leaf litter arthropods. After identification and enumeration, we used 2-way ANOVA to evaluate patterns in community composition among treatments. We found that species richness and Shannon diversity were marginally higher in dispersal treatment plots. This indicates that small increases in dispersal (such as temporary movement of leaves over one 24-hour period) can have persistent effects on local communities weeks later, and these implications may be especially great for small, dispersal limited organisms such as mites.

Authors

• Kendall Nicole Terry-Stewart, Concordia University Texas

• Jordan Davis, Concordia University Texas

• Rebecca Navarro, Concordia University Texas

• Courtney Jones, Concordia University Texas

• Mary Kay Johnston, Concordia University Texas